StepChange Debt Charity

📰The latest edition of StepChange News & Views has landed!📰 After a month of big announcements from StepChange and the Government, this issue includes: 💳Research into the financial challenges of neurodivergence 🔥Tips for those worried about energy prices 📈Our thoughts on Ofgem’s Debt Relief Scheme Dive into the newsletter now👇 #DebtAdvice #Energy #Neurodivergance

We deliver digital-first, data-led debt advice. Our strategy outlines how we continue to evolve to ensure we can support everyone who needs our help. A big thank you to the judges and everyone at Credit Connect for recognising our work at The Collections and Technology Awards tonight, where we celebrated two standout projects: 📳 Best Contact Centre Solution – in partnership with Genesys, for transforming our contact centre to make it even easier for clients to quickly access the support they need. 💟 Innovation in Collections and Recoveries and Best Vulnerable Customer Identification Initiative – with OVO, for delivering their Energy Support Service, managing energy arrears with empathy and personalised support. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees tonight – an inspiring evening celebrating innovation in the sector. #CreditConnect #Genesys #OVO

👏 Huge congratulations to Charlotte Chambers, our Chief Digital Officer. In just 12 months, Charlotte has led a digital transformation programme that’s reshaped StepChange’s operations - a remarkable achievement. While she didn’t take home the award tonight, we’re incredibly proud to celebrate Charlotte being named a finalist in the Innovation and Transformation of the Year category at the prestigious Women and Diversity in Credit Awards, hosted by Credit Strategy. Her work has included: 🛜 A complete network upgrade, modernising our critical IT infrastructure ⛅ A successful cloud migration, improving scalability, resilience, and security 📱 A new call centre solution, boosting client engagement and service capacity Congratulations again, Charlotte - your leadership and impact speak for themselves! #womenincredit #diversityandinclusion #leadership #creditindustry

Next week the Chancellor faces tough choices, but there are key opportunities to turn the tide on child poverty, cost of living pressures and household financial resilience. The Government’s child poverty strategy is expected alongside the Budget. If it’s to be credible, it must start with urgent action to: ✅ End the two-child limit and benefit cap ✅ Ensure housing support matches real rents ✅ Deliver lasting solutions to energy poverty Beyond the Budget, we need a financial inclusion agenda that works to: ✅ Refresh Help to Save with auto-enrolment and wider eligibility ✅ Scale up the No Interest Loans Scheme (NILs) to provide safe, affordable credit Read more in a new blog by Public Policy Manager Adam Butler: https://lnkd.in/ePbgN5nc

Over the past decade one of our top priorities has involved campaigning for the enforcement industry to be placed under proper regulation. As it stands, council tax is one of the most common debts which is escalated to bailiff action. We need to see reform in the way council tax debt is collected, to give space to repay for people who are struggling, and place compassion at the heart of the process. Our CEO Vikki Brownridge was on BBC Yorkshire Politics North on Sunday speaking to these issues, namely the need for the Enforcement Conduct Board to be placed on a statutory footing and for the council tax collection process to be overhauled.

It was fantastic to welcome Luke Charters MP to our Leeds office to discuss the vital need for a statutory bailiffs' regulator with our Chief Executive, Vikki Brownridge. With 1 in 10 StepChange Debt Charity clients facing enforcement action, we must ensure the most vulnerable are protected from bad practice. We look forward to continuing to work together to ensure bailiffs have proper oversight so that consumers facing enforcement action are protected from rogue agents. #debt #finance #bailiffs

We recently published our research report ‘Different minds, shared challenges: making debt support more inclusive’, exploring the impact of neurodiversity on financial and debt management. In this thought-provoking article, Caroline Darnbrook shares why designing debt support journeys with differences in mind isn’t just good practice; it’s essential for limiting service barriers and delivering good client outcomes. 👉 Read the full piece here: https://lnkd.in/ed9s4quZ #Neurodiversity #DebtAdvice #FinancialWellbeing #ThoughtLeadership #InclusiveDesign

With the Autumn Budget just under two weeks away, we’re urging the Chancellor to take five simple steps to strengthen financial resilience across the UK: ✅Scrap the two-child limit and benefit cap ✅Help cut energy costs ✅Support people to save ✅Expand the supply of affordable credit ✅Support the free debt advice sector Hear more from our Senior Parliamentary and Public Affairs Adviser, James Cleverley👇 #Budget2025

Catch our CEO Vikki Brownridge speaking this morning at 11.15 on a panel at The Investing and Saving Alliance (TISA UK) annual conference on the theme of ‘The road to financial resilience for UK households’ #TISACONF2025

Do you help people with debt problems? Give them our FREE dealing with debt booklet, available in batches of 25, 50 or even 1,000. Limited stock available! Order here ➡️https://ow.ly/9jKQ50VTbGG