A decade of Debt Awareness Week. Let’s break down the barriers, together.
StepChange Debt Charity
We're the UK's largest provider of free debt advice, online or over the phone.
As our flagship campaign celebrates it’s 10th anniversary, Richard Lane , Chief Client Officer at StepChange, explains why it’s importance has never been greater.
Today marks the start of Debt Awareness Week 2024, our annual campaign to raise awareness of problem debt and the solutions that are out there for those living with it.
This year it’s extra special as it is the 10th year that we’ve run the campaign. 10 years ago our very first Debt Awareness Week campaign focused on the ‘danger signs of debt’ and launched our 60 second debt test tool, and since then we’ve covered themes such as ‘Debt can happen to anyone’, ‘Take the first step to getting help’ and ‘What is debt advice?’.
Last year we reached over 6 million people during Debt Awareness Week, and this year we will be pushing harder than ever to get our message out to as many people as possible.
Why #DebtAwarenessWeek matters
The pressure on households is relentless and coming from all different directions, whether it’s energy bills, food inflation or increases in rent or mortgage costs.
Research we conducted recently found that over 22 million UK adults expect their finances to get worse in the next 12 months. In the last year we’ve also seen the average income of our clients rise by almost 10%, demonstrating that the cost of living crisis is having a profound impact on households all across the UK.
For people who may have never struggled with their finances in the past, it’s very common to not know where to turn or to know what help is out there for you.
Our research shows that 92% of our clients wish that they had got help sooner, and more than half waited over 12 months to get help. Any delay in getting help can have a significant impact on longer term financial wellbeing and make the path to financial stability longer and more difficulty.
There are many reasons that our clients tell us that they delayed taking action on their debts, whether it’s not knowing where to turn, shame, fear, or many others. For example, our research shows that:
Breaking down the barriers
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All these factors stop people getting the help they need, with devastating consequences for their emotional, physical and financial wellbeing.
This Debt Awareness Week, we’re asking you to help us break down these barriers and show more people that they don’t need to let these stop them tackling their debts. Every day during Debt Awareness Week, we’ll be highlighting a different barrier and explaining why this doesn’t need to stop people from getting help. The 5 barriers we’re focussing on are:
While these barriers are complex and multi-faceted, our message for consumers is simple: ‘Give yourself one less thing to worry about’ this Debt Awareness Week. By tackling these barriers together, we can give customers one less thing to worry about, to feel confused about or to feel ashamed about.
Get involved:
The diverse nature of the financial pressures facing consumers and of the barriers we’re raising awareness of mean that organisations across all sectors can play a crucial role in supporting this year’s campaign.
All week we’ll be raising awareness of these barriers and the support that is available for people struggling with debt, and it’s easy to get involved. We’ll be posting across all our social media channels and every like, share and comment helps us get our message to more people.
You can also support the campaign with your own activity using our partner toolkit. This contains a range of materials to help you reach your customers and colleagues, including digital posters, social media assets, email templates and more.
We also have plenty going on for your customers on our own social media including:
If you can support our campaign in any way, then you’ll be helping us to support more people at this exceptionally difficult time. Debt happens, but together we can help more people deal with it.
We'll be supporting this campaign and helping to spread the word. Many thanks for continuing to raise the profile and for all the work you do.
CEO, Money Advice Hub & Zeus Design Hub
7moGosh, is it really 10 years? Feeling old 😐 There needs to be more focus now more than ever about seeking debt advice interventions early. I also think it's a time to celebrate the great, collective industry policy work that has effected radical changes like the breathing space schemes and the debt relief order eligibility limits, ban on IVA fees etc. This can take the guise of chatting directly with ministers, canvassing Ministers, group stakeholder groups, policy consultations responses, petitions, case studies, social media commentary. It all counts and everyone has worked hard to influence. We should all be proud advocates to effect change for the good. 🤗
Marketing Strategist: Helping you get your business seen 👀
7moSuch a great campaign to help break down barriers and give people the support and encouragement they need to get help and guidance. I have worked for charities and benevolent funds and the one thing people always say is they wished they'd got support earlier. Our messaging is always to reach out sooner rather than later. Happy to spread the work about this year's debt awareness campaign and will be signposting personally and on behalf of clients who are supporting your work. Wishing you every success!
We're incredibly proud to support this fantastic campaign - keeping the conversation alive is so important. Congratulations on ten years of raising awareness!
Partnering with Career Advisors to Transform young lives through Career Guidance✨ | Financial Wellbeing Expert | Speaker
7moEncouraging open dialogues is crucial. I had a lot of debt and kept it to myself. Let’s raise awareness and support young people. #financialeducation