Since leaving her career as a qualified Chartered Insurance Practitioner working in risk management for over a decade, Cat Divers, driven by personal experience of struggling to find help with her own set of challenging circumstances, has made it her mission to make it easier for other people to discover and connect to support services. National Support Network was created off the back of her belief that no-one should struggle alone. Her not-for-profits efforts have been recognised with awards such as the Social Entrepreneur Index and NatWest’s SE100. As Cat explains to MALG CEO Bob Winnington in this episode, National Support Network builds customisable support directory platforms containing information on thousands of external services, including charity helplines and self-help resources. It can be accessed by customers, colleagues or communities at any time to support with a whole host of different life problems and challenges – beyond just financial difficulty, which we know can be interwoven with so many other issues. These support platforms help to transform challenging interactions with customers, better equipping frontline staff to offer a helping hand without having to be fully trained in all the different issues customers may be facing. Companies that partner with National Support Network can also access anonymised analytics to better understand the support needs of their customers and to demonstrate the real-world impact of the platform in improving access to services. Listen to her valuable insights about the life-changing 'ripple effect' of getting customers to the right help quickly and easily.…

In this episode of the Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG) Podcast, MALG CEO Bob Winnington and podcast host Helen Gill of Engage Comms travel to Bromsgrove to the offices of Broadriver Groups’ ControlAccount Ltd. Their guest is newly appointed Brand Ambassador Neil Jinks. A debt collection, litigation and enforcement specialist with over 36 years’ experience working in private practice, the Court Service and High Court enforcement, helping creditors to recover unpaid debts, Neil is an industry stalwart. On top of his day job, he’s also Chair of the Chartered Institute of Credit Management’s (CICM) Executive Board, Vice Chair of the Civil Court Users Association (CCUA), and Immediate Past President of the Institute of Revenues, Rating & Valuation (IRRV) West Midlands. And on top of that, he’s a proud Fellow of the CICM in recognition of his notable contribution to the credit profession, has been named in the Credit 500 index of the most influential people working in consumer and commercial credit, has been recommended for Debt Recovery in the Legal 500 across three regions, and, probably most relevant for our chat today, he has been recognised as an outstanding Champion of Diversity & Inclusion by the Financial Times, Daily Telegraph, PwC and DWF. Aside from all these accolades, Neil is not only a master networker but believes firmly in bringing his authentic self to his work based on his personal journey of discovery with his sexuality and his first-hand experience of seeing the proven business case for diversity & inclusion in a sector that deals with sensitive issues impacting people's lives. He talks to Bob about the importance of this authenticity in building relationships, networks and connections that foster cross-sector collaboration - and, ultimately, in improving the lives of people in debt.…

Those who were at the Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG) Conference in November 2024 will remember Vivi Friedgut from the session on ‘finfluencer culture’. Vivi founded Blackbullion in 2016 as a financial wellbeing platform that houses UK support funds, scholarships and grants for students. Today, over 1.2 million students can access Blackbullion’s platform and it partners with over 75 universities, colleges and businesses across the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa to proactively support student financial wellbeing. Vivi’s vision is for it to become the all-in-one money management space for students that supports them before, during and after their studies, helping every student to develop financial skills and confidence for life. In this episode, MALG CEO Bob Winnington and Helen Gill of Engage Comms are at Blackbullion’s offices in London to give listeners the opportunity to get more insight from Vivi on young people’s behaviours when it comes to managing their money. From busting the myth that Gen Zers have no attention span, to challenging the idea that AI can offer meaningful financial education, this chat offers a balanced, data-driven view on what the future of financial wellbeing should look like.…

On Episode 2 of the Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG) Podcast, MALG CEO Bob Winnington is at Policy in Practice’s headquarters in London to meet with its Chief Product Officer Genevieve Orford to talk about the power of partnerships. Genevieve joined Policy in Practice - the social policy software and analytics company working with councils, government, housing providers and community organisations to reduce poverty and empower people – in December 2021. She took part in her first ever conference panel session at the MALG Conference in Leeds on 7 November 2024 where she shared insights into why partnerships are central to the success of Policy in Practice’s award winning, free ‘Better Off Calculator’. In this episode, she and Bob talk more about the power of partnerships – why they’re so important, when they work, and what the potential challenges are. She goes into detail about how partnerships that Policy in Practice have formed through the MALG network have contributed to the development of innovative solutions that streamline access to tailored support and advice. Listen in to learn how to 'work together to improve the lives of people in debt'.…

In this first episode of the Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG) podcast, MALG CEO Bob Winnington has the pleasure of sitting down with someone who may be familiar to some listeners, Dr Chris Fitch. He is the Money Advice Trust’s Vulnerability Lead and Research Fellow at the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre. As a prolific and highly engaging speaker and host of the ‘Vulnerability Matters’ podcast he’s one of if not the leading voice on fair treatment of vulnerable customers by financial services, utilities, telecoms and related firms in the UK and beyond. A researcher by trade, he delves deep into issues facing vulnerable customers using a ‘lived experience’ approach to come up with practical solutions that work. His latest passion project is the Government’s ‘Share Once Support Register’ which will mean vulnerable customers only need to register with energy, telecoms and water companies once to access extra help. In this episode, Bob has the opportunity to ask Chris what his secret is when it comes to galvanising people and organisations to get on board with his collaborative projects and how he manages to communicate his messages so well. They discuss the 10 principles for designing consumer data sharing programmes which a group of independent experts have come up with to inform the new Share Once Support Register and we get Chris' take on what the new Government needs to do to ensure that vulnerable customers are finally offered the service they deserve.…

In this introductory episode of the Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG) podcast, host Helen Gill of Engage Comms is joined by MALG CEO Bob Winnington to discuss what MALG is all about, why we’re bringing you this podcast, what you can expect from it and why, in 2024, we need game-changing solutions to 'improving the lives of people in debt' more than ever. Former City trader and ‘real world’ economist Gary Stevenson said in one of his recent youtube videos that he thinks “the game is rigged” for low income households in the current economy. We’ll be talking about how MALG Members and others can work collaboratively to overcome the hurdles put in place by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis to building financial resilience for all, as we head into 2025 and beyond.…