Fair for You launches new Scotland campaign with Gail Porter

Fair for You, a responsible, not for profit lender, has launched a new campaign in Scotland with Gail Porter in response to shocking new figures on household poverty across Scotland.   

The figures, newly released by financial inclusion organisation Fair4All Finance, reveal that 1.6m Scots (36% of all adults) are living in financially vulnerable circumstances.

A recent pilot by Fair for You, funded by Social Investment Scotland, has helped 1000 Glasgow residents to buy essential household items they might otherwise have gone without. Following the success of the trial, the social enterprise has announced that it will expand its affordable lending across the whole of Scotland to help more Scot at risk of furniture and appliance poverty. The charity End Furniture Poverty reports that in Scotland there are130,000 people living without a freezer, 74,000 without a sofa and 120,000 lacking a bed for each of their children.

TV presenter and former model Gail Porter, who fought back from crippling bankruptcy and homelessness, has teamed up with Fair for You with the aim of helping more Scottish people spread the cost of essential purchases with responsible lenders. Organisations like Fair for You will only lend what people can afford and provide customers with control over repayments. 

A household name from her TV and modelling work in the 1990s, Gail developed alopecia in 2005 leading to her work drying up and, coinciding with other personal issues, forcing her to declare bankruptcy in 2017. 

Gail is also calling out banks for turning their backs on customers - even those who can afford to repay - because they don’t want to go to the trouble of making small loans.

She said: “The cost-of-living crisis has hit people hard, and I know that many people would be in serious hot water if they had to find a way to buy a new washing machine or replace akey appliance. I remember the horror of not being able to get a new washer when my young daughter was going to school, and I know how hopeless things can feel when bills are piling up, but also how much of a boost it can give you - practically and mentally - when you find a helping hand. I wish I’d known about this when I was struggling. 

Simon Dukes, chief executive of Fair for You, says: “The latest data from Fair4All Finance shows that more than a third of Scots are in financially vulnerable circumstances, and data earlier this year showed that 29% of Scottish households have no savings. When people have no financial safety net, they may feel they have no option in a moment of financial stress but to turn to high cost credit or illegal lenders.

“We’re proud of the support we do provide, and we are helping more and more customers all the time thanks to Social Investment Scotland - and also now thanks to Gail, who is destigmatising the issue of financial exclusion by being so honest about her experiences of appliance poverty and just how hopeless it can feel without the right support.”

Fair for You was set up by the Fair Credit Charity in 2015 to enable people who aren’t being well served by banks and other mainstream lenders to buy household items including beds, washing machines, fridges and furniture with fair and flexible repayments. A range of leading retailers partner with Fair for You including Hotpoint, Argos and Iceland. 

Those in need can check out the Fair for You website to find out more: https://www.fairforyou.co.uk/