Turn2us annual impact 2025-2026

1. The Turn2us Benefits Calculator

The social security system is complex. Knowing what support is available and whether you're eligible can feel overwhelming. As a result, millions of people miss out on money that could be life changing.

The Turn2us Benefits Calculator offers clarity in that uncertainty. It's a free and simple-to-use, confidential tool that helps people understand what benefits they could access, without needing to share their name or personal details. In just a few minutes, it gives a clear picture of potential entitlements and how to apply for them.

Every year, £24.1 billion in income-related benefits and social tariffs goes unclaimed across Great Britain. Around seven million households are missing out on support they are entitled to, most often because they do not know it exists, cannot navigate the system, or fear being judged for asking.

Our Benefits Calculator exists to close that gap. This year, 2.25 million calculations were completed on the tool. More than half revealed a potential uplift for the person using it, and together those calculations identified £10.83 billion in support that people may be entitled to but were not receiving.

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2. The Turn2us PIP Helper

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is designed to support people whose disability or health condition affects their daily life or mobility. But applying for it can be difficult and draining.

That's why we developed our PIP Helper: a clear, free, confidential tool built in partnership with people who have been through the application themselves. It guides people at a pace that feels manageable, offering clarity and support at a time that can feel unsettling.

The number of people accessing the PIP Helper has continued to increase since its launch in May 2024. This year, the PIP Helper was used over 227,000 times, an increase of 61% from the previous year.

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3. The Turn2us Grants Search

Flexible cash grants to people most impacted by financial insecurity, along with wider support and clear information, can help people to regain some control over their finances.

The Turn2us Grants Search helps people find and access over 1,600 grants offered by charitable organisations.

Over the past year the Grants Search has been used for 866,900 searches.

We also make grants ourselves. Across all our programmes this year, including the Turn2us Edinburgh Trust, we made £2.61 million in grants to 1,415 people.

Alongside grants to individuals we provided funding to organisations, including Citizens Advice for their Help through Hardship helpline and the Regenerative Futures Fund in Edinburgh. 

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4. The Warm Homes Network

Our website is the entry point for the Warm Homes Network - an example of partners working together to achieve results beyond what each could attain individually.

The project is funded by Cadent and Northern Gas Networks and delivered by YES Energy Solutions (a company committed to making homes warmer, greener, and more affordable to heat), Citizens Advice Manchester and Turn2us.

It supports people living in Cadent and Northern Gas Networks regions, which are the North West and North East of England, the Midlands, the East of England and London and the Home Counties north of the Thames.

The Warm Homes Network helps people understand what financial support they are entitled to, manage rising energy costs and make their homes more energy efficient.

People engaging with the Warm Homes Network first use our Benefits Calculator and Turn2us Assistant to establish what benefits they are entitled to and find relevant information. If they need more in depth and specialist support, they can request a telephone referral to YES or Citizens Advice Manchester. 

And the scale of impact is significant:

• Total number of people referred by Turn2us to Citizens Advice Manchester - 4,739.
• Total number of people referred by Turn2us to YES Energy Solutions - 3,297. 
• Number of visits to the Warm Homes Network landing page - 5,125.

A Turn2us survey revealed that 75% of people who engaged with the Warm Homes Network went on to apply for benefits or are planning to apply soon. This demonstrates how the Warm Homes Network helps people move from awareness to action and claim the support they're entitled to.

Like one family with young children who avoided further arrears and gained access to additional financial support, who told us, "we felt overwhelmed, but having someone explain everything made a huge difference." 

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5. National Programme

This year, Turn2us launched a new National Programme. Built on our long history of grant making, the programme reflects a shift in how we work. 

We now treat grants as one tool in a package of support together with practical information, advice and trusted local advocacy. Used together, these tools can help people manage immediate pressures while building greater confidence and stability over time. 

This reflects our belief that financial security is about having choice, agency and confidence that help will be there when you need it.

Designed around dignity, trust and lived experience

The National Programme has been shaped by what people with lived experience of financial insecurity and our partners have told us matters most: flexible, responsive and respectful support.

Through the programme, Turn2us provides:

• Flexible grants, typically between £2,500 and £5,000, that partners can use to meet people's real needs
• Fewer restrictions and faster decisions, helping to get money in people's pockets sooner.

Working in partnership, not prescription

A core feature of the National Programme is how we work with partners.

Rather than imposing a fixed model, Turn2us works alongside local and specialist organisations, trusting their knowledge of the communities they support.

Partners have told us that this trust allows them to respond more effectively when people are stuck in systems - such as during benefits delays - or experiencing sudden financial shock. They also say that it frees up more time to think about longer-term change.

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6. Everyone's Environment: pursuing our net zero ambitions

Climate change is reshaping the world around us, and its impacts are not felt equally. People facing financial insecurity, Disabled people, racialised communities and anyone living in poor‑quality housing often face the highest energy bills, have the coldest homes and the fewest options to make sustainable choices.

Everyone's Environment is a national partnership led by New Philanthropy Capital (a charitable consultancy working in impact maximisation) and funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.

It brings together more than 40 organisations, including Turn2us, to ensure that the voices of people and communities most affected by climate change are involved in helping to shape the solutions.

Voices: building skills, confidence and influence

The Voices strand of the programme is helping lived experience partners speak powerfully about how climate change affects their lives, and what needs to change.

The 20 lived experience partners in Voices include six Turn2us co-production partners. These partners bring a range of experiences, from racial inequality, migration and financial insecurity to caring responsibilities and living with a disability. 

Their leadership ensures the programme reflects the realities of people most affected by climate and economic injustice.

Training in Greater Manchester

We've worked with our partners in Greater Manchester to deliver environmental training that demystified climate jargon, connected climate issues to everyday life, explored the overlapping impacts of race, disability, housing and poverty and created space for communities to identify their priorities.

Through co creation sessions, communities identified key issues including:

• access to green space
• poor-quality housing
• sustainability and waste
• health inequalities
• the rising cost of living.

What's next?

Everyone's Environment will continue to extend its activities in the coming year. Insights from our co-creation sessions are now being distilled into a set of community led priorities and policy asks that will shape local and national advocacy. 

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