
Designing out Poverty or Delivering Change? Three Urgent Lessons from the Frontline
Through Angels Connect, we’re committed to telling the truth about what’s really happening to people navigating the UK’s welfare system. In our recent blogs: “Realities on the Frontline” and “Part 2: Sean’s Story” we’ve shared painful, real-life experiences of what happens when the benefits system fails to function as intended. But these stories aren’t rare. They’re not unfortunate exceptions. They’re systemic.
And that’s exactly the problem.
We cannot read these accounts and stay silent. So in this post, we want to turn those truths into action. Here are three urgent recommendations, drawn directly from the frontline, for designing a system that truly delivers justice and dignity for those in crisis.
1. Design with Real Lives in Mind, Not Just Policy Targets
The stories shared so far, particularly Sean’s, expose the human cost of a system that prioritises rigid process over responsiveness. Sean followed every instruction. He did what was asked of him. Yet, his health worsened, his claim was riddled with errors, and at one point, there was even discussion of him being sectioned because of the distress the process caused.
Recommendation:
Welfare reform must be co-designed with people who have lived experience. Their insight should shape policy, not be treated as an afterthought. Government departments should work alongside organisations like Angels Connect to gather qualitative data and build trauma – informed systems of support.
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2. End the Digital Hostility – Make Communication Human Again
One of the loudest messages from both blog posts is the sheer frustration of unanswered messages, faceless portals, and robotic replies. The Universal Credit system is not just failing to act, it’s failing to listen. The silence after sending a journal message doesn’t just delay help; it actively damages mental health and breeds distrust.
Recommendation:
Create clear, accountable communication pathways. Every journal message should be responded to within 72 hours by a named caseworker. Better yet, invest in community-based partnerships, like Angels Connect’s Money Angels, to offer warm, in-person advocacy that can bridge the growing gap between client and system.
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3. Invest in Early, Trusted Intervention
In both posts, the difference-maker wasn’t the system, it was a person. A trusted advisor. A Money Angel. Someone willing to sit with the claimant, chase the DWP, hold the pieces together, and stay in the room when everything else was falling apart. This is the heart of Angels Connect: not just connecting people to advice, but building relational bridges that carry people from crisis to stability.
Recommendation:
Government and funders must stop seeing “signposting” as a weak substitute for advice. It’s the starting point that changes everything. Programmes like Angels Connect should be funded not just as pilots or add-ons, but as an essential part of the advice ecosystem; offering scalable, tech-enabled models that are built around people, not paperwork.
Final Thought
When the system itself becomes the threat, we have a moral responsibility to do better. These aren’t just policy problems, they’re people problems. And they need people-first solutions.
The stories we’ve shared are hard to read. But they’re even harder to live. Let’s not just know better. Let’s do better.
💬 Find out how you or your organisation could connect more people to life-changing advice by getting in touch to arrange an introductory conversation/ demo today.