Simon
Simon didn’t know where to turn. The brown envelopes kept coming through the door, containing demands in ever fiercer language. The years of tax returns he hadn’t submitted. The bills. The £50,000 of credit card debt.
He would dump them in a pile, and try and forget about them. This had been coming for years, ever since he’d lost his well-paid job. His next job paid a lot less. He covered the gap with credit cards, and then juggled the repayments – using one credit card to pay the minimum payment on another.
What made everything harder was that Simon has Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD, which means he finds it very difficult to focus and to keep track of things.
He recalls: “I was, I would say, clinically depressed. I found it very hard to get up in the morning, very hard to see people. I couldn't face the feeling of helplessness. I felt I was letting my wife down, letting my family down, and I couldn't understand why.
“I couldn't see any way out of where we were, I really could not. I could only see it ending in absolute disaster, be it divorce or even myself just having had enough.”
At this dark point, Simon saw a small ad for Paperweight – a chink of light.
“I called and they sent someone round: Henry. I could see that Henry was coming from a place which was all heart. He really wanted to help. He asked me, “Would you like me to deal with everything or are you able to take responsibility and I'll just be there to support you, to push you along and make sure things are being done?”
He would dump them in a pile, and try and forget about them. This had been coming for years, ever since he’d lost his well-paid job. His next job paid a lot less. He covered the gap with credit cards, and then juggled the repayments – using one credit card to pay the minimum payment on another.
What made everything harder was that Simon has Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD, which means he finds it very difficult to focus and to keep track of things.
He recalls: “I was, I would say, clinically depressed. I found it very hard to get up in the morning, very hard to see people. I couldn't face the feeling of helplessness. I felt I was letting my wife down, letting my family down, and I couldn't understand why.
“I couldn't see any way out of where we were, I really could not. I could only see it ending in absolute disaster, be it divorce or even myself just having had enough.”
At this dark point, Simon saw a small ad for Paperweight – a chink of light.
“I called and they sent someone round: Henry. I could see that Henry was coming from a place which was all heart. He really wanted to help. He asked me, “Would you like me to deal with everything or are you able to take responsibility and I'll just be there to support you, to push you along and make sure things are being done?”
“I was grateful for him giving me that chance. Henry said, “Right, well then let's start dealing with it." So he composed a letter to HMRC and I gave him some of my doctor's letters and evidence about my conditions, and we sat together filling in tax returns. HMRC agreed to waive the penalties and the interest.”
“Henry would phone me almost on a daily basis and say, “Have you completed the task? Have you spoken to them? Have you done this, have you done that?” Which was a bit annoying, but it kind of made me have to ... I found it very, very useful.”
Henry says: “If things are piling up, writing letters can be quite daunting. What seems like a big job to them is easy for me. I'm here to help people get themselves out of a hole, to get rid of the blocks that lead them to sabotage themselves. It is very satisfying to see people like Simon grow and get back control of their lives.”
Henry negotiated with the credit companies to waive some of the debt, and to start repaying the rest with small, affordable payments. He also found a much cheaper mortgage, and helped Simon and his wife, Amy, to budget so that they were living within their means.
For Simon, Paperweight’s help has been life-changing. “Paperweight were fantastic because they came in when I was in complete despair. They gave me not only a way out, but also the belief, the inner belief that I could move forward.”
“Henry would phone me almost on a daily basis and say, “Have you completed the task? Have you spoken to them? Have you done this, have you done that?” Which was a bit annoying, but it kind of made me have to ... I found it very, very useful.”
Henry says: “If things are piling up, writing letters can be quite daunting. What seems like a big job to them is easy for me. I'm here to help people get themselves out of a hole, to get rid of the blocks that lead them to sabotage themselves. It is very satisfying to see people like Simon grow and get back control of their lives.”
Henry negotiated with the credit companies to waive some of the debt, and to start repaying the rest with small, affordable payments. He also found a much cheaper mortgage, and helped Simon and his wife, Amy, to budget so that they were living within their means.
For Simon, Paperweight’s help has been life-changing. “Paperweight were fantastic because they came in when I was in complete despair. They gave me not only a way out, but also the belief, the inner belief that I could move forward.”
I couldn't see any way out of where we were, I really could not. I could only see it ending in absolute disaster, be it divorce or even myself just having had enough…
simon