A woman from Lowestoft calls for more financial support for the elderly after her mum took her own life
Amy Evans told us her Mum had multiple jobs but fell through the cracks, as she didn't meet the requirements.
Amy Evans from Lowestoft has started a petition calling for elderly people to have more financial and mental health support after her mum took her own life at just 60 years old.
"I don’t want anyone else to have to go through this heartache because of money. I'd do anything to have my mother back. She shouldn't have felt so trapped."
We spoke to Amy who told us how she remembered her mum (Kathleen Moore).
"I just always remember her making everybody laugh, she had such a good sense of humour ... all the carers that worked with her - after she passed they'd come and tell me how high-spirited she was and how they were so shocked that she wasn't still here and that she was always the one that made life at work, a walk in the park because she was always having a giggle and a joke and keeping everyone's spirits up.
"It just sucked the soul out of her"
Although she remembers her mum fondly, Amy told us that before she died, she became "a shell of her former self" due to the stress she was facing.
"It just sucked the soul out of her. She was just a charismatic, funny lady. She used to be such a happy, spirited, comical woman who made everybody laugh and was always so much fun.
"In the end, all she would talk about was how much she didn't know where she was going to get this money from."
The financial strain
Amy told us it started when her mum's ten-year relationship ended, causing her to be a single person. She explained how her mum also suffered from osteoporosis, which meant working became even more difficult.
"As she got older, it got worse, as the way the condition goes, your bones deteriorate over time. So she found that quite difficult to just carry on and navigate life."
Previously, she had worked as a carer; in addition to this, she also ran a small dog-sitting business and rented out rooms to pay for her mortgage, but this brought its own problems.
Amy explained how her mum was robbed, people disappeared without paying the rent, which made her feel unsafe in her own home, and this wasn't a stable enough income to live on.
So she could no longer afford the mortgage when the interest rates increased, and the rise of the cost of living only exacerbated the issue.
"Just a little bit of help. I think for a little while, could have saved her life"
Amy told us, she was using foodbanks and could barely make ends meet and reached out for help.
"She applied for PIP (personal Independence payments) lots of times and she was never poorly enough to qualify for PIP.
"She didn't qualify for Universal Credit or any help with her housing benefit because she had a mortgage..
"for several years struggle through and manage it, but it was always by the skin of her teeth. It was always like she was clutching at straws to try and find a way to make enough money to make it through the months and it just seemed like a constant strain on her all the time...
"She really tried and reached out several times to people to try and get grants or just to try and have some sort of support...just a little bit of help. I think for a little while, could have saved her life."
"The last thing my mum said to me was I won't stress you out anymore"
Amy explained the toll this took on her mum. Amy would often visit her mum with her sister, make her dinners and try to cheer her up, but she told us, the toll of it all was clear and her mum had a "desperate look in her eye" and the anxiety was "overwhelming".
"She stated several times, ‘financially I'd be better off dead’.
"We laughed this off because my mum wasn't a quitter. She always found a way, and I never ever thought she would do what she did...
"The last thing my mum said to me was I won't stress you out anymore. This will be the last time. I'm not going to do it anymore. I won't stress you out anymore...
"She wasn't the type of person that would give up. She was a good mum."
Amy told us this has made her worry not only for the future of other elderly people, but for her own future, and her children's future.
" I just feel like there should be more help. There should be something.
"When I'm older. I don't want to be sitting there worried that I won't have a roof over my head because I've gotten poorly after working for years
"I just feel like there should be something in place, even if it's just a mental health support thing or someone to talk to or just more support with being able to pay for some of where you live in because people exist...there should be something in place for people that are desperate and need support."
What she wants to change
Amy told us she wants to see an immediate review and reform of eligibility criteria for Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to ensure individuals aged 60 and over who are self-employed, carers, or single without dependents are no longer unfairly excluded from vital financial support.
Provide dedicated mental health counselling services for people aged 60 and over, specifically targeting those experiencing financial hardship or social isolation.