Salisbury charity to launch money advice service
Swan Advocacy is concerned that more people in the city will need support this winter.
The charity's been given £9,700 of support from the Wiltshire Community Foundation towards setting up the service.
That money's come from their Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund, which has so far raised £1.1 million to be distributed to groups and charities across the county.
Swan Advocacy is expecting to see a rise in demand for support this winter, due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and the financial pressures that's bringing many people.
Liz Dore has been volunteering with the service for the last decade and explains the sorts of challenges they're likely to deal with:
"We know that the Government furlough scheme is coming to an end, we know that premises are closing, we know that businesses are laying people off, and so we're seeing more and more people needing help with budgeting, debts and just trying to get through this crisis."
The service will have 12 trained money advisers - a third of which used to work with a similar scheme run by the Trussell Trust in Salisbury.
It's hoped the Swan support will be able to start taking referrals from November.
Volunteer Liz Dore says they'll be helping people with basic budgeting:
"That means sitting down with them and working out what their income is; whether they can claim any benefits, particularly if they've suddenly lost an amount of their income; whether they've got any debts, we help them reduce ther outgoings. Really, budgeting's a skill for life and if people don't learn that then they find themselves back in debt again."
Swan will operate the service from the Baptist Church on Brown Street, but will also have an outreach centre in Bemerton Heath.
Wiltshire Community Foundation joint chief executive Fiona Oliver said:
"One of the core reasons for launching our fund is to help groups tackle the fallout from the pandemic and it is clear that a great many people are at risk of falling into poverty. Essential advice and information from groups like SWAN Advocacy will make all the difference in helping families keep their head above water and we are delighted to be able to support it."