Listening to Real Experiences: Understanding Access to Local Welfare Assistance Schemes is a powerful, peer-led research report from Expert Link’s National Expert Influencing Forum, placing lived experience at the heart of understanding how crisis support systems operate in practice.
Co-produced and delivered by trained peer researchers with direct experience of homelessness, poverty and the welfare system, the study explores the realities of accessing Local Welfare Assistance, Discretionary Housing Payments, and other emergency support. Through in-depth interviews conducted across the UK, the report captures not just what happens, but how it feels—revealing a system often characterised by confusion, inconsistency, and emotional strain.
The findings highlight key barriers, including low awareness of support, complex and digital-only application processes, poor communication, and a lack of transparency in decision-making. Critically, the report evidences the emotional impact of these systems, with participan
