{"id":84,"date":"2015-11-30T18:44:25","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T18:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/?p=84"},"modified":"2015-11-30T18:44:25","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T18:44:25","slug":"how-community-projects-are-taking-on-the-debt-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/?p=84","title":{"rendered":"How community projects are taking on the debt crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government\u2019s\u00a0u-turn decision to cap payday loans<\/a>\u00a0this week has been welcomed by many charities and campaigning organisations, not least by our very own\u00a0Community Investment Coalition (CIC)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One of the main reasons CDF is involved in the CIC campaign is because it aligns with our mission-led objective of ensuring that all communities have fair access to resources. In real terms, we are striving to ensure that people living in economically challenged circumstances are not unfairly penalised by the absence of mainstream credit providers, where they are often instead pushed towards using high-cost credit to fund their daily activities. You don\u2019t need me to tell you about the damaging effect that this debt can have on people\u2019s quality of life.<\/p>\n

But here at CDF, we\u2019re coming across a number of examples of where community-focused organisations \u2013 including housing associations \u2013 are coming together to tackle debt (and it\u2019s causes) in their local communities. Below are a few examples of the fantastic work they are doing and you can find the full case studies on our website.<\/p>\n

Housing associations taking on the payday lenders<\/h3>\n

We\u2019ve seen some of the members of the\u00a0PlaceShapers network<\/a>, which connects over 100 housing associations across England and Wales, taking on the payday lenders themselves.<\/p>\n

Take the\u00a0Northern Housing Consortium<\/a>\u00a0which has taken on the \u201cBuy now, pay later\u201d companies by launching www.smarterbuys.org.uk, where tenants can buy essentials at massively discounted prices. Through the site they can also access socially responsible finance through credit unions and CDFIs.<\/p>\n

And the\u00a0Shoreline Housing partnership<\/a>\u00a0in North East Lincolnshire, which will soon offer a Credit Union-based Bill Paying Account to tenants who need access to affordable credit. Tenants can elect to have their benefits paid directly into the managed account; payments will then be paid out to utilities, landlord, insurances etc. and surplus funds can be loaded onto a pre-paid debit card or paid into an account of the tenant\u2019s choice.<\/p>\n

Volunteer-run debt advice community organisations<\/h3>\n

Our Community First programme analysis also shows that a number of funded projects are providing advice and support to people in debt. One such organisation is\u00a0Harlesden Money Advice (HMA)<\/a>\u00a0in North West London, which received two \u00a32,000 Community First grants. The money has been used to help with the running costs of their free and impartial debt advice service, run entirely by volunteers.<\/p>\n

The volunteer advisers help people in the local community who have found themselves in debt. Often people whose life changed after they lost their job and couldn\u2019t keep up with payments. People like Jess.<\/p>\n

Jess was diagnosed with a long-term illness in 2008, meaning she lost her regular income, spiralling her and her daughter into a life of debt. One day she turned to HMA, with several plastic carrier bags full of creditors\u2019 letters in tow. She needed to make sense of the \u00a316,000 worth of debt she had accrued so she could escape the constant fear of bailiffs knocking on her door.<\/p>\n

After the community project\u2019s advisers took the time to sort through the letters and negotiated realistic payment plans with the creditors, Jess no longer receives aggressive calls, nor does she live in fear of the bailiffs knocking. Her debts are now manageable and she feels in control of her life again.<\/p>\n

About the CIC campaign<\/h3>\n

So far the CIC campaign has focused on pressing for new legislation and changes to existing legislation to make sure that the development of alternative financial supply has a fair chance of succeeding. We have made good headway \u2013 look out for further news on the voluntary disclosure of lending data by the main banks towards the end of this year. But we know, too, that whilst demand for fair credit continues to soar, the supply remains limited and ad hoc. As is so often the case, community-based organisations move in to respond to market failure.<\/p>\n

We want to use these inspiring examples to demonstrate the potential of locally-based solutions, in the hope that we can achieve national support for structural and systemic change (and investment). If we can influence who provides fair and accessible financial services and support, where it is needed and when it is needed, we might then begin to see the reversal of this frightening trend in debt and all of the associated damage this causes to people in our society.<\/p>\n

Full case studies can be viewed on the\u00a0Community Investment Coalition page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

– See more at: http:\/\/www.cdf.org.uk\/blog-2-december-2013-how-community-projects-are-taking-on-the-debt-crisis\/#sthash.sHFPBI6T.dpuf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stories of the devastating impact of debt on individuals and communities are never far from the headlines. The Government\u2019s u-turn decision to cap payday loans this week has been welcomed by many charities and campaigning organisations, not least by our very own Community Investment Coalition (CIC). Here are examples of where community organisations, including housing associations, are tackling debt in their own areas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,52,56,72,92,123,145,149,156,169],"class_list":["post-84","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cdf","tag-campaign","tag-community-finance-projects","tag-community-investment-coalition","tag-debt","tag-fair-credit","tag-legislation","tag-payday-loans","tag-placeshapers","tag-quality-of-life","tag-social-housing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alisonseabrooke.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}