£500k to help foil Hyndburn loan sharks

8:00pm Thursday 30th August 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Emma Cruces, Reporter

A LOTTERY windfall of £500,000 will help set up a town centre task force to stop a borough’s residents falling victim to both illegal and legal loan sharks.

The new Hyndburn Financial Confidence Project will include outreach workers, a drop-in centre, and special financial course, aimed at breaking the cycle of debt in the borough.

Run by Hyndburn Homes, those behind the project say the National Lottery invited the borough to bid for funding after its own research showed Hyndburn was severely affected by debt.

The Lottery’s research showed there was a high number of people without bank accounts, and other factors indicating risk in the area.

David Perry, at Hyndburn Homes, said many tenants were using high-rate loans, and even illegal loan sharks, simply to pay for the necessities.

A new ‘passport to housing’ scheme will be specifically aimed at the borough’s young people to prevent another generation getting into debt.

A combination of out-reach workers and community workers will work from a new base in Cannon Street, at Hyndburn Voluntary and Community Resource Centre.

Mr Perry said: “It’s very important to make sure our young people don’t repeat this cycle, and we put an end to the reliance on debt in the borough.

“Tenants of social housing are traditionally more at risk and, in hard times like these, the problem has spread.

“It’s not for fancy holidays, people are getting into trouble just to pay the bills.”

The money has been given out of a £31.7million pot for 37 projects that will help an estimated 150,000 tenants across England.

It is hoped the scheme will help tenants with money management, and better access to fin-ancial products and services, such as a basic bank account.

Comments (2)

9:06am Fri 31 Aug 12

mavrick says...

This could be far better used to promote the credit union, I don't believe Hyndburn homes is the best platform to help with this project. I would suggest the police are informed of the names of the lenders and the time they call to collect their money and just pick them up. We are going to see a dramatic increase in this type of activity as the benefit cuts bite. Many employers in this area are hell bent on driving wages down to the national minimum rate. These are starvation wages. But this is part of the Tories strategic thinking.pay the rich more to work a bit harder pay the poor less so they have to work harder.
This could be far better used to promote the credit union, I don't believe Hyndburn homes is the best platform to help with this project. I would suggest the police are informed of the names of the lenders and the time they call to collect their money and just pick them up. We are going to see a dramatic increase in this type of activity as the benefit cuts bite. Many employers in this area are hell bent on driving wages down to the national minimum rate. These are starvation wages. But this is part of the Tories strategic thinking.pay the rich more to work a bit harder pay the poor less so they have to work harder. mavrick

7:32pm Fri 31 Aug 12

Kevin, Colne says...

mavrick wrote:
This could be far better used to promote the credit union, I don't believe Hyndburn homes is the best platform to help with this project. I would suggest the police are informed of the names of the lenders and the time they call to collect their money and just pick them up. We are going to see a dramatic increase in this type of activity as the benefit cuts bite. Many employers in this area are hell bent on driving wages down to the national minimum rate. These are starvation wages. But this is part of the Tories strategic thinking.pay the rich more to work a bit harder pay the poor less so they have to work harder.
Mavrick

We’re living through the Lesser Depression and many people are struggling whether in or out of work, while others are doing just fine. This is the worst economic crisis in living memory and while all of the main parties are committed to growth I find myself moving to the view that developed countries, like the United Kingdom, may well be at a key turning point when consistent and significant economic growth is no longer possible.

Some months ago Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, suggested that the squeeze on living standards was easing. Frankly I was flabbergasted that anyone with two functioning brain cells could take King’s claim seriously, but the sycophants in the MSM duly parroted King’s assertions without any analysis whatever.

It was very clear, even then, that fuel and food would be continuing to increase in price at a remorseless rate, in part because of the slow and inexorable devaluation of Sterling; notwithstanding the structural issues pertaining to supply and demand.

Unless we have a complete economic collapse the price of fuel will continue to rise: if economies recover the rise in price will be a function of demand and if there is no meaningfully recovery then QE and the devaluation of currencies will cause the price to increase so either way we’re on a hiding to nothing.
The implications for costs of transportation and travelling do not bear thinking about.

I believe that the economic growth of the last two or three decades was driven largely by abundant credit, cheap energy and low cost imports that lead to a degree of confidence and optimism that was wholly misplaced. These drivers have either vanished or gone into reverse and the consequences of this are now becoming plain for all to see. The policy response of ZIRP and QE has, as some of us predicted at the time, transferred wealth from the poor to the rich and there is no sign that this situation is going to change any day soon.

Where do we go from here? I suspect that your guess will be as good as mine; if not better.

Kevin
[quote][p][bold]mavrick[/bold] wrote: This could be far better used to promote the credit union, I don't believe Hyndburn homes is the best platform to help with this project. I would suggest the police are informed of the names of the lenders and the time they call to collect their money and just pick them up. We are going to see a dramatic increase in this type of activity as the benefit cuts bite. Many employers in this area are hell bent on driving wages down to the national minimum rate. These are starvation wages. But this is part of the Tories strategic thinking.pay the rich more to work a bit harder pay the poor less so they have to work harder.[/p][/quote]Mavrick We’re living through the Lesser Depression and many people are struggling whether in or out of work, while others are doing just fine. This is the worst economic crisis in living memory and while all of the main parties are committed to growth I find myself moving to the view that developed countries, like the United Kingdom, may well be at a key turning point when consistent and significant economic growth is no longer possible. Some months ago Sir Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, suggested that the squeeze on living standards was easing. Frankly I was flabbergasted that anyone with two functioning brain cells could take King’s claim seriously, but the sycophants in the MSM duly parroted King’s assertions without any analysis whatever. It was very clear, even then, that fuel and food would be continuing to increase in price at a remorseless rate, in part because of the slow and inexorable devaluation of Sterling; notwithstanding the structural issues pertaining to supply and demand. Unless we have a complete economic collapse the price of fuel will continue to rise: if economies recover the rise in price will be a function of demand and if there is no meaningfully recovery then QE and the devaluation of currencies will cause the price to increase so either way we’re on a hiding to nothing. The implications for costs of transportation and travelling do not bear thinking about. I believe that the economic growth of the last two or three decades was driven largely by abundant credit, cheap energy and low cost imports that lead to a degree of confidence and optimism that was wholly misplaced. These drivers have either vanished or gone into reverse and the consequences of this are now becoming plain for all to see. The policy response of ZIRP and QE has, as some of us predicted at the time, transferred wealth from the poor to the rich and there is no sign that this situation is going to change any day soon. Where do we go from here? I suspect that your guess will be as good as mine; if not better. Kevin Kevin, Colne

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