BLACKBURN with Darwen Council has pledged to help fight loan sharks.

The Stop Loan Sharks Charter is an agreement between the council and the England Illegal Money Lending Team. The signing of it signals the start of collaboration across a range of local agencies and organisations to address the issue in Blackburn with Darwen.

Local partners and those endorsing the charter include Age UK, Together Housing, Care Network, Together Lancashire and CGL.

Work includes implementing plans to support the charter and the annual loan sharks awareness week, securing prosecutions and helping people in the hands of loan sharks to access advice and support.

It also involves providing financial advice to the local community, so Blackburn with Darwen residents can make informed financial choices, and promoting local credit unions like Jubilee Tower Credit Union, based in Darwen as a safer, more ethical place to save and borrow.

An official signing of the charter took place alongside a day of activity in the borough including a stop loan sharks training session for partner organisations to learn more about the practice of illegal money lending, how to support victims and the impact illegal money lending has.

The group were also shown an advert created by young people in Blackburn which illustrates the devastating effects of illegal money lending on families.

Award-winning filmmaker Aaron Dunleavy was awarded proceeds of crime funding from Stop Loan Sharks to deliver filmmaking workshops to engage and educate youth groups at The Hive on the dangers of borrowing from loan sharks. The project will prevent more people from falling victim of these criminals and the misery that they spread.

The England Illegal Money Lending Team’s mascot ‘Sid the Shark’ has also been in Blackburn and Darwen town centres on the day to further raise awareness.

Cllr Damian Talbot, executive member for public health and wellbeing, said: “The aim of the charter is to bring together leaders from the council and other key organisations, who deal with victims of loan sharks, to make a stand against illegal money lending and send a clear message that we are united in a zero tolerance approach to this crime.”