Monday, Jan 16, 2017
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THE INDEPENDENT VOICE OF MID CANTERBURY
Following the sun Sunflowers along the Methven Highway are among Mid Canterbury crops blossoming into an explosion of colour as warm weather takes hold and harvest approaches. PHOTO MATT MARKHAM 150107-MM-0003
Budget blow-outs about to show BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Old foes to clash again P18
Budget advisors are battening down the hatches ahead of an expected influx of clients wanting help to sort out their post-Christmas finances. And if the number who are already seeking assistance through food parcels is any indication, late January could be very busy as Christmas bills come in, says Ashburton Presbyterian Support services manager Jackie Girvan. Already there is a higher than normal number of people seeking food parcels from the organisation, indicating the reality of a pre-Christmas spend-up was starting to hit home as people ran out of cash. Increased pressure would come as school uniforms and books needed to be bought, Girvan said. Along with a number of other social agencies, Presbyterian Support encourages its clients to apply for uniform
grants from a youth education charity, but this year none of the people on its books had lodged applications, Girvan said. And that’s created problems, downstream, she said. “We’re now getting people who realise they haven’t budgeted for this and they’re wanting help. “We’re wracking our brains where we can get the money because we don’t want to see children starting school without uniforms, it’s important to have children in the correct clothes.” As people struggled to make ends meet, Girvan said there were things that had to be a priority – rent and power. “We always push that message and yet we regularly have people come in with several thousand owing in outstanding rent. If you have rent and power paid then we can look at other things. Landlords have been very patient. They genuinely want to help people have a home,
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but they also have bills they have to pay.” While people struggling financially might be reluctant to ask for help, the key was to ask for that help early on, before the amount of debt was too high, she said. Client numbers over the past two years have been steady at around 230. Most worked with advisory staff for a short time as the aim was to help them take control of their finances rather than becoming dependent on someone else to do this for them long term. If the demand for help is likely to be higher this year, that’s been matched by the community’s willingness to help, Girvan said. “At Christmas this year we were given money by a lot of very generous people to buy gifts for children. “We were floored when one person came in with $1000 and several came with $500. Ashburton is an incredibly generous district.”
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