By Daniel Oliver, Head of Programmes at Greater Manchester Poverty Action (GMPA)
GMPA’s Money Matters programme has so far helped Trafford and Manchester families to gain £201,317 in household income.
Our Money Matters programme launched in June 2022 and has since gone from strength to strength, delivering debt and benefit advice in and via local schools to reach those who may not otherwise access advice and support services.
Our Financial Inclusion Officer, Manjeet McCartney, has been active in local schools to promote and deliver this service, including having a presence at parents’ evenings and other school events.
To date, Money Matters has secured gains for local families including the following:
- Jayne and Stuart are married and live in a housing association property with their three children, one of whom is living with disabilities. They contacted Money Matters as they were struggling with the rising cost of living. A benefit check found that they were claiming what they were entitled to in legacy benefits, however that they would be better off if they transferred to claiming Universal Credit. In total, the change to claiming Universal Credit led to an additional £321 per month for their family, or £3,852 per year.
- Emma lost her job shortly before contacting Money Matters. She had already applied for Universal Credit, however we found that she was also eligible for Council Tax Support. Emma had always worked and was unsure of what she may also be entitled to, as she thought that the Universal Credit process would identify any additional entitlements. With the support of Money Matters, Emma accessed Council Tax Support worth £901.44 a year for her family, alongside a one-off top-up of £49 for her gas meter.
- Jackie is a mother of four children, with two of the children living with disabilities. Money Matters helped Jackie to access additional Child Element on her Universal Credit as two of the children are twins, and to access an additional Disabled Child Element. In total, the gains for Jackie’s family are worth £11,297.40 per year. We are now supporting Jackie to access backdated payments worth over £3,000. Jackie said:
“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.. The outcome you helped us reach is genuinely life changing.”
We are pleased that Money Matters has been able to support families who have an increased risk of experiencing poverty. This includes 42% of families supported by Money Matters having someone in their household living with a long-term health condition or disability, and 49% of families being from ethnic minorities.
As part of GMPA’s strategic priority to boost household incomes and financial resilience, we are expanding Money Matters to support more families with maximising their household income. This includes extending the programme to more Trafford schools and to Stockport and Rochdale. In line with our theory of change, we are using learning from the programme to advocate for a greater focus among funders and decision makers on locating advice services within trusted community settings, including in schools. To support this we are co-hosting a parliamentary roundtable in January. Watch this space for more details.
Thank you to Kellogg’s for their ongoing support for Money Matters since its launch, our new funding partners and to Citizens Advice SORT (Stockport, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford) for enabling delivery of the advice offer.
If you are interested in bringing Money Matters to your community then please contact Daniel Oliver.
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