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Pensioners Benefit to the Tune of £1million

Commenting on the benefit uptake work at their Annual Meeting, Bob Stronge, Director of Advice NI, said:

"This pilot initiative was conducted over a three month period last year and involved people being invited to contact their local independent advice centre for a benefit check. We have been staggered by the success of the initiative - the total of £1million is a phenomenal amount of money, both in terms of the difference it can make to the individual and to the economy in Northern Ireland."

The benefit uptake pilot focussed on 1,500 older people living in deprived wards in Belfast, Derry and Omagh; a further 750 people with disabilities were also invited to participate in the exercise; and the final element of the pilot involved women not in receipt of Pension Credit. The exercise generated on average an additional £30 per week for people found not to be in receipt of their full benefit entitlement.

Mr Stronge paid tribute to the work of independent advice centres in delivering vital advice services for the most vulnerable in the community:

"Independent advice centres are at the forefront in tackling need. The quality of the service; the commitment and dedication of the staff of Advice NI members contributed greatly to the success of this initiative. In addition our latest statistics demonstrate that whilst benefit work account for the majority of the workload of centres - other issues dealt with on a daily basis include debt, homelessness issues, employment and consumer problems."

He added:

"People are rightly worried about where to find the money for things like water charges, rates increases, hikes in electricity bills. Independent advice centres already deal with people struggling to get by on low incomes and our latest figures show a record number of over 237,000 enquiries last year - the demand for independent advice has never been greater."

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