Robert Lloyd - a Sir Gar Blog of random news . . . and some Clecs!

A new service offering free advice and assistance on money matters to the residents of rural Carmarthenshire is now available through RDP Sir Gâr. If you have problems with debt and don’t know where to start, you can call Fflur Thomas (Debt and Benefit Officer) and her team and they will help you access a range of financial services in your area, with specialist support where needed. Fflur has years of experience with the Citizens Advice Bureau and is part of Carmarthenshire County Council’s Community Regeneration section. Besides offering financial management assistance, she hopes to ensure rural Carmarthenshire residents are getting what they are entitled to as many could claim benefits or tax credits that they don’t know about. Her project staff can undertake a check on your behalf and can also help with claims and appeals. They are also looking for volunteers to work with her on this exciting new scheme. Training to enable you to provide basic debt and benefit advice will be p...

As Christmas approaches, Carmarthenshire residents are being warned to avoid using illegal money lenders and look to other options for short term loans. Carmarthenshire County Council executive board member for business, public protection and youth services Cllr Pam Palmer and executive board member for corporate property, customer focus and community wellbeing Cllr Kevin Madge said: “The current economic climate is placing pressure on families and making it harder to make ends meet. People who may have lost their jobs, have outstanding debts or are struggling to raise credit through the usual means can become desperate and turn to loan sharks. “It’s important that we get this message out to residents that loan sharks should be avoided because they will make a difficult financial situation much worse.” Loan sharks operate illegally and ignore regulations from the financial industry, which means borrowers are not protected. Loan sharks often charge extortionate amounts of interest and h...