Di Forbes loves working for a debt charity, but the growing number of people in financial distress means it’s becoming increasingly challenging to help them.
“It feels endless… it just doesn’t stop,” she said of asking Money Buddies for help in Leeds.
The charity’s boss, Saleem Shafi, told the BBC: “We are facing a debt tsunami and the sector is at breaking point.”
Citizens Advice, Step Change and Christians Against Poverty said they’ve also seen record requests for help.
- What do I do if I can’t afford to pay my debt?
Mr Shafi, Chief Executive of Money Buddies, told me that the rising number of people in debt means government funding through the Money and Pensions Service is not going far enough.
“We urgently need more money to employ more staff,” he said.
“Our staff is under far too much pressure to help three times as many people as we did at this point last year,” he said.
So I asked him if I could spend a day with one of his frontline employees and see firsthand the pressures they are under. “Sure,” he said. “I only know the woman.”
That’s how I ended up in the passenger seat of Di’s car on a cold late January morning as I drove to the Trussell Trust’s food bank at Epiphany Church in Gipton, Leeds.
Di works full-time as a money buddy and describes it as a triage.
“I get as many basics as I can from each person and then point them in the right direction. I refer them to our benefits team, our debt team, a chalkboard or a charity that recharges energy,” she says. Di says more people are coming to her for help than ever before – and national charities have told the BBC they recognize the experience.
Citizens Advice said it has helped more than 200,000 people with crisis support over the past 12 months, such as: B. Recommendations from food banks. She warned that 2023 could be “the year of the debt crisis”.
StepChange said the number of clients advised was up 78% in December and 34% in January compared to a year earlier. Christians Against Poverty said it is also seeing increasing demand for its services – particularly emergency relief. The charity said rising costs mean its funding doesn’t go as far.
The Treasury said it had invested £90m in free debt advice in England, helping people avoid debt with assistance worth an average of £3,500 per household.
- talk to someone You are not alone and there is help. A trained debt counselor can explain the options to you. Here are some organizations you can get in touch with.
- take control Citizens Advice suggests that you find out how much you owe, to whom, what debts you owe most, and how much you have to pay each month.
- Ask for a payment plan. For example, utilities must give you a chance to pay off your debt before taking action to recover the money
- Check if you get the right money. Use the independent MoneyHelper website or performance calculators operated by Policy in Practice and the charities Entitledto and Turn2us
- Please take a breather. If you are receiving debt advice in England and Wales you can request a break to protect yourself from further interest and charges for up to 60 days.
Tackling together: More tips on dealing with debt
When we arrive, a woman is waiting in line for the food distribution. We do not identify her or anyone else Di speaks to because many of them are extremely vulnerable.
Di starts chatting with the woman and realizes that she can point her to benefits she’s entitled to, but didn’t know how to claim them.
After that, Di says to me, “I think she can see some light at the end of a very long tunnel.”
Di discovers an email from an elderly man telling her he has been paid £200 after she helped him make a claim.
“It’s a huge amount for him. It will make a big difference,” she says.
“I like the small wins. I like it when someone gets what they deserve, what they need, make them safe, fix them. I love that,” she says.
Just as the food bank is closing, an 18-year-old woman bursts in, just in time for a grocery package and a quick chat with Di. She had just left the foster care system and was struggling to get by on her own. Di helped her get a meal voucher and an emergency top-up for her energy prepayment meter.
We were delayed from the church hall, and by the time we got to the Armley Community Hub, where Di holds a weekly drop-in service, she practically ran up the steps.
There’s already a queue and she didn’t have time for lunch. Once again. As she opens a package, she tells me, “I’m considering sharing my lunch, and that’s not an unusual thing either.”
Di settles into an adjoining room and helps two women with emergency food and energy charges.
Next, she helps a woman with an eight-week-old baby and no money on her prepaid meter heat her home.
“It feels endless,” she says. “It’s like a tsunami, it just won’t stop.”
Two other people can be seen who have been waiting to speak to her for four hours.
Finally, an hour after Tue was supposed to call it a day, we turn off the light. But the day is not over yet.
Di still has a few baby bank recommendations for folks on the poverty line tonight.
“So now I’m going to go home, make some tea and get on with it,” she says.
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