I was so excited to be offered part-time work – then I tried to find out what universal credit I’d get | Sophie

This benefit is meant to help people like me. The reality has been utterly frustrating, and I still don’t know what I’m due

• This article is part of the heat or eat diaries: a series from the frontline of Britain’s cost of living emergency

I have started a new job – my first paid work since my early 20s – and it has done wonders for my mental health. The food bank I’ve been volunteering at four days a week for the past few years offered me a part-time position and I was so happy to take it, even though it was daunting. I have been out of paid employment for so long that I’d lost a lot of confidence, but this job has made me feel a lot better about myself.

What hasn’t been great is dealing with the universal credit system. I have been on the benefit since it was introduced, and I tried to find out how much financial help I will be entitled to now that I’m in part-time work. I thought that should be quite easy, because the government supposedly wants people to get back into work, but I just hit brick walls.

As told to Emine Saner. Sophie is in her 40s and lives in the north of England. Her name has been changed

The Trussell Trust is an anti-poverty charity that campaigns to end the need for food banks. Show your support at: trusselltrust.org/guardian

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