PRA Group has become the official sponsor of not-for-profit membership organisation Money Advice Liaison Group’s (MALG) ‘Members Friday Forum’ for 2021.
The MALG Members Friday Forum was launched in March 2020 to enable money advisers, creditors, regulators, policy-makers, and others from the financial services and advice sectors in the UK to continue MALG’s aim of ‘working together to improve the lives of people in debt’ throughout the pandemic.
The virtual event took place on a weekly basis throughout 2020 with an average of 40 attendees at each session, and became a valuable resource for collaboration and support as new developments impacting the most vulnerable in society unfolded. PRA Group’s generous contribution and support means that this unique opportunity to regularly bring together those from across the whole debt landscape to openly and informally discuss and debate key issues for joint action, can continue during what is predicted to be one of the most challenging years ever for those in problem debt.
Following a break during December 2020, the MALG Members Friday Forum will re-launch on 8 January 2021 as a fortnightly event. It will continue to be an hour-long drop-in session with no political, regulatory, or commercial agenda which will not be minuted or recorded.
Bob Winnington, Chief Executive of MALG, said:
“When the Coronavirus pandemic hit, we knew that not only would there be increased demand for debt advice, but that the need for our members to work together to share best practice, information, and ideas would be even greater. Since our membership proposition was largely based on face-to-face events, we had to quickly adapt to provide a virtual means of continuing the vital conversations and collaborative opportunities that our members rely on us to facilitate.
“We have been blown away by the feedback on and success of the MALG Members Friday Forum and were keen to keep the momentum going as our members move from ‘crisis mode’ to navigating the ‘new normal’ post COVID-19, and we are very grateful to our long-standing member PRA Group in supporting us to do this.”
Tim Kirk, UK Country Operations Director of PRA Group, added:
“As a long-time supporter of MALG, PRA Group is committed to treating customers fairly and working with the wider credit and money advice sector to uphold the highest standards, keep up to date with the latest developments, and gain insight into how creditors and money advisers work. Our sponsorship of the 2021 MALG Members Friday Forum in 2021 will allow us to continue the vital conversations that we have been a part of throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and, ultimately, improve the lives of those in debt.”
As a not-for-profit organisation, MALG welcomes financial contributions and offers of pro-bono support and resources for its added value work and services through its ‘Friends of MALG’ initiative.