Just picture this for a moment – life is ticking along nicely, you have a happy home life, strong relationship and a good job. However, in an instant, unexpected news can suddenly turn your world upside down. The sudden passing of a loved one, financial worries or an accident can bring about a range of different emotions as well as challenges that would be impossible to prepare for. 

It doesn’t necessarily need to be you that’s suffered the trauma or immediate problem, you can be indirectly impacted as a result of your spouse, friend or family member. Coping with everyday life and a busy schedule can be particularly hard when you are facing a distressing time and Electrical Industries Charity (EIC) appreciates how emotionally traumatic it can be.

The Charity offers a variety of free and confidential services to those who work in the electrical industries in order to help manage challenging situations with greater ease. Financial grants, counselling and legal help are just a few examples of the ways in which they provide support to current and former industry members, as well as their family members. 
The Charity is able to help thanks to supporters of their number one fundraising outlet, powerLottery. It is a fantastic way to win some amazing cash prizes while contributing towards improving industry member’s lives. This year powerLottery has been revamped and now offers 40 cash prizes a month, including two mega draws which take place twice a year with an enormous £10,000 up for grabs.
 
You can take part in powerLottery from as little as £1 a month. It’s simple to sign-up, just download the EIC powerLottery App and tap the App to be in with a chance to win. By playing powerLottery, you will help people like Joanne and Sean.

The Charity provided much-needed assistance when Joanne’s husband Sean was mourning the loss of his mother and suddenly found himself responsible for his younger sister Charlotte. His sister had suffered with mental health issues, social anxiety and undiagnosed learning difficulties and lived with her mother all of her life.

Charlotte was left living alone and was not in a position to be able to care for herself. Sean stepped in to help her but had not realised how much support she would need. Joanne decided to contact her manager as this was putting them both under a lot of pressure, so her manager passed her details onto EIC and they subsequently got in touch.

The Charity assisted the family in numerous ways, such as liaising with adult social services, their local council over issues surrounding their mother’s home and associated paperwork as well as sorting out Charlotte’s benefits, all of which were highly time-consuming tasks. The matter was made more complex due to the fact her learning difficulties had not been diagnosed at that point, so they had to go through a lengthy process to get a diagnosis.

Meanwhile, the Charity offered bereavement therapy and stress management classes to the couple. Unfortunately, Charlotte started to show signs of depression and with no suitable housing available, Sean decided it would be best that he took care of her in his home with Joanne so that they could ensure she was being looked after.

The Charity continued to work tirelessly with the local housing office and social services to ensure that Charlotte met the designated criteria to be placed in a supported housing scheme. She is now doing really well and is being helped to become more independent by learning new tasks such as cooking and becoming more social. As a result, she is much happier. Sean and Joanne are hopeful that one day Charlotte will have all of the required skills to live in her own home.

If you would like to find out more about how you can help support the Charity and families like Joanne and Sean, sign-up to the revamped powerLottery – contact Jess Vailima on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.