Budget service sound

Press, 24 September 1980, Page 6

Budget service sound

Two grants to the Household Budget Advisory Service this month have ensured that it will be financially sound for another year. The service might have had to close by December as no funds had been forthcoming and grants had been cut. At the annual meeting yesterday, the chairman of the service’s management committee (Mr M. F. Rogers) said that in the last three weeks they had received grants of $5OOO from the Christchurch City Council and $lO,OOO from the Lottery Board.

“These two sums are magnificent and will give us a good funding to continue our work. Financially we are sound, but we must have a continuing source of money to avoid another crisis next year,” said Mr Rogers. The Canterbury Savings Bank had also increased its contribution from $2OO last year to $lOOO this year, but some big contributions had either been withdrawn or reduced, he said. • Additional funding through gifts from businesses had been discussed with the Canterbury Retailers’ Association. Because of the debts re-

covered by the service (more than $10,000), local businesses which benefited from this service could make a proportional contribution to the service’s finances, Mr Rogers said. The retailers’ association did not favour setting up such a scheme, but had suggested. that the service collate the amounts it recovered for firms, and made individual approaches to those business houses.

Many of the association’s larger department - store members had never heard of the service and were not aware it was dealing with so many of their clients. Chairing the meeting, the Mayor of Christchurch (Mr Hamish Hay) said it would be a real challenge to get “a realistic involvement" from the business community. Businesses had a “very strong obligation” to make a direct donation in line with the contributions collected. A percentage of the debts recovered would have made a “vast difference" to the service’s finances. Although the Metropolitan Grants Committee had made no grant to the service this year, there was no, reason why it could not apply to

the individual councils’ community development funds, Mr Hay said. The 'service’s secretary-or-ganiser, Mr J. F. Maguire, said it had built up credibility with the public and local businesses, but it was important that it was not seen as a debt collecting agency. The service would be just as busy, if not busier over the next 12 months, and it was reassuring to know that it could carry on without any great financial problems.