Citizen’s advice Swindon helped over 9,000 people last year with more than 28,000 different issues.

This included one lady who’s husband had recently passed away and who started being harassed by creditors while still dealing with her grief.

‘She was feeling very low.

‘Her husband used to deal with all the household finances so the phone calls were starting to make her feel very distressed, and overwhelmed.

‘She was struggling with budgeting and managing money, and didn’t know what to pay first.

‘She found she was £7500 in debt and it was a letter from the bailiff that encouraged her to seek help.

‘She came to Citizens Advice for help, we went through everything step by step and gave our client her options for dealing with the debt, as well as advice on budgeting.

‘We carried out a benefit check and found out she was entitled to Universal Credit, which meant she would have more monthly income.

‘After fully investigating her circumstances and helping her to find out exactly what she’s owed to whom, our client opted for a Debt Relief Order.

‘We helped her make the application and the outcome was the full £7500 of debt was written off.

‘Without help she told us she would probably have tried to pay some of the debt off to stop the letters and calls, but she would not have been able to afford her rent.

‘She now feels like her finances are back on track and she can manage them on her own.’