The aims

Helping 2,000 older people with one-to-one money management and debt advice, encouraging 10,000 older people to attend group awareness sessions, reducing debt among group participants and working with local charity partners to identify £1m of unclaimed benefits.

The story

Barclays has donated £1.8m to charity Help the Aged’s ‘Your Money Matters’ programme, which provides basic money management and debt advice to older people and their carers, through 17 projects across the UK.

Barclays volunteers attend the programme’s money management sessions, helping older people understand how best to manage their money and deal with debt. Colleagues also offer advice on issues from basic budgeting and claiming for benefits, to understanding card payments and negotiating with creditors.

Additionally, up to 100,000 older people also receive information and support through targeted publications and SeniorLine, a free welfare benefits advice telephone service, supported by Barclays funds.

Results to date

Since the partnership began, 7,600 older people have received help through Your Money Matters group awareness sessions. More than £1.5m of their debt has been written off and they have received in excess of £1m in previously unclaimed benefits.