City residents urged not to face debt alone

A pioneering Leicester project to help improve people’s money confidence is encouraging people to not face debt alone and get help sooner, during National Debt Awareness Week (January 20-24).

Leicester Money Wise, a Big Lottery funded project, supports people to understand the financial choices they have, increase access to mainstream banking for social housing tenants and improve people’s ability to manage their money.

The Money Wise project is a partnership with Action Homeless, Community Advice Law and Service, The Y, Leicester City Council and all major social housing providers in the city. The funding bid was made Leicester’s voluntary and community sector consortium, Reaching People, with ASRA Housing Group as the managing partner.

A recent survey of people in Leicester city centre conducted by Moneywise showed that 38% of people asked would like support in managing their finances – and of this group only 12.5% said they had some savings and nobody had house insurance. Further answers showed that this group had little access to main stream credit, relying on catalogues and payday loans to get by.

Figures from national debt charity Step Change, which runs National Debt Week, show from 2011 to 2012 there was an increase of 109% in the number of people with payday loans and 42% of clients aged under 25 had payday loan debts, up from 25% in 2011.

Amanda Hack, head of economic development at ASRA Housing Group, said: “Our message is very clear – if you are a social housing tenant and have money worries then we are here to help you. The advice is free and independent from the housing provider.

“The period after Christmas can be a very difficult one, especially for those in debt as more bills start to come through. We would encourage anyone who is facing financial problems to speak to us as we can help now – don’t leave it any longer to get your finances back on track.”

Over the next four years Money Wise aims to particularly help those aged 18-25, those who have experienced recent changes in their employment, and those new to social housing by offering advice on managing money. This will be done through one-to-one sessions and throughout the project, group work, interactive gaming, online support, mentoring and a resident network.

For more information visit www.getmoneywise.org.uk or call 0116 242 1153.

Help available for Leicester residents in social housing