Read our Annual Services Report

Today we have published our Annual Services Report for 2022. Our analysis shows that rail workers are facing increasing hardship because of the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, with trends showing younger people are most affected, needing help with debt support and feeding themselves or their families.

Other key findings show that:

• 1 in 4 of all RBF cases are people who face losing their homes
• On average, two people came to RBF every month because they couldn’t feed themselves or their families – usually after they had accessed local food banks, meaning that the RBF was their last line of support
• The average demographic has changed from a former railway worker in their 60s in need of funeral support (2018) to a current railway worker in their 40s in need of debt support (2022)
• Total financial support increased by 25 per cent on 2021 and demand has more than tripled in the last five years (204 applications in 2018 to 729 applications in 2022)
• As a direct response to the cost-of-living crisis, the RBF launched the energy support fund, with more than a thousand enquiries received and grants awarded totalling £39,000