This report tells the stories of five people who have recently been supported by British Red Cross staff and volunteers. They show the value of time-limited practical and emotional support which responds to people’s individual needs and wishes at times of transition and vulnerability. This personalised support has helped all of these people live independently and with dignity in their communities. While the outcomes for individuals speak for themselves, it is increasingly important to be able to show how preventative services such as ours deliver savings for statutory partners. To support us in evaluating these savings, we asked nef consulting (new economics foundation) to carry out an independent economic analysis of our work with these people. They have assessed the costs which could have been incurred by the state to treat and deliver care to these 1 five people had our services not been there. They have estimated that our support delivered savings of between £700 and £10,430 per person. This reflects a minimum return on investment of over three and a half times 2 the cost of our service , and in most cases significantly more. We know how valuable our services are to the people we support, their families and their carers. This report shows the value they also deliver every day to a range of statutory services, bridging gaps between professionals and saving money. 1. The challenges of varying service provision and access criteria should be acknowledged. It is possible that these people may not have been able to access every service that they could have benefited from, and where appropriate, we have distinguished between projected and potential additional savings. The photographs used in this publication are of models and there is no intention to associate any of them with any of the 2. Costs depend on the length and frequency of support provided by each service. In these case studies, costs range from £90 conditions or circumstances referred to in this publication. Names have been changed to protect anonymity. to £330 per service user. 1