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OFT appoints Citizens Advice for Christmas savings campaign
123/09 13 October 2009
The OFT has appointed Citizens Advice to deliver a series of financial workshops to help groups such as lone parents and those on benefits or low incomes become better informed about savings options.
The workshops form part of the OFT's Save Xmas awareness campaign that launched in partnership with Citizens Advice in 2007 following the collapse of the Farepak hamper company. Alongside the workshops, the OFT is also today launching a short TV film for use by commercial broadcasters.
As part of the agreement announced today, Citizens Advice will deliver 210 workshop sessions directly to consumers and an equal number to frontline advice workers, enabling them to spread the message to their clients in Citizens Advice Bureaux around the country.
Independent evaluation of Save Xmas workshops held in the period to March 2008 indicated that 40,000 consumers had attended face-to-face advice sessions. The research found that 71 per cent of attendees felt more confident about choosing how to save and 38 per cent went on to make some change to their saving behaviour. Half of these people opened a credit union, bank or building society account and 20 per cent began saving where they previously had not.
David Murphy, Head of Marketing at the Office of Fair Trading, said:
'Working in partnership with Citizens Advice has already helped us to raise awareness and change people's attitudes towards saving safely and I'm delighted that they are on board for the next phase of the campaign.'
'The new campaign film being launched today will help us to spread the message even more widely.'
John Rhodes, Head of Financial Capability at Citizens Advice said:
'Citizens Advice Bureaux across the country are seeing increasing numbers of people seeking help on money matters. We're delighted to again be playing a leading part in the Save Xmas campaign. It means bureaux and local partners will be able to help even more people to budget , borrow and save with confidence for Christmas and other important events.'
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Sarah McCarthy-Fry, said:
'The Government fully backs the Save Xmas campaign and that's why we committed £2 million of support through the Financial Inclusion Fund. This new phase of the campaign offers the opportunity to reach even more people, especially the most vulnerable consumers, with this important message to ensure they are able to make an informed choice about how to save towards the costs of Christmas.'
More information on the Save Xmas campaign can be found at the Consumer Direct website and the new campaign film can be viewed at You Tube.
NOTES
1. Following the collapse of Farepak hamper company in 2006 the Government announced £1 million funding for the Office of Fair Trading to conduct a consumer awareness campaign on Christmas saving schemes and mainstream alternatives. Save Xmas was launched on 1 June 2007.
2. In December 2007 HM Treasury announced a further £2 million for Save Xmas taking it to March 2011.
3. The Citizens Advice service is a network of independent charities that helps people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more information in England and Wales see the Citizens Advice website.
123/09 13 October 2009
The OFT has appointed Citizens Advice to deliver a series of financial workshops to help groups such as lone parents and those on benefits or low incomes become better informed about savings options.
The workshops form part of the OFT's Save Xmas awareness campaign that launched in partnership with Citizens Advice in 2007 following the collapse of the Farepak hamper company. Alongside the workshops, the OFT is also today launching a short TV film for use by commercial broadcasters.
As part of the agreement announced today, Citizens Advice will deliver 210 workshop sessions directly to consumers and an equal number to frontline advice workers, enabling them to spread the message to their clients in Citizens Advice Bureaux around the country.
Independent evaluation of Save Xmas workshops held in the period to March 2008 indicated that 40,000 consumers had attended face-to-face advice sessions. The research found that 71 per cent of attendees felt more confident about choosing how to save and 38 per cent went on to make some change to their saving behaviour. Half of these people opened a credit union, bank or building society account and 20 per cent began saving where they previously had not.
David Murphy, Head of Marketing at the Office of Fair Trading, said:
'Working in partnership with Citizens Advice has already helped us to raise awareness and change people's attitudes towards saving safely and I'm delighted that they are on board for the next phase of the campaign.'
'The new campaign film being launched today will help us to spread the message even more widely.'
John Rhodes, Head of Financial Capability at Citizens Advice said:
'Citizens Advice Bureaux across the country are seeing increasing numbers of people seeking help on money matters. We're delighted to again be playing a leading part in the Save Xmas campaign. It means bureaux and local partners will be able to help even more people to budget , borrow and save with confidence for Christmas and other important events.'
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Sarah McCarthy-Fry, said:
'The Government fully backs the Save Xmas campaign and that's why we committed £2 million of support through the Financial Inclusion Fund. This new phase of the campaign offers the opportunity to reach even more people, especially the most vulnerable consumers, with this important message to ensure they are able to make an informed choice about how to save towards the costs of Christmas.'
More information on the Save Xmas campaign can be found at the Consumer Direct website and the new campaign film can be viewed at You Tube.
NOTES
1. Following the collapse of Farepak hamper company in 2006 the Government announced £1 million funding for the Office of Fair Trading to conduct a consumer awareness campaign on Christmas saving schemes and mainstream alternatives. Save Xmas was launched on 1 June 2007.
2. In December 2007 HM Treasury announced a further £2 million for Save Xmas taking it to March 2011.
3. The Citizens Advice service is a network of independent charities that helps people resolve their money, legal and other problems by providing information and advice and by influencing policymakers. For more information in England and Wales see the Citizens Advice website.
