That’s the headline finding of the Money Matters Advice Service (MMAS) annual report 2023/24 as presented to councillors at the most recent meeting of the Finance and Corporate Resources committee.

MMAS is at the forefront of tackling poverty across South Lanarkshire and in helping residents to mitigate the impact of both Covid-19 and the Cost-of-Living crisis.

Its Money Advice team successfully handled 2908 money advice cases, helping residents write off £1.8m of problem debt, while the Welfare Rights team pointed more than 10,000 people towards benefits of £22.4m. 

The Community Wellbeing team took 21,006 calls to its helpline, making approximately 7500 referrals to foodbanks and energy voucher providers, and helping clients to access £112,000 in ‘Cash First’ vouchers.

More than nine in ten clients responding to a customer satisfaction survey (94.4%) said they would recommend the service to their friends or family. 

Councillor Lesley McDonald, Chair of the Finance and Corporate Resources Committee said: “The role of MMAS is to support and empower the residents of South Lanarkshire by providing them with a high-quality advice and representation service, that maximises their income and provides them with positive solutions and strategies for dealing with problem debts.

“It’s clear from the statistics detailed in the report that the service has been hugely successful in that aim. It would be no overstatement to say that the work done by MMAS changes lives. I offer my thanks to all involved.”

The annual report is now available to read on the council website.

Also included in it is a selection of case studies telling some of the stories handled by the service since April 2023, like the one below:

A client, who was single and lived alone, contacted the Welfare Rights team after he suffered a stroke and could no longer look for work.

He had been living off savings and planned to start a job, but his stroke had drastically changed his options. Unable to secure an income, he was facing the prospect of being unable to pay priority bills such as rent, council tax, gas & electricity.

An adviser from the Welfare Rights team met with the client and helped him to complete a full benefit check which found he was entitled to various forms of help he had been unaware of. With the adviser's help, he successfully applied for universal credit, council tax reduction, and adult disability payment with a total yearly financial gain of £15,535.85. 

Clients can self-refer to MMAS using the online form. In urgent cases, or for those without online access, call  0300 029 0041