Mapping financial support services in England and Wales

University College London

University College London

We will identify sources of financial support, across England and Wales, available to people with terminal illness and their families. We will explore who applies, where they apply to, where they live, and why they apply for financial support.

Due to declining health, people with terminal illness are often unable to work. Families often have to reduce the number of hours they work or give up work to care for their loved ones. This reduces their income or means they rely on government benefits. This income is often not enough to cover all costs. This is when people often turn to other sources of financial support. Local authorities or voluntary organisations can provide grants or in-kind contributions. But finding them, applying for them, and getting the money in time is difficult.

We will search online records and survey financial support services. From this we will create a map of the location of services and understand better the process of applying.

We will speak with people who:

This will help us understand what works and what doesn’t work in this process.

We will identify sources of support in England and Wales. We will identify for whom and where more support is needed. This will help to improve the application process to get the support quicker. This will contribute to changes in national policy so that the risk of dying in poverty reduces.

One of the co-applicants has experience of applying for financial support for a family member living with terminal illness. Her experience has informed this study.