Dealing with Debt

moneyDebt is a major issue for many older people. This may be because of helping children and grandchildren financially, divorce or separation, or simply the rising cost of living, particularly in terms of food and energy costs.

For many people debt can be a cause of, or add to, terrible feelings of anxiety and depression, ill health and family breakdown as people feel trapped, and can affect lives very badly.

If you are in debt it’s very important not to ignore it. If you leave it, it will get worse. But you can get help – there is a lot of free support available both locally and further afield. With the right help you will be able to look at the following issues:

  • Which are the most important debts to pay (priority debts)
  • Whether you have any ‘debts’ that you shouldn’t be paying at all. (Perhaps you were pressurised into signing a loan agreement).
  • What could you afford to pay? (People you owe money to may have to accept a lot less than they are demanding).
  • How to make the most of any savings you have.
  • Whether you can raise money in any other way.

You don’t have to tackle debt alone – you can get help.  Talk to Caring Together – we can help you look at your income and benefits etc to help make sure you are getting all the money you are entitled to, or refer you for further benefits advice if needed.  We can also help you look at your outgoings and advise you, or refer you to the WYTS Safer project advisor, who has helped a number of our members.

Joining a credit union is a good way of saving and borrowing money without running up massive debts – Leeds Credit Union 0113 242 3343

Other help and advice:

National Debtline  0808 808 4000

StepChange Debt Charity  0800 138 1111

Money Advice Service  0300 500 5000

Debt Advice Foundation  0800 043 4050

Leeds CAB 0844 477 4788

 

Drop in and see us sometime

P1020590Caring Together has an Advice drop in and social group at Little London Community Centre every other Monday afternoon between 2pm and 4pm.

If you would like to call in and see us you would be very welcome.  If you would like advice about anything we will do our best to help at the time or arrange an appointment to come and see you.

Or you can just come for a cuppa and a chat (maybe biscuits too!)

 The upcoming dates are:

Monday October 20th

Monday November 3rd

Monday November 17th

Monday December 1st

Monday December 15th

Never too old to learn

Our members of the Computer Group and our volunteers prove that you are never to old (or young) to learn something new.

The group meets every fortnight and the discussions and content of each session are always varied and fun, dependent on their needs. The session yesterday saw them each doing something different from searching for DVD’s, looking for decorators, listening to music from their own collection, and You Tube, sending emails, catching up on the latest news via BBCi player to watching Rugby and East Enders.  Some of our members also updated their profiles on Facebook, with another exploring some online dating!  Safety is also paramount and something we never take for granted.

You might think this is nothing remarkable and probably for some just an average day but for our group it is remarkable because we have been with them all on their learning journey, from not even knowing how to switch on a computer, to now confidently navigating around their own computers, and the internet, and in some cases helping each other, and us as staff and volunteers too, which is always a delight.

Anyone over 60 and living in the Woodhouse and Little London area wishing to know more about this group or our beginners classes then do get in touch we would love to hear from you.

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Pictures from our Culture Day

Our members had a great day on Friday at our Culture Day, to celebrate International Day of Older People.  Activities included Bollywood Dancing and Steel Drumming. There was some pampering on offer in the form of facials or hand massage.  Or you could have a caricature drawn by our talented artist Arvind and a personalised poem crafted by our wonderful ‘poet in residence’ Paul.

We asked members to bring in some food towards our buffet lunch – preferably something they remembered from their childhood or that they used to make for their own families, and they did us proud! There were also some amazing cakes in our cake competition – judged by our ‘cake experts’ Lara, Helen and Nic.  And we then got to eat the entries for afternoon tea!!

It really was a wonderful day – thank you to everyone who helped us, members, staff, volunteers, other organisations and anyone else who contributed to the day. Here a just a few of the many pictures we took on the day:

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Keep Warm this Winter

Summer has flown by and we can’t believe it is October already!!

Today is still a lovely sunny day but the nights are drawing in and Winter will soon be upon us so remember that Caring Together has some bedding and other items to help you keep warm in the cold weather.

If you need any of these items, and you are a Caring Together member,  please contact Valerie on 0113 2430298 or valerie@caringtogether.org.uk.

If you are not a Caring Together member but are over 60 and live in Woodhouse or Little London then get in touch to find out more about us and how to join!