大象传媒

Sylvia Simpson is the founder of the charity Money Buddies. The service helps people with debt and money worries, and equips them with the skills to handle their finances themselves.

The service started out as one centre in the Burmantofts area of Leeds, one of the cities most deprived suburbs. Since then it's expanded to 25 centres, and is the biggest debt management service in the region.

Sylvia was asked by the local council to take over the only site Money Buddies had, but she noticed that more people needed financial help and advice. She set up more centres, and her team not only help people to get out of debt, but also teach them the skills to manage their money.

This year Sylvia and her team have received record amounts of contacts for help because of the cost of living crisis. It's not just people on low incomes either, people on middle incomes are struggling to make ends meet.

The charity has been nominated for many awards - including the Centre for Social Justice Debt Award. This year Martin Lewis donated 拢50,000 to Money Buddies, so they could help people with the rising cost of living.

PRESENTER: WINIFRED ROBINSON
PRODUCER: LYDIA THOMAS