As we leave the summer of 2025 behind and step into October, we enter a month that is unapologetic, bold, and powerful: 'Black History Month in Britain'. This is a time to honour struggle and triumph, to celebrate the contributions of Black communities, and to confront the uncomfortable realities of poverty and inequality that still persist today. Welcome to the Debt Talk Podcast. I’m your host, Ripon Ray. This episode: “Poverty & Black History in Britain.” To guide us through this important conversation, I’m joined by two remarkable guests: Jerry During, founder of Money A&E, the UK’s first lived-experience-led debt and financial education service, was born in Newham. Jerry shared how his father’s experience of debt shaped his childhood, and how his own awareness of being Black sharpened as he pursued a legal career. In law firms, the only non-white faces he encountered were in low-income roles, such as those of cleaners and receptionists. That moment stayed with hi...

Mainstream broadcasters have already aired non-payment of fuel debt due to the cost of living crisis.   The impact of such a crisis is felt by a vast range of communities, charities, businesses, landlords and local and governments and many more.   My Name is Ripon Ray and I worked in the debt sector for over a decade.   I’ve launched Debt Talk podcast to explore how a variety of communities respond locally, nationally, and internationally in an uncharted territory. Join me on Debt Talk and subscribe.

Thank you Mutual Covid Newham for inviting Ripon Ray to speak about universal credit, money and debt on Zoom.

'Thank you Ripon for speaking at Ealing Covid 19 Mutual aid group on Universal credit.  I had no idea how complex the regime is and now understand how some of my clients have fallen through the gaps and ended up without money or support.  Despite the direness of the subject Ripon explained it very clearly and with good humour. We'll ask you back again!'  Rheian Davies, Winner of Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year, and Covid-19 Nurse at Nightingale  Hospital 

‘I had no clue why my universal credit claim was closed. I have not told DWP that my circumstances have changed.  I had taken out a loan for £5000 whilst I made an appeal against the decision of the DWP; otherwise, I won’t be able to pay my rent.’  Mila’s situation raises a number of questions in terms of whether her Universal Credit claim should have been stopped by the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP), or if she should have obtained the loan in the first place to pay her rent or that the appropriate loan company should have even given Mila the loan.  When I spoke to Mila though, her survival instinct drove her to make the application for the loan. If she had taken it out unethically, that no doubt raises more questions. The Welfare Reform Act 2012 introduced a number of changes in the benefit system. One of these changes was the introduction of Universal Credit. Instead of making a number of claims for means tested benefits - such as support for hou...

Is there a way for you to save money on energy if you are hard up? It will get to a stage when cold weather will become unbearable.   You may have to make a decision and turn the central heating on to keep yourself sane in such long nights and short days.  In Britain the average temperature in winter had been 5c. Last winter it was 3.5c. Protecting yourself from cold weather is going to be a challenge even in current winter especially when it's below 0 degrees. If you have children, elderly or health conditions, you and your household could be further in need of a warm home. Putting aside double or triple glazing, or anything else expensive to install,   I want to give you a few simple tips to save you  money on energy which may, at the same time, prevent you from catching   a cold, asthma, or even a heart attack in this winter. Payment in winter: The cost of gas and electricity is significantly high during winter. It’s also a ...

If you want to get involved with the campaign get in touch with me...I am one of the leading campaigners on welfare reform and universal credit!

P ension: Since auto-enrollment began in the UK in 2012, we are beginning to properly save for our retirement. On this show, Robert Parker - Chair of the  Personal Financial Society - talks about the differences between state and private pension, risks that are involved with investing your pension in stocks and shares and many more issues related to your pension. Universal Credit:   How do you apply for such a benefit? When are you going to be migrated to it? What are the condition for applying it? What is included as part of the claim? What does it not include? I talk about all the above issues and more. 

By  Ed Sheridan, Local Democracy Reporter  |  September 18, 2018 Hard Times: Campaigners clash with council over council tax support. Photograph: Marco Verch. A cross-party campaign is calling on Hackney Council to walk back a recent cut to tax relief and instead provide full support to the borough’s poorest residents. The Town Hall  came under heavy fire  from anti-poverty charity Zacchaeus 2000 Trust (Z2K) in September last year after it announced plans to increase the amount of council tax paid by working age residents in financial hardship. In order to offset government cuts, the council  made the decision earlier this year to go ahead with changes to its Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS), increasing the amount paid by working age claimants from 15 to 17 per cent. The No Poll Tax 2 campaign has now started a  petition  calling on the local authority to think again and provide 100 per cent support through...

I recently advised Shazna Rahman*, a Bangladeshi Muslim woman in Newham. She came to seek debt advice from me at Toynbee Hall, a charity in Tower Hamlets that helps communities in poverty. She was wearing full black burkah . This is a piece of clothing covering her body completely. It was not the manifestation of her faith that struck me most, but the reality of her difficult and hard life. Her children were taken away from her by Social Services because she was unfit to look after herself and her children due to a highly traumatised divorce that resulted in a mental breakdown. She moved from Tower Hamlets to Newham into private accommodation. She claimed housing benefit to pay for her rent.  After a few years, she became homeless when her private landlord wanted to rent the property out to a professional couple who would pay more. Newham council put her in temporary accommodation because she was deemed in priority need due to her mental health. ...

Socialist Lawyer is the magazine of the  Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers .    It has published my article on council tax debt problem in the UK.

To listen to all of my other podcasts go to here

‘I am thinking of getting my pension funds released to pay for my rent arrears - do you think my landlord will stop possession proceedings if I pay it all off once I get the funds?’ This is what one of my clients said to me when he first came to seek advice for his rent arrears. It was in September 2016. He was 56 years old but would not be eligible for the state pension for another decade. What struck me about him was his proposal to unlock his pension funds to pay for his rent arrears. It made me think about men in his age group, how they lived and how severe their financial and other problems can be and the challenges they face trying to rectify it. These are problems that, as things stand, will persist until their retirement age. As I dug deeper into this gentleman’s personal circumstances, I discovered how he had fallen into poverty. His life was thrown into chaos once he was faced with early retirement. He previously worked for a local council and his role wa...