This webinar explored the key financial challenges facing households in 2025 and how organisations are responding to help people before they reach a crisis.
We discussed how frontline services can identify vulnerable people early and how technology and data driven solutions are helping organisations better engage with people, ensuring they get the right help at the right time.
Guest speakers:
- Vanessa Northam, StepChange
- Nick Harvey, Folkestone and Hythe District Council
- Jonathan Shaw, Reachout
View the webinar
We know that shame, guilt and isolation prevent people tackling their debt and seeking help. We're hoping to encourage more people to reach out to their local councils, energy suppliers, banks, creditors, etc. We always say, engage first. I would like to see council's ability and desire to innovate and work differently.
About 1 in 5 households are effectively on a low income, needing help and support from the district council, the best we can anyway. What LIFT has enabled us to do is actively go out and make sure we're reaching those that are most vulnerable, that need the most help, and perhaps aren't digitally aware or not able to apply for these things.
Thousands of people are building up council tax arrears, escalating to court, getting liability orders and then passed to enforcement agents. It’s essential that we try a different approach to actually get to these people before they’ve even gone to court, before that extra £100 for the court order has been added on.