Off the back of successful pilots funded by Stroud and Forest of Dean District Councils, Quids in! Money Guidance is reaching hard-to-reach households and equipping them with tools to boost financial resilience. 

Quids in! Money Guidance is expanding across Stroud and the Forest of Dean after successful pilots with the two district councils. The pilots tested two techniques for getting money guidance to hard-to-reach households: proactive outreach using LIFT data, and referrals through community hubs.

Funded by the Crisis & Resilience Fund (CRF), the expansion of Quids in!’s flagship five to six week money guidance programme will support more households across both districts to build financial resilience, confidence and skills, and break the cycle of crisis.

In Stroud, the service, previously open to just three hubs, is now available to the whole of the Stroud District Council Hub Network. Staff and volunteers at the hubs can refer residents into the programme, with their permission.

In the Forest of Dean, a hub referral pathway is being introduced with three community hubs: the BabyBank, the Salvation Army and Lords Larder. Staff and volunteers there will be able to refer people into the service on the same basis.

The Forest of Dean programme is also extending its LIFT outreach. Using Low Income Family Tracker (LIFT) data, developed by Policy in Practice, the team identifies households in need or crisis and contacts them directly by letter, text and call, offering them the opportunity to self-refer into the service.

All referrals lead to the same offer: free, over-the-phone money support with a Quids in! money coach over five to six weeks. Coaches help residents increase income, reduce costs and build financial resilience, from unlocking benefits, grants and social tariffs, to budgeting skills and income maximisation.

On average, people who completed the programme previously in Stroud via the hubs were £1,715 better off.

For enquiries, call 01453 796050 or email glos@cleanslateltd.co.uk.

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