Financial help scheme extended for further two years

A scheme to help people improve their employment options through managing their money better has broken all targets and been extended for a further two years.

Better Off Finance was launched across the Liverpool City Region in 2016 with the aim of helping 800 residents from the local authority areas of Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Liverpool, Sefton and Wirral.

The £2.4m programme, funded by Building Better Opportunities via the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund, was delivered by a range of agencies, including Citizens Advice and RAISE, an independent charity providing free advice and training around welfare benefits, debt, and money management issues, with social enterprise The Women’s Organisation as the lead agency.

Better Off Finance provides support to people facing challenges moving towards, or accessing, employment opportunities, and those who, due to a lack of financial capabilities, face barriers that can make it more difficult when trying to find, and
keep, a job.

It aims to help people improve their financial capability through managing money and progressing into training or education opportunities to allow them to become work-ready, digitally-skilled and included.

It has now signed up its 1,000th participant, which the managing agencies say proves it is now more relevant than ever against a background of continuing austerity measures and cuts to social welfare.

Among the success stories so far is Catharine Ramage who left her teaching job due to illness in 2011, and was more or less unemployed for seven years.

She joined the Better Off Finance programme and with her key worker’s support managed to save £100 a month. She said: “I really feel like he has given me tools for life to maximise my income and minimise my outgoings. I always tended to bury my head when it came to this stuff – now I have the confidence to find and negotiate better deals for monthly necessities.”

Through the programme she worked with support agencies Enterprise Hub and The Women’s Organisation, which has offices in Liverpool and Manchester, to eventually set up her own business, ‘Catharine Ramage Editorial’.

She is now an editor and proof-reader able to bring written work to publishing standard. She has edited documents for a range of academic journals and textbooks and written several educational textbooks for children learning English.

“I am now a business owner running my own editorial business from home – Enterprise Hub has allowed me to achieve this in less than a year.”

This, in turn, has enabled Catharine to buy her own house – a dream she had once given up on when claiming benefits.

The programme has now been extended through the Building Better Opportunities fund for an additional two years.

The Women’s Organisation business adviser, Jo Mountfort, said: “This project has come at a crucial time where the austerity agenda and welfare reform are having a significant impact on our society.

“We are working to support those most affected and seeing people make positive changes in their lives.

“Being able to offer such a bespoke service means that we are supporting participants get to the heart of their issues with the help and support of expert colleagues at Citizens Advice and RAISE.”

Hitesh Patel, chief officer of Citizens Advice Halton, added: “Citizens Advice has been supporting people by offering money advice services for a long time, but with Better Off Finance we have the opportunity to work in partnership with The Women’s Organisation and RAISE, making the programme more accessible to people around the Liverpool City Region.”