A Slice of Bread and Butter
The voice of The Bread and Butter Thing - with stories from the frontline of the cost of living crisis from one of the UK's leading food charities.
A Slice of Bread and Butter
How Anglian Water Turned Support Into Savings
What if your water company felt like a neighbour who actually shows up to help? We sit down with Anglian Water’s customer team to explore how WaterCare turns support into real savings, from clearer bills and accessible contact to debt relief, crisis help and an industry-first medical discount that stops health needs inflating costs. The conversation starts in our community hubs, where trust is built face to face. A single Facebook post and one resident’s success story turned hesitation into a queue for help, proving that visible results beat leaflets every time.
We dig into the mechanics behind the outcomes: the Priority Services Register ensures people who need extra time, different languages or rapid outage support are recognised across networks. The Extra Care Assessment, a short, guided call or online form, matches households to tariffs that can cut bills by up to 50 percent and flags pathways to broader support such as reduced-rate broadband and blue badges. We also talk about the staggering scale of missed money—£67 million in unclaimed benefits identified among customers—and why pension credit, child benefit and Attendance Allowance are so often left on the table.
Along the way, we challenge the “waterboard” myth and share simple scam-safety cues. We cover Plain Numbers for clearer letters, Talking Bills for live bill read-throughs, and a partnership with Shout for 24/7 text-based mental health support. The bigger vision is a “tell us once” model that responsibly shares data to activate help across utilities and services with a single disclosure. Until then, partnership is the bridge: trusted advocates, human conversations and practical steps that reduce effort and stress.
If this resonates, subscribe, leave a review and share the episode with someone who could benefit. Got feedback or a story to add? Email podcast@breadandbutterthing.org and find us at @TeamTBBT and breadandbutterthing.org.
Hello and welcome back to a slice of bread and butter with me, Mark and Vic. We're from the Bread and Butter Thing.
SPEAKER_01:We run a network of mobile food clubs that take surplus food from supermarkets, farms and factories. We take it straight into communities where families are struggling to get by.
SPEAKER_00:For less than a ten of our members get bags packed with fruit, veg, fridge food, and covered staples. It's a weekly shop that helps stretch the budget and take some pressure off.
SPEAKER_01:Our members are at the heart of everything we do. They turn food into friendship and neighbours into community, and that's what makes us tick.
SPEAKER_00:And today we're having a chat with a team from Anglian Water.
SPEAKER_03:I sit in the customer services side of the business, and my job is to make sure that we're providing an inclusive and accessible service for all of our customers and making sure we take that message out there to those who need it the most.
SPEAKER_02:And my name is Veronica. I'm the Customer Services Partnership Coordinator for Angleen Water. So I sit with Stacy within our team of two. We help to deliver our vulnerability strategy by, as Stacy says, going out to the communities and also promoting our support options.
SPEAKER_03:We cover a really big area of the country, around 12,000 square miles, and we service around seven million customers. So it's a pretty big patch. Just where it dips in under the Humber Bridge, we service from just there and we go all the way down to Essex, furthest part being South End on Sea, and then we go out west to Northampton, the furthest point being Daventry, and then we've got Hartley Pool in the mix as well.
SPEAKER_00:How did bread and butter and Anglian Water come together?
SPEAKER_03:It was around 2023. Research for Veronica and I often leads us to places like Hartley Pool, the Fenlands, and South Lincolnshire, identifying areas where extra support is generally needed. I mean, it's through this research that we identified the bread and butter thing. And we saw this as a really great opportunity because those who may need some extra support are already there in the community hubs. So by aligning our services and offering joined up support where the people actually are, that would help us have the biggest impact.
SPEAKER_00:You came out to us and you've you found us in Boston in Old Leak.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_00:What stood out to you about that and how we interact?
SPEAKER_03:The very first visit there was all very good learning.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, that sounds polite, Stacey.
SPEAKER_03:It really was. Um, so the Old League Community Hub is exactly what it says on the tin. It is the hub of the community. So I can't lie, on my first visit there, it was a little bit of a challenge to get people to speak to me because there's a little bit of hesitance, and I completely understand that. Uh, but again, thanks to Lisa, Rachel, and all the other volunteers, they're able to introduce me to some of the people that were already there before the queues started forming and just help break the ice a little bit, if you like. So there's one particular person who I think took pity on me, if I'm being really honest, and um, after talking to me for a while, I agreed to have a call back for an extra care assessment, which we can give you a bit more insight into what that looks like in a moment. Um, and then when the queues started forming for the actual bread and butter thing, so I walked the line, handing out flyers, and then Rachel backed that up when they came up to their collection point to pick up their shopping. So I returned two weeks later, and that was a whole different experience. Literally couldn't get through the door and because there was a line of people waiting for me. And this is because uh one of the reasons Lisa posted um a bit of a blog about my visit there on uh their Facebook page, and then the lady who I had um organized the callback for shared her experience. She'd received 50% of her ongoing charges. So then everyone was waiting to bite my hand up if you like to take up on that service.
SPEAKER_00:Brilliant. You've touched on a really hot topic for me at the moment, Stacy. The difficulty to engage. Is it a lack of trust? Is it a stigma thing? Is it a bit of both?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, absolutely. We identified that to help that message get out there and land better with our customers, it was received better through third-party organizations, people that they know and that they trust. And that's where the partnership team came from. Um so yeah, you're absolutely right. It's about gaining trust. And the beauty is that the bread and butter thing have already built up this trust with their members. So when we're there having those open conversations with everyone, our messaging lands better because it's backed up by a brand that they know and that they trust.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, the piggyback's the answer. If you come in and do the initial face-to-face, you can start to move away, get online, get on the phone after that. But that initial engagement almost people miss it when it's difficult and when people are in financial hardship, etc., people always still look for that person-to-person engagement, don't they?
SPEAKER_02:With us, the perception of the waterboard still lingers.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And we find that that can be a real barrier to contacting us. I hear feedback from partners a lot that someone's disclosed to them that they have a debt with us, but they're putting off contacting us because they can't afford to pay that bill. The waterboard hasn't existed since 1989, and putting the customer first and doing the right thing has very much taken the place of traditional debt collection now, quite rightly. What we want our customers to know is that the culture within Anglian Water is that we're all human beings and we're Anglian Water customers too.
SPEAKER_03:And whilst we are just on that topic of waterboard, Mark, as well, if I could plug here too. That is um, that is a phrase we are trying to come away from because we're very passionate about supporting our customers, stay safe against bogus callers and scams. If you ask my granddad where I work, it doesn't matter how many times I've told him I don't work for the waterboard, he will tell people that's where I work. So for anyone who's listening to this, or you're supporting anyone, we want them to know that if anyone does use the phrase waterboard, that wouldn't be a legitimate Anglian Water employee. We'd only have introduced ourselves as being from Anglian Water.
SPEAKER_00:It's a really good one to flag, actually, Stacey, because there is a lot of text messaging and bogus phone calls that happen around such things nowadays. So tell me about what you guys are up to then.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, absolutely. So watercare is the name of our support package, and it's broken down into two parts. The parts can be used together or separately dependent on the customer's needs. The practical side is done through our priority services register. We use the register to help us understand which households would need our support if there was an emergency, like a birth pipe. But day to day we can use that register to tailor the way that we communicate as well. That might be because someone would like to speak to us in a different language if their first language isn't English, including sign language. They may want to have extra time to get to the door or the phone because they're not as steady on their feet or they've got a hearing impairment. Wherever our customers are, if they'd like us to send their priority services information over to that network operator, we can do that. It's no extra effort to the customer. Our financial support is done through our extra care assessment, short questionnaire, and it helps us understand more about a household's health and financial circumstances. At the end of the questionnaire, which takes about 15 minutes over the phone, or it can be done online. We can tell you which of our tariffs is most suitable to your household situation. We also make sure that customers are receiving the right benefits and signposts to any other support like reduce rate broadband or a blue badge. So, really providing a one-stop shop for people.
SPEAKER_03:Do our work with the hub in Old League. We've helped the majority of members save 50% on their ongoing charges and access our debt forgiveness schemes as well. Yep. We've identified a product with£67 million worth of unclaimed benefits for our customers. And when we draw that down into the numbers, it works out an uplift of about£433 per eligible household.
SPEAKER_00:Sorry, you've just overwhelmed me, I think.£67 million.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so when they go through that extra care assessment, that unlocks lots of different tariffs. We can give up to 50% off ongoing charges. We've got things like debt forgiveness schemes as well, one where we can match pound for pound what our customer is paying in to help then get back on track. We have our crisis support part as well. So if someone's fallen into difficulty because of a circumstance, there's a part to support there.
SPEAKER_00:So do you know of that 67 million, how much of it is forgiveness and reduced rates versus unclaimed benefits or unheard-of support?
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, so the 67 million is the identification of unclaimed benefits, which is great. But when you look at policy and practice data, actually they they state that SAT within government is a part of 24 billion pounds worth of unclaimed benefits. So we're really making sure we do our part in accessing that.
SPEAKER_00:Do you know which are the common unclaimed benefits or support?
SPEAKER_03:Through work that we do with local authorities, a lot of them use policy and practice platform, LIF platform, and that identifies some of the most unclaimed benefits for that area. So with some work that we've done in Hartleypool with the financial inclusion partnership there, the most unclaimed benefit is pension credit, but shockingly, followed by child benefit, I think the figure was around 21 million, around 10,000 people not claiming child benefit. And that blows my mind when people are hand-to-mouth struggling with affordability, how something like child benefit is going unclaimed. And we did a little bit of research around that, and we've surmised that actually it could be a little bit of confusion around the two-child benefit cap where it comes to universal credit. So we've made sure that our contact centre agents highlight this when they're completing those extra care assessments, just making sure we're plugging in any gaps where we can.
SPEAKER_02:Anecdotally, I've heard a lot from partners about attendance allowance and how attendance allowance is often not applied for because it's misconstrued as a means tested benefit, which it isn't. And so that's the same age group that pension credit supports. So if you combine the two, if you think of um the aging population, especially in Lincolnshire, and the fact that they could be missing out on pension credit and attendance allowance, that's not a small amount of money for somebody.
SPEAKER_00:If we were looking at how we could actually change what we do about tackling affordability and access to essentials, not just water, but all the other benefits, etc., what would it look like for you, Stacy?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I think it's the same for many of us across all of the sectors and in our own personal lives as well. How amazing would it be if we only had to disclose our circumstances, just the wants, and then all of your needs were met. So a tell us want service where there was better, more responsible data sharing. Because the likelihood is if you're struggling with your water, you're going to be struggling with your energy bills. If you're struggling with your energy bills, you're going to be struggling to be putting food on the table. So if there was a tell-us-wants service where we were all able to work together and better utilize data, that would really reduce people's effort in receiving that support.
SPEAKER_00:I love that. Veronica, you go on.
SPEAKER_02:For me, it's sort of a wider, a wider utopian ideal, but why not dream big? Hey, it's the behavioural change, the social change. So we're doing amazingly in the mental health space. Certainly early open conversations about money and budgeting, empowering people to ask questions and explore their options.
SPEAKER_00:We often hear about uh people feeling anxious about talking to people like yourself, like utility companies. So, what are some of the barriers that stop people reaching out for help sooner?
SPEAKER_03:Well, sometimes it can be things like understanding their charges, that can be a big barrier. Utility bills are often full of industry-specific language. Dealing with numbers isn't always easy. And anxiety can also feed into contacting us, especially if perhaps they're struggling with their mental health challenges, or maybe they've just built up quite a balance and they're anxious about taking that first step.
SPEAKER_00:So, how do you address them?
SPEAKER_03:In 2022, we teamed up with an organization called Plain Numbers to make everyday messaging like bills and letters simpler and easier to understand. Or a big service that I'm a huge advocate for is our talking bills. So, if our customers would like their bills to be read to them over the phone by one of our specialist teams, we can absolutely do that. And then there's a stigma around showing vulnerability generally. And the recent shift in conversation around mental health is in 2023, we became the first and only water company to partner with Shout. They are the UK's um only free 24-7 mental health text messaging support service for anyone who's struggling to cope. Shout's team are upskilled in our water care support package as well and can do that warm transfer if it's needed.
SPEAKER_00:One of the things that we talk a lot about is hidden help doesn't help. So we like to try and make more people aware of what's out there. And you mentioned something about support for a certain medical condition.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah, absolutely. So through our work with our partners at Scope, you know, they've absolutely highlighted that if you live with a medical condition or if you live with a disability, life typically costs you around£1,095 more than a household without a disability. And we don't want to feed into that, we want to plug that gap. We have a medical discount part ready to be able to support with that. Um, and this will make sure that your water bill reflects the size of the household and not the medical condition, meaning you're not negatively impacted because of the way that your body works. And this is an industry-first offering, no other water company offers this.
SPEAKER_02:I want to highlight a bit more about what we're doing to help break the stigma because our partners are essential to help us break the stigma. The impact advocacy from trusted partners, like the bread and butter thing, um, can have on how customers receive our support. But especially if some customers are going through really difficult life circumstances like a cancer journey or they've recently been bereaved, you know, hearing our about our support from us is not going to be received and digested in the same way as it would be from their bereavement counsellor or their McMillan nurse. And that's why those partnerships are so incredibly important. It's not just lip service, as Stacy said, it's a real part of our ethos.
SPEAKER_00:It's fantastic. What next? What next for bread and butter and Anglian Water?
SPEAKER_03:Dreaming Big Again, a big utopia for me would be for our water care support package to be advertised at the same time as the membership. And obviously, we want to make sure that we're continuing to develop the relationship and keep visiting the hubs because we're very aware it's not the same clientele each week, and people's circumstances change weekly, don't they? They do. One week you might be in full-time employment, the next week you might have had an accident and not be in full-time employment.
SPEAKER_02:Being a part of the furniture with bread and butter thing will help us to help them. So it's a real give back circular relationship.
SPEAKER_01:So Mark, you got a yellow card from uh Anglian Water. Why is that?
SPEAKER_00:Well, because I said they were the waterboard, but um I obviously I I'm a child of the 80s, so back then they would have been. I'm being generous to myself saying a child of the 80s. I might I'm really a child of the 70s, but there you go. They were still the waterboard in the 70s.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but really not now.
SPEAKER_00:No. No, what they are now, uh, and I I would say the the service and everything that we just discussed is proper gold standard and something that all the other utilities and support services need to consider. Don't just look at yourselves, look at everything, look at the individual and look at their needs rather than how do I reduce their bill from just anglian water? And it, you know, it was amazing the stats that they were coming out with and the level of help that they looked at and the volume of detail, I think. The process that they went through is something that they should all be looking at. Gold standard for me.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, but do you not think that comes down to amazing people delivering that service?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Like the level of care and attention and wanting to do the right thing just really shone out. No judgment, it's really important. Because I guess the water companies, I'd care for them, are classed in many people's perspective as you know, the gas company, the electric company, the council, the just these people that want money from you. And if you've not got that money, they're scary and they're in a call centre and you wait half an hour to chat to them and all of that stuff. So to see that there's genuinely caring people wanting to help people within those organisations, I think is really important.
SPEAKER_00:I couldn't agree more. My only thought about it was maybe for the this particular service from Anglian Water it could do with a rebrand so that it doesn't look like it's from Anglian Water. And then maybe that might reduce some of the stigma, you know?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, potentially. But then I'm also gonna jump on your postcode lottery bandwagon, because if you're not in there at their area's massive, you know, lots of households, but my water doesn't come from them, your water doesn't come from them.
SPEAKER_00:And we don't get supported by them as the result.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So what do United Utilities do for us?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. I'm even Yorkshire water, so yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So yeah, it's the same problem. Postcode lottery with utilities, right?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. And people being brave enough to ask for support and putting themselves on the priority register, because that protects you. So lots of people that might may have caring responsibilities or different disabilities may need water more frequently than other people and may not be able to manage without. And if you're known to them and you've kind of said, I'm in this situation, then they'll prioritize fixing your pipes and things. So it's it's more broader than just saving you cash as well.
SPEAKER_00:No, I I definitely felt that we talk about it being people-led, everything that we do and not necessarily process led. And it was definitely the same. They they they were really invested, they were really, really mattered to them that people could actually get everything that they could possibly be eligible for. And I I I think that was super important. And I and I thought Stacy's one solution, the tell us once type scenario was fantastic. What what a really simple idea, but bloody hell, how effective would that be?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and yeah, all of the bureaucratic, horrible rules coming in the way to say, oh no, that's not possible because so it would be the right thing, it should be across the board, shouldn't it? But even when you go to the council, you gotta tell the left something, and then when you go to a different department, the right's not joined up. So yeah, a bit sad really.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. And well, I know we've said it before, but uh it was good to hear them talking about the uh levels of unclaimed benefits as well. Surprisingly, we're still pension credits given the winter fuel allowance, and there was a big push on pension credits last year.
SPEAKER_01:It's a hard it I I was chatting to some people out at a hub when the winter fuel allowance changed and saying, Well, can you not get through this? and the push. Pushback from our members was really strong about that form isn't easy. It you say that, but it's really hard.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So, you know, it's about the 20-page form that people can't or don't have the time to fill in.
SPEAKER_00:Can you see my cynical daily boppers coming out again? Because there's a there's a reason forms are hard, right? And it's never to do with it needing as much information as they do.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's not to do the right thing, it's to make it, it's to be a barrier, right?
SPEAKER_00:It's not hard to sign up for a social media account, but it's bloody hard to get a benefit.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:One of them wants you, the other one doesn't.
SPEAKER_01:There we go.
SPEAKER_00:So just to go slightly techy and geeky down a rat hole, the day that um Rachel Reeves stood up and delivered the autumn statement budget, um, I had a little chat with an AI bot, just a warning. Uh and it was like 6 pm, and I'm busy decorating round the house, asking it questions about the budget. And I said, uh, has the uh two-child benefit cap been lifted? And it came back and said, No, it hasn't. She's chosen not to do that, and that's a really cynical point. And against that all of her backbenchers, I would imagine there'll be some revolt to that. And I'm I'm like, Okay, I think I'm gonna go away and check everything that you've just told me.
SPEAKER_01:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so be mindful, be mindful of these AI tools.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, well, I don't ask them to read the news for me, so I didn't.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I suppose I did. I was asking it to do a deeper dive, but there you go. I I was too busy doing things with my hand to type.
SPEAKER_01:It was probably too soon. Maybe the next day you would have got a better response. So um interesting about when the service providers go to our hubs, if you just stand in there and no one's gonna go up to you. But if you're gonna have a brew and have a mingle and chat about the weather and do all those English things, then you break down the barriers. And then once a few people have seen, you know, it's that local trust, isn't it? Like, oh yeah, oh, they weren't talking nonsense, they can deliver for us, right? And then the floodgates open and everyone's getting support.
SPEAKER_00:That one Facebook post in that tight community changed it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Next time Stacy had a queue.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it feels like she's sorted out the majority of the old leak community, to be honest.
SPEAKER_00:Which is brilliant.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. But the engagement is massive, and people don't trust the flyer, or they're right in saying it needs to come from another trusted third party that's gonna break down those barriers.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. So my key takeaway, as I sort of started with, uh, gold standard as a support service, definitely something that others should look at and lean into.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Others, as in other utility providers, not just utility providers, it could be anybody that's looking to provide that wide support around income maximization, right? Don't just focus on your own sector. You've got to look at the individual rather than look at the one utility, say. And they do it brilliantly.
SPEAKER_01:And in some ways, they are kind of doing the tell us once because they're hearing someone's situation.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And whilst it's not like a system that's linked up with other organizations, they're kind of going, right, you've told me all of this, and I know that you'll tick that box and you'll tick that box. So they are demystifying what supports out there for people, which is which is huge.
SPEAKER_00:If you'd like to know more about the bread and butter thing and what we get up to, you can find us at Team TBBT on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and on LinkedIn and online at breadandbutterthing.org.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and if you've got any feedback or thoughts on the podcast, or you want to come on and join us, drop us an email at podcast at breadandbutterthing.org.
SPEAKER_00:And we're always open to new members at all of our hubs. So if you or someone you know will benefit from our affordable food schemes, you can find your nearest hub on the Become a Member pages of the website.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and please do all those things that podcasts asks you to do. Like us, subscribe, leave us a review, share us with your friends, and have a chat about us on social.
SPEAKER_00:So massive thanks to Anglia and Water for what they did. Uh gold star from us, and we'll see you next time.
SPEAKER_01:See ya.
