ExcludedUK members have just heard about another tragedy. A seventeenth person among them has taken their own life.

‘It’s absolutely devastating. And those seventeen are just the ones we know about.  We’re convinced there are more,’ says Alex Lacey, a volunteer with the group.

ExcludedUK is a grassroots organisation representing the three million people who’ve been excluded from Covid-19 income support packages. They campaign to end these exclusions and provide support and advice to people who are struggling.

‘What did the government expect would happen?’ says Alex. ‘Some people have lost their homes and are faced with mountains of debt. Others have lost their careers. Some have lost their family.’

People are excluded for a raft of reasons. Self-employed people with low profits or profits above £50,000 a year, workers on PAYE short-term freelance contracts, new starters at jobs and directors of small businesses are some of the affected.  Most excluded people are self-employed.

And the government’s reasons for those exclusions have been tenuous at best. In a statement, the Treasury said: ‘While we acknowledge it has not been possible to support everyone in the way they might want, our schemes were designed to target support at those who need it most, while protecting public money against error, fraud, and abuse.’

They also point to the millions of jobs and incomes they have supported: 9.9 million people have received furlough, and 2.7 million people have been able to claim from SEISS – support which has often been insufficient, but better than nothing.

The help others are getting is of no consolation to people like Julie Convy. She and her partner Gerry have had to take out a government ‘Bounce Back’ loan to keep paying rent.

‘They’re happy to go on about all the people they’ve helped but they’re not willing to address the decimation they’ve caused the rest of us,’ she says. ‘They say the Bounce Back loans are support for business, but they aren’t. It’s added stress to take on debt when you’re not earning.’

Gerry works as a performance coach in the motorsports industry. He’s tried to move his business to Zoom, but Julie, who works as a part time hairdresser, estimates they’ve lost £50,000 in income this year.

‘We had to take the loan to keep the roof over our heads, because my husband has three children.  We couldn’t afford the rent. You get a year of no repayments but that’s coming up, so they’ll be chasing us soon,’ she says, adding that the government has been ‘absolutely blinkered’ to those excluded from the support schemes.

Both Julie and Gerry are taking medication for stress. ‘We’re talking about lives, livelihoods, and families here,’ she says.

ExcludedUK formed in May 2020, and now have 30,000 members. In addition to campaigning, they fundraise to offer grants to people in need, and they provide free counselling for people in mental health crisis.  Group volunteers have been trained in mental health first aid.

Their pressure on government has been highly visible, and they’ve achieved backing from the likes of Martin Lewis, Gina Miller, and billionaire Tory donor John Cauldwell. The issue of exclusion has been raised over 1,000 times in Parliament in the past year.

But with the exception of a few concessions, such as extending grants to newly self-employed people in the March 2021 budget, the government has not given ground.

Nikki Rice is a self-employed maternity reflexologist. She’s excluded, and can’t claim Universal Credit because her husband earns above the threshold, which she says has left her in an uncomfortable state of dependence.

‘I’ve paid tax since the age of 22,’ she adds. ‘How dare they assume my husband should support me. What family in the UK could honestly afford to lose a wage overnight? I’ve still got three kids to feed and my electric and gas has gone up.’

Nikki’s state of fear is one shared by other members. ‘I’m genuinely afraid that I’m going to lose my home,’ says Nick Burton, who runs a commercial catering repair business with her partner Robert. ‘We’ve come to the end of our mortgage holiday now. I know it sounds ridiculous but I’m too afraid to talk to them in case they pull the rug out from under us.

‘I’m scared of the post coming. I’m scared of the phone ringing because I don’t know who it is and if they want money off us. I am constantly scared.’

Nick considers herself ‘lucky’, because unlike Nikki, she’s able to claim Universal Credit. She and Robert have also managed because her mother gives them money from her state pension.

‘Last April, my 75-year-old mum walked three miles into town and three miles back to send me money from the bank so I could pay bills. She’s a recovering agoraphobic so she won’t get on a bus if she can help it. It’s heartbreaking,’ she says.

Nick is struggling with her mental health and has tried to access NHS talking therapy, but has been refused. ‘I have to make a conscious decision every day that I’m going to live. That can be really quite difficult at times,’ says Nick.

Alex adds that it’s the disparity between the different support schemes that grates the most – and that shows the widespread lack of logic behind the government’s Covid response. ‘With the self-employment income support scheme, if you’d normally earn over £50,000, you get nothing – but if you earn hundreds of thousands of pounds, you can still get furlough.’

As a volunteer, Alex says that ExcludedUK will continue to fight for parity and to get compensation for people whose lives and finances have been destroyed by exclusion. But she also says that the group will continue to help its members long after Covid.

‘We’re going to be supporting everybody in getting back to work, helping those who have to change career and helping people get support they need. We want to help people get some semblance of living their lives again.’