Recently, the demand for our services has hit a record high - and we gave £40,000 in grants in February alone. That's the equivalent of £1, each and every minute.

Thousands of teachers contact us each year, facing real financial hardship. They come to us with a range of problems and issues and they vary in age, from newly qualified teachers to elderly retirees. But what they do have in common is their sense of desperation and a feeling that they have nowhere else to turn.

Fazia, 38 is a former teacher. She has a teenage son with severe learning difficulties. Both Fazia and her husband have had to give up work to become full-time carers. Fazia explained how her son can be extremely violent and often causes damage at home - but they simply can't afford to continue repairing and replacing things. Our team were able to provide counselling for Fazia, as she was feeling very depressed and anxious and also gave a one-off grant of £500 to repair a window and replace some kitchen appliances. Fazia sent our counsellors a thank you card and told us that she was hoping to go back to teaching in the near future.

As the economic situation worsens, many people are driven to despair - and, as we are experiencing at the charity, teachers are no different. But please take a minute to remember that many of our colleagues and former colleagues will be struggling just to make ends meet.

Last year we gave grants worth more than £250,000  to teachers facing financial hardship  Our vital services were used 183,367  times by teachers in need  14,421 teachers called our confidential Support Line for one-to-one support

Please can you help us to support teachers in need in 2010, by sending a donation today? Click here* Our services our confidential. To make sure that people who have used our services remain anonymous we have changed names, amalgamated stories and used models for the picture. However this case study is an accurate portrayal of the people we help and how we help them.