Bolton's Money Skills Service

Who we are

Set up in 2002 Bolton's Money Skills Service aims to promote financial awareness to the residents of Bolton. We help local people take control of their finances and gain the knowledge and confidence when dealing with everyday money matters.

What we do

We work with people, in a number of ways, to help them manage their money.

• We deliver group training sessions based on everyday money matters. These feature a mix of activities which seek to address the worry of stress caused by money problems as well as giving practical information on money matters.  
• We work with individuals (and couples) providing one to one support to help them get their finances under control.  
• We provide free, confidential, impartial money advice / debt counseling for tenants who have multiple debts. 

Who we work with

The Money Skills Service works with tenants, community groups, housing associations, and other service providers. We design, plan and deliver a variety of training and awareness raising events and activities to improve people's knowledge and develop their confidence in money management.

• Community groups - helping to deal with financial and social exclusion 
• Tenants and housing officers - helping to create manageable tenancies 
• Asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers - helping to develop an awareness and understanding of financial services and products in the UK 
• Probation service and drugs and alcohol teams - helping to prevent / reduce poverty and the associated link with petty crime 

Many of the people we work with are on low incomes and have often had some debt or financial problems in the past.

Whilst the Money Skills Service was initially piloted to assist those living within disadvantaged and deprived communities within Bolton, we have extended our service and can help other agencies and services, throughout the North West.