How NLC volunteer Andreia saved Carlinda £63…and more!

Please note: this post is 145 months old and The Cares Family is no longer operational. This post is shared for information only

On Saturday, regular North London Cares volunteer Andreia took a short trip to see her near-neighbour Carlinda...to try to help her reduce her phone bills.

Carlinda, a native of Brazil but an Islington local for 30 years, had been paying drastically over the odds on her phone bills.

Worse still, she'd been without a phone line at all for three months -- but charged £63 in line rental and fees regardless.

When North London Cares heard about this through our partners Help on Your Doorstep, we thought it was unfair.

So we put word out to our volunteer network to find someone who could help Carlinda get her bills down.

And who better to help than Portuguese Londonder and NLC superstar Andreia (remember her, from the Harvist Estate Street Party in June)?

Andreia spent a lovely couple of hours chatting (in Portuguese!) with Carlinda about life in Brazil, her family and what brought her to London.

And most satisfyingly, after a long conversation with her provider, Andreia helped Carlinda save £63 right away by eliminating those fees and unfairly charged rental -- and negotiated her onto a better tariff, saving an additional £20 per quarter from here on in.

That's the way to spend a Saturday afternoon -- helping an older neighbour with practical support, saving her over £100 this winter, and feeling rewarded for a good deed in return.