A weight off your shoulders – The Paperweight Trust help people to take control of their domestic administrative affairs.The everyday burden of dealing with the practicalities of household paperwork and bureaucracy can become intolerable in a time of crisis.
When you are feeling isolated, stressed and vulnerable, and you just can’t cope, the simplest administrative tasks can feel insurmountable and the daily practicalities take a back seat; often leading to unwelcome, additional pressure and intrusion in this increasingly bureaucratic and impersonal world.
The Paperweight Trust can help. A registered charity set up in 2010, they offer a free service, cross communally and across London.
Paperweight deal with bureaucracy, welfare and benefits, correspondence with banks & building societies, form filling, hoarding, the taxman, councils, utilities, bills, probate, insurance, divorce and legal issues. They maintain a proactive approach to debt management and household expenditure and will intervene with creditors stabilising precarious situations. They act as advocate and help review and complete documents and if necessary, draft in expert opinion in a range of matters.
Paperweight offers time, guidance, confidentiality, experience and a good deal of common sense.
Betty's story
I was always the one who managed the house and Jack did everything else. He was a wonderful organiser and sorted everything for me. We had 52 years together and then he had a heart attack and died quite suddenly.
For the first few weeks, everyone was kind and helpful. Friends came in with food and my grandchildren kept an eye on me. Then it all melted away and I was left to cope alone. I have a wonderful family but they’re all busy and I hated to trouble them.
I didn’t know where to begin. I’d had a bit of help from Jewish Care and they suggested I contact The Paperweight Trust. First, two people came to visit me and they were so kind. They weren’t pushy, they just listened. On the second visit we stared to go through the letters. I wasn’t able to read them on my own but even once I’d read them, I didn’t really know what to do next. I was alright paying basic bills but it was everything else I needed help with.
For the next three months I had regular visits from my caseworker who initially sorted out the backlog. Then she showed me how to deal with the regular things that I hadn’t a clue about because Jack had always seen to it. She still phones me every week. Sometimes I ask her to come round but now it’s more like having a friend who advises me from time to time.
I can’t thank The Paperweight Trust enough. I don’t know what I would have done without their help.
What a wonderful resource the Paperweight Trust is - you can find out more here http://paperweighttrust.com/