Case study: Help with finances

Sue Lumsden decided to take voluntary redundancy from her job as a further education lecturer when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 at the age of 41.

"My mother had died of breast cancer at the age of 46 and I wasn't sure what the future would hold," she says.

Eight years on, after one recurrence in 2000 when she underwent a mastectomy and breast reconstruction, she feels well, has completed an MSc in health psychology, and enjoys life but says it has been a struggle financially. "The social worker in hospital handed me all the forms for incapacity benefit, housing and council tax benefit but it seemed a lot to take in at the time and it took about a year for the benefits to come on stream"

As a graduate with years of teaching experience she was surprised at how hard she found it to penetrate the benefits system. It was only after a friend told her about Islington People's Rights and their advice on form filling that the benefits started to come through.

During five weeks of radiotherapy at St Bartholomew's hospital, London, she took taxis from her home in Finsbury Park but only found out long afterwards, in conversation with a friend, that she would have been eligible for reduced taxi fares under a scheme run by Islington council. She was also unaware of the scheme to help hospital patients with tube and bus fares.

"I had a small NHS pension from the time I worked as a nuclear medicine technician but getting my teacher's pension was a real battle and at times I was worried about bills." Housing benefit now covers the interest on the endowment mortgage on her flat. But her income has halved since giving up work and she worries whether she will ever be able to pay off the mortgage.

Social services provided a home help for six weeks after she came out of hospital, but she felt tired for several months and not up to researching sources of financial help. One huge bonus, she says, was finding out, from a notice in the local library, about Care and Repair, a charity which helps older and disabled people remain in their own homes by providing free repairs and aids. "They replaced my central heating boiler, provided a hoist to get me in and out of the bath and reconfigured my kitchen." The Teachers' Benevolent Fund also helped with a £300 grant for a new mattress.

"There is certainly help out there but it can take a long time to find out about it, and when you are diagnosed you don't feel up to filling in a lot of forms," she says. "It would be helpful if each borough produced an information pack on the relevant benefits and sources of support."