Fiona Small set up the organisation in 2011
(Picture: Young Mums Network )A Peckham-based social enterprise initiative has launched a financial support network to help mothers cope with spiralling living costs.
Established in 2011 after the London riots by Fiona Small, the Young Mums Support Network (YMSN) was created to give mothers crucial support, advice and to teach them skills they’d never had the chance to learn.
With bills surging across the country, Ms Small has now teamed up with Essex-based initiative, IncomeMax, to give greater financial support for mothers who are struggling to cope with rising living costs and are in desperate need of financial aid.
Ms Small told the Standard: “We’re pushing this programme because mum’s are really struggling out there.
“Even if mum’s want to go out and get work, they need to pay for childcare. Mum’s are thinking ‘what am I going to do’ as they juggle their jobs with raising their children.”
Although the scheme is set to expire in April, Ms Small now believes it will need to be extended due to the rise in household bills.
According to IncomeMax, it is estimated up to £15billion in crucial financial support goes unclaimed by families each year as they do not know, or do not have have the means to access it.
In addition, they claim up to eight million families in the UK are struggling with debt, even prior to the rise in council tax, energy bills and inflation.
During the pandemic, the Young Mums Network stepped in to offer advice for mothers in poor accommodation or even offer basic supplies to parents struggling to manage their work while also having children at home.
Thanks to the network, some mum’s were given basics such as mattresses for their children to sleep on, or IT equipment for their kids to use while away from school during lockdown.
Ms Small added: “There were people in poor accommodation who weren’t able to access online learning for their children.
“Everyone knows about food poverty but digital and data poverty really became something during those months.”
While the network has managed to secure financial or IT support for mothers, Ms Small admitted many are struggling across the country with mental health issues due to the pandemic.
She concluded: “They haven’t coped well at all. There’s a lack of support and services are stretched.
“Everyone needs support, even those with good money and jobs. People can only tolerate so much as humans.”
The initiative has been given a grant by the British Gas Energy Fund while Ms Small’s network, has now been able to visit nurseries and local community centres in Lambeth, Wandsworth, Southwark and Croydon, as well as Birmingham, and hosted special events to raise awareness of the programme and refer mums to IncomeMax.
This comes as inflation reached a 30-year high after surging to 5.5 per cent.
The Office for National Statistics also stated electricity bills were up 19 per cent in the year to January, while gas alone has increased by 28 per cent.
