We've been supporting people in Reading for over 70 years - helping them to help themselves. We give advice face-to-face, by the telephone and online to people struggling with debt, benefits, employment, housing and discrimination. Anyone in Reading can use our service. People come from all walks of life, since a life crisis can happen to anyone, at any time.
We also work hard to prevent problems by:
- giving 'money awareness' training to young people.
- building links to vulnerable groups
- spotting emerging issues which we take to national level to influence Government policy.
The demand for our service is already greater than we can meet. Last year we had to turn away over 2,000 people because we just didn't have the resources to help them. Now the economic downturn and the Government's Welfare Reform Programme are increasing demand even further.
We stretch our income as far as it will go, but it costs £1,500 and takes a year to train a volunteer to be a high-quality advisor. Our existing sources of funding are becoming more uncertain and we are working constantly to try and find new funding. Your support is really important.