Pauline Lyons, Wheatley Group’s Money Advice Lead, tells how GHA is helping people struggling to put food on the table...

THE wait for a first Universal Credit payment is putting people under severe financial pressure – with many facing a choice between buying food and paying bills.

GHA launched Eat Well in April 2014 because we knew many people had nowhere else to turn.

Tenants in real hardship are referred to Eat Well by their housing officer for up to eight weeks. Each week, a bag of fresh and long-life food is delivered free directly to the tenant’s home, providing basic items such as pasta, cereal, soup and fruit and vegetables.

We get the food from FareShare, a UK charity that redistributes fresh, in-date surplus food from the food industry, which would otherwise go to waste.

At the moment, we make around 100 deliveries a week – with that number set to rise as UC bites.

The scheme helps us increase the life chances of more than just the people we deliver food to.

We work with Move On, a charity helping people who were formerly homeless get back into work. They get a 12-month placement with Eat Well, including structured and accredited training, as they help make up and deliver the packages.

But Eat Well is about more than just emergency food parcels.

The scheme doesn’t work in isolation, but complements a range of GHA services designed to help those most in need.

Our expert advisors offer people money, debt and budgeting support – and can help people work their way through UC, as well as claim the other welfare benefits and tax credits they’re entitled to.

Fuel advisors can help tenants cut their gas and electricity bills, while people can receive free recycled furniture from our Home Comforts scheme and get help and advice to get online at our Click & Connect free computer learning centres across Glasgow.

Wheatley also has a range of initiatives – from our award-winning Modern Apprenticeship scheme to the Wheatley Pledge – which help people into jobs and training.

Other schemes, such as our Changing Lives programme and the Way Ahead, help those who face barriers getting into work.

Eat Well is another reminder that Wheatley is always there to help.