Money Advice Service
Over the past three and half years our Money Advice Service has generated some amazing results for our clients. On average 40% of people who received money advice no longer need emergency food support. Please read our update for more stats and insights into the service.
It takes real courage to ask for help when you're struggling financially.
We meet many people who are facing difficult situations and find themselves having to make impossible choices: heating or eating. Debt piles up. Mental health deteriorates. Isolation deepens. And the systems that should provide a safety net become impossible to navigate alone.
At the Foodbank we know emergency food parcels ease immediate hunger, but they can't tackle the root causes keeping people trapped in hardship. That's where specialist money advice makes the difference.
Since we started our Money Advice Service in 2022 we’ve supported over 400 people accessing our foodbank and facing financial hardship in East Lothian, securing over ½ million pounds in benefits, savings, and debt relief.
We help people understand their options in plain language, and walk alongside them through complicated systems. Last year this included helping families access £10,000 in Scottish child payments, unlocking £90,000 in new or redeterminations of Adult Disability Payments and securing £18,000 of attendance allowance for those above pensionable age.
But the real transformation?
On average 40% of people who received money advice no longer need emergency food. They move from crisis to stability. They regain control, dignity, and hope for the future.
Since November 2025, we’ve been partnering with Edinburgh Food Project Money Advice Service to deliver this life changing service. This grassroots partnership creates wraparound support, addressing root causes rather than just symptoms while increasing our capacity to help more people in our community.
We deliver this life changing service through our weekly Tuesday drop-in sessions held here, at the Foodbank between 10am-12pm.
Our drop-in sessions are completely free and confidential and offer a safe space to access help with:
- Benefit checks
- Challenge benefit decisions and sanctions
- Budgeting
- Debt advice
Early intervention works. People deserve more than survival, they deserve routes out of poverty.
We’re always here to help, because everyone in East Lothian deserves dignity, stability and hope for the future.