A pioneering scheme offering debt and benefits advice in schools has seen low-income families boost their incomes by £500,000.
An estimated £23 billion of benefits goes unclaimed each year due to a lack of awareness about available support and complex application processes. This includes everything from people eligible for Universal Credit not claiming it, confusion around Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and people not taking up support for childcare costs and council tax.
In response, the Money Matters pilot scheme was launched in 2022, in seven Greater Manchester schools in low-income areas. The initiative saw a full-time Financial Inclusion Officer (FIO) help families understand and claim the benefits they are entitled to. Now, over 300 families are approximately £500,000 better off, an average of £1,634 a year each, with one family seeing their income rise by a staggering £24,121 a year.
A representative for Kellogg’s, which established Money Matters alongside non profit Resolve Poverty, said: “Through our Breakfast Club network, we saw the opportunity to help parents currently struggling on low incomes who were unknowingly entitled to far more support than they were getting and providing that help at school where families feel comfortable.
“There are millions going unclaimed in benefits meaning those who are entitled to it, and also most in need of it could be struggling to get by. Helping parents to make sure they are getting the money they deserve impacts the whole family, putting the brakes on the growing number of children in poverty across the UK.”
One person to benefit from the scheme is Chris Chapman, 58, who was made redundant in January this year and quickly began to face financial difficulties, leading to feelings of depression.
“I was made redundant having worked all my life in business development and client experience,” he said. “By March 2025 we began to struggle to make ends meet on a monthly basis and had to make several cutbacks on clothing, food, gas, electricity and social activities.”
Chris is a single parent and lives in Rochdale with his 16 year old son, who is about to start attending a local college. After being made redundant Chris found managing his finances became impossible. “We do not have much family around us, however those we do would help with some groceries,” he added.
As the situation got worse, so did his mental state. “I could feel myself getting more and more depressed. I’d been a single parent for 10 years so nothing’s ever been easy, I’ve always been ready to fight mentally and push myself to succeed – but it felt like I was running out of traction.”
“The only highlight being when my son represents Rochdale Mayfield Rugby League Club on a Saturday, leaving me feeling proud. The lack of money for even the basics creates some tension between us. I sometimes miss meals to provide things for my son. He’s also needed a new rugby kit, new boots all year and I’ve not been able to replace them.”
Through Money Matters’ assistance, Chris expects to gain over £12,000 in benefits, with applications being submitted for discretionary benefits, including PIP, which may increase this sum further.
Chris praised his support worker from Money Matters as ‘fantastic’ and said they provided ‘a listening ear with empathy and understanding’. They assisted in connecting him to food banks and organisations that aided with gas and electricity, alongside debt advice from Citizens Advice.
“Without Money Matters I would have found it difficult to find and navigate the support out there for families such as myself and my son,” Chris said.
The programme was originally trialled in seven schools and has now assisted families across 45 schools with talks underway to expand it to additional locations. Barton Clough Primary School in Manchester is amongst the schools already operating the scheme.
The school’s Assistant Headteacher, Jackie Crouch, said: “Money Matters has added an extra string to our pastoral bow, and in these times that matters. All too often it turns out that families are not receiving what they are entitled to. One family at our school is better off by £1,000 per month. Most of all we’ve seen pupils’ focus and concentration improve.
“It ought to be self-evident, but children are better able to learn when they are fed, wearing the correct uniform and unencumbered by the sorts of money worries that ought to be the preserve of parents.”
Chief Executive of Resolve Poverty, Graham Whitham, said: “Our consistent presence at school events and activities, including parents’ evenings and coffee mornings, has been vital in helping families across the North West unlock the benefits they are entitled to.
“We look forward to seeing how we can further expand the programme to help even more families.”