‘People are beyond breaking point’: Huge increase in those seeking energy debt support as cost of living crisis bites

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A charity has warned Greater Manchester residents are ‘beyond breaking point’ as the cost of living crisis worsens. The number of people seeking support to manage their energy bill debts with Citizens Advice SORT (Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford ) has massively increased over the last 12 months, going up by 48pc.

The charity is now warning that without further government action, Greater Manchester families face falling into ‘severe hardship’ from shouldering huge energy price hikes expected later this year. READ MORE: University of Manchester Chancellor Lemn Sissay enjoys a McDonald's before being honoured with OBE Alex Smith* lives in rented accommodation and has a prepayment meter for their electricity supply.

When Alex contacted Citizens Advice Trafford, their electricity was about to run out and they had no money to top it up. They said without electricity they were unable to charge their mobile phone and they only had a couple of days worth of food left in the house with no money coming in for another week.

Citizens Advice were able to help Alex access an electricity top-up voucher and researched grants to help them pay off some of their energy debt.