Hartlepool roadshow will help people make money go further

Hartlepool Borough Council chiefs say residents ‘continue to suffer real financial hardship’ and the event, called the Power In Your Pocket Roadshow, will help people make ends meet.

It will feature a range of organisations offering specialist help and advice including:

• Hartlepool Borough Council;

• Hartlepool Foodbank;

• West View Advice and Resource Centre – for help to tackle fuel poverty;

• Barclays Bank – for advice on setting up a bank account, budgeting and services for people who have been declared bankrupt;

• The Citizens’ Advice Bureau – for general information and advice.

The library’s own staff will also be on hand to direct people to a wide range of support including books on money management and living on a budget and access to digital library facilities.

Hartlepool’s libraries already play an important role in helping and supporting people, offering free classes to help people get online for the first time, help and support in using the internet and email and free computer access for jobsearching.

Central Library also hosts weekly sessions by the National Careers Service and West View Advice and Resource Centre.

Councillor Kevin Cranney, chairmnan of the council’s Regeneration Services Policy Committee, said: “At a time when many Hartlepool residents continue to suffer real financial hardship, this roadshow offers people the chance to get some very useful advice and support to save money and help make ends meet.

“It’s also important for people to make sure they are receiving the benefits they are rightly entitled to, and this has a positive knock-on effect because that money will then be spent in the local economy.”

It’s on Thursday, February 18, from 11am to 3pm and will be hosted by Central Library in York Road.

For more information about the event, call the library on 01429 272905.