Strides taken by a school support service in Renfrewshire have been welcomed after it was conceded the initiative made a “slow start”.
The latest figures have shown significant financial gains have been delivered through the project run by Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau.
It was disclosed the programme – which offers free, confidential and impartial advice on money, debt, benefits, housing and employment to families – helped 93 people achieve a total of £262,386.01 in financial gains in 2024.
The progress has been made as a councillor admitted at Wednesday’s Fairer Renfrewshire sub-committee that “some questions” had started to surround the service and whether it would work as intended.
In an update to elected members, Annabelle Armstrong-Walter, Renfrewshire Council’s strategic partnerships and inequalities manager, said: “We’re pleased to see an increased uptake for the school support service.
“We think this has been largely driven by some targeted work with the whole family wellbeing team that have supported a lot of that work in terms of uptake in schools.
“I appreciate that that has been a slow service to pick up in terms of numbers of referrals but I’m sure members will be encouraged by the level of financial gains that we’re reporting, so that’s a really positive piece of work.”
The initiative, which has run since August 2023, is funded by the local authority and aims to provide support to people who may have money worries.
Pupils over the age of 16 can also use it to discuss other topics such as education maintenance allowance or support for young carers. The project can be accessed in secondary and additional support needs schools.
Councillor Graeme Clark, vice chair of the sub-committee and Labour representative for Paisley Northeast and Ralston, said at the meeting: “I was delighted to see the growing value of the school support and family advice service.
“It did have that slow start and we had some questions about whether it was going to work but it seems to be working really well now. I was really pleased about that and I think it’s good that it’s in that location and accessible which is where we want advice to be.”
The school support service is complemented by the family advice service, run by the council’s advice works team, which provides help for families of primary, nursery and pre-school children.
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