This will be remembered as the year of the four Chancellors, three PMs, two monarchs… No such turbulence at Clean Slate/Quids in! thankfully. But 2022 for us was a year of tougher challenges and the struggle to help people to find a way through.
As the year went on, the worsening cost-of-living crisis and its effect on low-income households dominated our work.
Here’s a breakdown, month by month.
January
We kicked off the year by crunching the numbers from a DWP project involving 1,099 benefits claimants. One of the key findings showed the distance travelled after participants completed the Quids in! Future-Proof Finance Quiz. One of the questions in the quiz – Do you know where to find help if you have money problems? – showed an amazing result. Where just 26 per cent of respondents answered yes the first time they undertook the quiz, among those who came back to it a short time later the ‘yes’ response rate had soared to 87 per cent. This progress came after either six or twelve weeks of intensive, one-to-one money guidance and budgeting support from a Clean Slate support worker. There was also a huge leap in people saying they were confident they were getting all the state benefits they were entitled to (19 per cent to 76 per cent). Between them, the claimants shared financial gains of more than £1.3 million by working through the quiz. We saw similar impact with other contracts, such as Circles of Support, which supports tenants of Stonewater Housing.
February
We shared the story of John, a former DJ and Clean Slate client, who found a tailor-made money-making opportunity in the Quids In Readers Club. John had lost his job and was struggling to find another when he was referred to Clean Slate. A Quids in! article about selling unwanted stuff on eBay mentioned the value of old vinyl – and John realised he was sitting on a potential goldmine of about 10,000 old records. The article gave him the spur he needed to digitise his collection and get it on eBay.
March
The Quids in! Future-Proof Finance Quiz is a cornerstone of our service. It asks 25 yes/no questions about the participant’s finances and habits and each ‘no’ answer triggers a mini challenge aimed at improving resilience. But we know that there can be barriers to accessing the quiz, such as low levels of literacy. So we launched a video version with all the same questions and prompts to make sure no one is excluded from the gains just because they struggle to read. It followed on from the Recite Me function we launched on our website in late 2021.
Also in March, as Covid eased slightly and we moved beyond lockdowns, demand for our magazines increased. While earlier in the pandemic there were fears that the virus could be spread on printed paper, with more people returning to offices and high vaccination rates Quids in! and its guides were back in high demand, including bespoke and regional versions.
April
By April we decided it was high time for an all-staff get-together. Working remotely, plus two years of Covid restrictions, meant that many of us had never met in real life before. The staff day, held in London, was buzzing with creativity and camaraderie. By close of play, we realised we’d stumbled on Clean Slate’s new motto, which had been expressed by one of the team about the way we feel about our work. As well as being a brilliant slogan, it’s also a promise to everyone we work with. ‘We see you, we hear you, we are you’.
Also in April, we launched a partnership with Smart Meters GB and National Energy Action to raise awareness of the benefits of smart meters.
May
We’ve long recognised that financial and digital exclusion can’t be tackled in isolation. They’re two sides of the same problem, which is why we were so keen to be involved, alongside Mastercard, in starting the Nobody in the Dark campaign, highlighting how being online can help people become better off. We were thrilled when Nobody in the Dark saw off competition from HSBC, Nationwide and Tesco to win the social inclusion category at the Card and Payment Awards 2022. Judges praised the collaborative element of the campaign as well as its long-term ambitions to boost the nation’s digital literacy.
June
Back in spring 2020, just before Covid hit, Clean Slate published Opening Doors – a guide for employers in Bath and North East Somerset who might be thinking about employing people with special educational needs and disabilities. By June we felt it was time to update the guide with news, updated stats and fresh perspectives. And that’s before we get to the brand new cover star, 15-year-old Seb. Seb was no stranger to the world of work as he’s been modelling since he was tiny. He now has his sights set on landing gigs with Nike and Adidas. But remember, you saw him on the cover of Opening Doors first!
Also in June, Clean Slate was delighted to be named in the SE100 list of the UK’s top 100 social enterprises for the second year running.
July
Former Everton and Wales goalkeeper Neville Southall generously allowed Clean Slate to take the helm of his Twitter account for an evening. Fighting the temptation to bombard his 180,000 followers with bad footballing puns, over two hours we instead treated them to an explainer of our work and its social impact. The focus was on holiday hunger and digital and financial inclusion, and taking the controls of Neville’s account let us reach a whole new audience. Thanks again Neville!
Also in July, we hosted an online event for anti-poverty professionals from the West of England to come together with Clean Slate staff to discuss this frightening new normal. At the event, titled Following the Crisis, Follow the Money, we spoke about our experience with people struggling through the crisis on low incomes, and shared ideas about how we could work together to amplify the support we offer.
August
With a winter of rising energy prices on the horizon, we updated and improved our energy content and relaunched it as a Quids in! Guide to Heat, Light & Power. Its focus was on helping readers feel in control of their bills, with breakdowns on the running costs of household appliances (as well as ways to bring those costs down) and a full list of the support on offer and how to get it. The energy crisis isn’t going away and guides like this one can make a real difference to people’s wallets. We’ve since produced bespoke versions for specific regions and housing associations.
September
West of England Metro Mayor Dan Norris dropped in on a Clean Slate service in Bath to see how we were supporting clients on a nine-week money guidance programme. Follow the Money was funded by the West of England Combined Authority and delivered by Clean Slate, and gave 70 people a personalised package of help, including paid work experience and mentoring to help them find work in the support sector. We also secured funding to help us continue scaling up operations in Gloucestershire, and as more people heard about the hundreds of pounds of savings to be made through our unique Money Health Check process, our London drop-ins were so over-subscribed there were queues down the street. As the autumn progressed, Clean Slate hosted further webinars and delivered triage and advisor training to foodbank volunteers. A webinar for frontline money guiders across Wales, alongside the Money and Pensions Service, focused on supporting families through the cost-of-living crisis.
October
As the cost-of-living crisis began to bite even harder, and with winter looming, we knew it was time to up the ante with our message. So we launched our autumn campaign, Think Bigger Than Bills, with a huge push on social media. We shone a light on the ways people may still be able to improve their finances despite the squeeze on wallets. Think Bigger Than Bills is about going further than just turning down the thermostat; it’s about doing a sweep of the low-hanging fruit that may still be available – by doing benefit checks, getting online and taking a 360-degree look at finances, starting with the Quids in! Future-Proof Finance Quiz. The campaign was backed by many of our colleagues in the sector – we thank them again for their backing.
November
We teamed up with the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) to host a webinar examining the benefits of a money-first approach to helping people in poverty. The event, called Money First… And The Rest Will Follow, heard from Clean Slate MD Jeff Mitchell and IFAN co-ordinator Sabine Goodwin about the pressures on the food aid system this winter. With food bank donations down but demand rising, Money First is a philosophy that could circumvent the system by quite literally putting money in people’s pockets. Of course, Money First also extends to creating the space and opportunity to build better finance skills that’s become central to the Clean Slate ethos.
Also in November, we again supplied the Northern Ireland Housing Executive with a bespoke version of Quids in! magazine, with a focus on helping tenants pay their energy bills and the support available in Northern Ireland.
December
One final toot of our trumpet… last week Clean Slate won the Finance section at the New Statesman’s inaugural Positive Impact Awards. The awards celebrated the people and organisations who made their mark on 2022, and Clean Slate was up against Wellcome Trust, Starling Bank and Legal & General, among others. Across the categories, judges praised the innovation, compassion and strong leadership of nominees – and the meaningful change they brought. We were honoured to be recognised… we promise not to let it go to our heads though!
Photo © 2022 – ASV Photography Ltd. www.ASVphotos.com
And throughout the year Clean Slate expanded our service as we launched new drop-ins across all our regions, including at homeless centres and even on buses!
So that was our 2022. We were grateful to have you with us through what has been a year like no other. Let’s continue working together as we head into 2023 – with whatever challenges and triumphs the new year brings.
