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Citizens Advice across Oxfordshire is taking part in Talk Money Week, an annual awareness campaign coordinated by the Money and Pensions Service to encourage everyone to think about their money and pensions.
Held from 8 to 12 November, Talk Money Week aims to encourage conversations among families, friends, neighbours, customers, colleagues and communities. Talking openly about money can have a huge impact on tackling money worries, and is important for our overall health and relationships. The impact of Covid-19 has made it more important than ever to look after our financial wellbeing.
Talk Money Week is also an opportunity to celebrate the work organisations like Citizens Advice are doing to support the long-term UK Strategy for Financial Wellbeing. This was launched by the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) in 2020 with wide support across the UK. It has an ambitious ten-year goal to help everyone make the most of their money and pensions.
Throughout the week there will be activity across the UK to get more people talking about personal finance issues, and engaging with topics such as saving regularly, planning for retirement, dealing with debt, and teaching children and young people about managing money.
Teresa Archer, Chief Office of Citizens Advice West Oxfordshire commented: “We are deeply concerned about people’s spiralling debt and encourage people to start the conversation this week or as soon as possible. We have employed more debt advisers across the county to support people. The first conversation is the hardest but once people take that step, it gets easier. No one needs to deal with debts on their own.”
Caroline Siarkiewicz, Chief Executive at the Money and Pensions Service says: “As we continue to respond to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, financial wellbeing remains key to the UK’s recovery: a financially healthy nation is good for individuals, communities, business, and the economy. Talk Money Week provides a key opportunity for the nation to break the taboo of discussing money and finances. We are pleased to see so many organisations encouraging conversations about money – from pocket money to pensions – to help people across the country make better informed and more positive decisions about their finances.”
If you’re having issues with money or debt, you can: talk to us online about a debt problem using chat – we can usually help between 8am and 7pm, Monday to Friday
call our debt helpline – it’s available 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Debt helpline: 0800 240 4420
Relay UK – if you can’t hear or speak on the phone, you can type what you want to say: 18001 then 0800 240 4420. You can use Relay UK with an app or a textphone. There’s no extra charge to use it. Find out how to use Relay UK on the Relay UK website.
The debt helpline is available 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. It’s not available on public holidays. Calls are free from mobiles and landlines. For more information on Talk Money Week visit www.maps.org.uk/talk-money-week/