is for
Measurable
3%
18%
31%
1%
17%
30%
Age range unknow
80+
69 - 79
40 - 49
20 - 39
Under 20
43%, Male
57%, Female
38%, Male
62%, Female
43%, Male
38%, Male
62%, Female
36%, Male
38%, Male
Client
Total Clients by Age & Gender
64%, Female
62%, Female
57%, Female
The Paperweight Trust
Impact Report 2024
The Paperweight Trust
Impact Report 2024
What is very noticeable, and this appears year after
year, is that the number of female clients is always
in the majority. There are a number of factors at
play here, and the age cohort determines the likely
reasons. They are unhappy facts but, based on the
sample population we see a generality that has
different implications per age group.
• Men are much more reluctant to seek help
for any problem
• Men are more likely to believe that they can
“trade their way” out of a financial crisis
• Men are not around – “out all day” or out
once-and-for-all leaving the woman of the
house to pick up the pieces
• Men suffer serious ill-health younger
• Men die younger
But obviously, many men come to us too
– 800 this year.
Paperweight personnel are trained to be non-
judgemental and empathetic. Our processes and
policies are not going to change human nature, but
we can prevent the least desirable consequence
and provide the “tools to carry on”. We have a firm
knowledge of the issues that are the source of the
clients’ crisis or sometimes the consequence of an
earlier one.
Of course measurement of our impact can also be
expressed in two other ways, how the community
view us among the constellation of worthy causes
and how we recognise our own stars:
Awards without
In March 2024, we were the very proud recipients
of one of the 2024 Barnet Civic Awards, presented
by the Mayor of Barnet. Barnet is home to the UK’s
largest Jewish population c.60,000, We are delighted
to have been awarded the Barnet Award For
Outstanding Service To The Community. We add this
to a Civic Award awarded back in 2016 whose rules
blocked any further nominations for 7 years. 2024
therefore marked the first time we were eligible
to re-enter a nomination and the recognition is
testament to all the hard work of our volunteers
and staff.
Awards within
To honour our late Trustee, Leonie Lewis MBE,
Paperweight inaugurated in October 2023 an
annual award for outstanding Volunteer
Commitment. Special guests were Leonie’s
widower Howard and one of our patrons, Lady
Elaine Sacks. Recipients were David Taylor and
Arlene Barc both of Paperweight’s Family Law Clinic.
An additional award for Outstanding Professional
Firm Contribution was presented to Victoria
Constanti of Brightstone Law, one of several
pro-bono professional firms that regularly
dispense life-saving advice to our clients.
The ceremony was additionally honoured by the
attendance of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Political
Advisor, Ameet Jogia MBE who gained an insight
into our vital work in the community.
2,695
Is the number of clients who we dealt with in
the past year – these are individuals and include
69 (elderly) couples. This is an increase of 35%
on the previous year. What is driving such an
increase ? Here’s Bayla Perrin, CEO :
We record key personal information so we
can better understand the demographic
and adopt our campaigns accordingly.
The “ Great Unsubscribe Fib” : we all know from
the deluge of sales-linked emails we receive
directly following a purchase on-line, the
supplier wishes to retain us as a customer come
what may, and to encourage us to buy more of
the same or delve into other products on offer.
Leaving their clutches is sometimes impossible.
A metric for success amongst businesses of all
sizes is Customer Retention. Another would be
how happy the customer was with the service
or product, and of course the ubiquitous post-
purchase “Review”.
Here Paperweight departs. Of course we wish
the client to be happy with the outcome and
that requires a substantial investment of time
and patience in determining the extent of the
Client’s crisis or crises, their background and
history, particularly whether attempts have
been made before to resolve matters, and
most critically setting the boundary on what
Paperweight can achieve.
Against these benchmarks we can then
establish what new or repeated processes
can be undertaken (sometimes reversing
old embedded errors) and setting the
Client’s expectations.
There is scarcely a day when the
media does not carry multiple heart-
breaking stories of the turmoil which
tick-box statistic-focused organisations
in the public sector wreak on the
vulnerable. Overpayment of benefits,
underpayment of benefits; forcible
entry by power companies and
illegal installation of pay-per-use
electricity meters; homeowners in
blighted estates; families struggling
with physical and mental health; the
elderly rendered near invisible by a
Health Service barely fit for purpose;
Alzheimers and other dementias
which impact equally on the suferer
as well as their carers and families
who struggle to keep pace with
the cruel disease and its ongoing
consequences; Universal Credit and
the intricate penalties generated by
those trying to earn a living, dreamed
up by a DWP Committee whose
members have never confronted
an empty fridge. The list is endless.