Money Advice Liaison Group (MALG), the not-for-profit UK membership organisation which enables those from across the financial services and advisory landscape to ‘work together to improve the lives of people in debt’, has launched ‘Friends of MALG’ to support its continued growth and sustainability in 2021 and beyond.
The sponsorship provided by ‘Friends of MALG’, can take the form of either monetary contributions or pro bono support. It will enable MALG to support its members at a time when the demand for their debt services is greater than ever but revenue from traditional activities such as conferences and face-to-face events, which have helped fund MALG in the past, is not possible.
In response to the Coronavirus outbreak in March 2020, MALG quickly adapted to deliver virtual means for its members to continue open discussion, debate, and joint working on issues around problem debt as the challenges created by the pandemic unfolded. New initiatives such as a Members Friday Forum and Virtual Summit has made MALG ever more relevant and important, but also put increasing pressure on the not-for-profit’s finances.
A selection of long-standing MALG Members were approached to provide additional support via the new ‘Friends of MALG’ initiative and the response so far has been very positive, with the offer now being extended to any organisations that want to further demonstrate their commitment to MALG’s vital work.
Current ‘Friends of MALG’ include Arrow Global, CDER Group, Financial Wellness Group, Intrum, Lantern, Lester Aldridge, Lowell, and PRA Group.
Bob Winnington, Chief Executive of MALG, says:
“We pride ourselves on being the ‘missing link’ tying together all the threads of the customer journey from the prevention to the cure of problem debt. With no commercial, regulatory, or political agenda, we are uniquely placed to facilitate collaboration in a way that no other organisation is, and we were determined to continue to make this possible at a time when it is arguably more important than it’s ever been.
“We are hugely grateful to those that have already offered their support as ‘Friends of MALG’ and hope that others will follow suit in 2021 as part of their corporate social responsibility activities.”
Denise Crossley, Chief Executive of Lantern, adds:
“I’ve always believed that, even in the world of debt collection, and especially when you’re dealing with people facing difficult circumstances, there is only one way to behave: be empathetic, honest and relatable. Communications and engagement is at the heart of this and our membership of MALG has been a key part of our ethos. Being able to now extend our support through additional sponsorship is an opportunity we couldn’t pass up.”
Those interested in supporting MALG can find out more at www.malg.org.uk/about/friends-of-malg and get in touch to discuss options.