A DEBT advice service which has helped hundreds of York people over the past 12 months is facing the axe because of Government cuts.

The Citizens Advice Bureau warned a decision to scrap funding for its debt service in March would be a “disaster” for York people.

The Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF) was established in 2006 to give free, unbiased debt advice to people on low incomes who were struggling to control their finances, and the team has seen 485 clients aged 17 to 82 over the past year, with total debts approaching £10 million.

Debt worker Kevin Butler said: “The smallest total debt was £700 with the largest debt being close to £200,000.

“Debts can occur because of such problems as job loss, relationship or health breakdown.

“The FIF scheme has helped many people desperate to resolve their debt problems and wanting to be able to move on with their lives without the threat of serious action from their creditors.”

He said he feared further public-sector redundancies and the expected rise in interest rates meant the CAB believed demand would soar rather than fall in the short to medium term.

George Vickers, chief executive of York CAB, said people had sent notes and cards saying how it had helped them turn their lives around.

“One client wrote: ‘It’s so nice now not to have all the stress and worry and now I have learned to live within my budget, etc.’ “A woman, thanking us for help with bankruptcy, wrote: ‘I couldn’t have done it without you’.

“If the Government does not decide to reverse this decision the people of York will lose this invaluable service.”

He said the CAB was working on a plan for its paid specialists to share their knowledge with volunteers so it could help more people. “However, this will never be a service that volunteers can deliver alone because they need specialist support.

“If we lose this funding we will lose the expertise of our debt caseworkers,” he said.

He said the CAB was lobbying York Central MP Hugh Bayley and York Outer MP Julian Sturdy and looking at alternative sources of funding.


Service ‘lifesaver’

A WOMAN has told how York CAB’s debt advice service was a “lifesaver” when she sank £15,000 into debt and became so depressed she needed antidepressants.

Elizabeth Dobson, 48, from the Fishergate area of the city, said: “I was at rock bottom. I felt suicidal. They were a lifesaver to me.

“They helped me tremendously. I owed £15,000 and wasn’t earning enough to pay it. I had had a heart attack and was working part-time.”

She said she had been “harassed” by her bank to borrow far more than she could afford and, following the CAB’s intervention, the sum had been written off.

With the organisation’s help, she had remained debt-free. She said she would be “very unhappy” if cuts meant that other people in a similar plight to her did not receive the same help and support.