Karen had been working for six months when
she took part in the ‘Dealing with Debt’ course
run by Toxteth Citizens Advice Bureau. She
was happy to be working, but was struggling
to keep on top of her commitments.
The course equipped her with the skills and
knowledge to draw up a financial statement
and negotiate with her creditors. She put this
into action and was able to get many of her
debts written off or reduced. She also applied
for a grant to pay for a computer for her disabled
child.
Altogether Karen is now £200 a month better
off and says that she is happy to carry on
working now that she is able to keep on top of
her bills.
Hear from others how Horizons has helped them:
www.youtube.com/CitizensAdvice
The Horizons programme aims to help lone parents build a brighter future for themselves and their families. Since 2005, the programme has been helping lone parents improve their confidence and skills so that they can better manage their finances, improve their job prospects and support their children.
Citizens Advice, Family Action and Gingerbread are working in partnership on the programme, which is supported by Barclaycard. Together, we are providing lone parents with support and advice on three key aspects - money, work and education. In September 2010 the Horizons programme was awarded the ‘Best Corporate Partnership’ at the 2010 Third Sector Excellence Awards.
We provide debt advice and money management training to groups and individuals. We also train front-line workers so they can better support lone parents and help them improve their financial prospects. Local Citizens Advice Bureaux have already provided money management training and /or debt advice to nearly 27,000 parents and 9,000 frontline workers.
Gingerbread provide a range of courses and workshops about all aspects of entering or returning to work. They help lone parents find work through everything from help with CV writing, interview skills and accredited training.
Family Action provide grants to help lone parents pay for work related education and training.
Since 2005 Barclaycard have invested £7 million in this scheme which has helped over half a million lone parents across the UK.
About the work in the community and the benefits for those attending the training.
In the next year we aim to reach a further 7,000 lone parents through the three programmes. We will do this by providing support through five Horizon Hub areas within England and Wales.
We also want to work with Gingerbread, Family Action and Barclaycard to link with national and local public sector bodies. We want to share what we have learnt and better understand how what we do fits with their strategies. Our aim is to work with others so that we can help as many lone parents as possible out of poverty and debt.
Horizons Hubs will link with the work of other agencies across the statutory, voluntary and private sector. Within each hub there will be 3-4 Horizons information centres where lone parents can access the programme. These will be based within community or children’s centres.
Citizens Advice Bureaux will be working with Gingerbread and Family Action on a new peer mentoring scheme. This will offer on-going support to lone parents and aims to improve their confidence in communication skills. Each Horizons hub will recruit, train and support at least six lone parents to act as peer mentors to other lone parents.
For more about Horizons: www.yourhorizons.com.
For further information about Citizens Advice involvement email Kirstin Playell.
Community
- Twitter
- Facebook
- YouTube
- podcasts
- News
More on community