Landlord supports charity to stamp out loan sharks

 Social landlord Riverside is supporting one of its North West tenants in her bid to save people from the clutches of illegal loan sharks.

Carol Highton, aged 46 from Halton Brook in Runcorn, has launched the Brian Shields Trust in memory of her 22 year old son who hanged himself in the face of crippling loan shark debts in 2005.

Riverside is helping to promote the charity, which has a headquarters on the High Street in Runcorn, and offers a lifeline to victims of loan sharks, as well as advice for those in debt contemplating using illegal money lenders.

The Brian Shields Trust recently launched a website and has already been inundated with calls from desperate people struggling to pay off mounting debts from violent, illegal money lenders.

Carol is not only helping people in the North West area, but is also supporting victims as far afield as the North East and the Republic of Ireland.  She works closely with the Illegal Money Lending Team and has so far helped to take 12 loan sharks off the streets, by persuading people who can offer evidence to contact the team.

Carol said:  “People are very frightened of speaking out against those that threaten and intimidate them.  I am here to allay their fears.  People tend to find it easier to pick up the phone and speak to me in confidence.   And I’m happy to support them in offering any evidence they can to the Illegal Money Lending team, so that they can investigate and put a stop to the misery that loan sharks inflict on people.”

Carol believes that her work may avoid tragedies similar to her own, when her son was driven to suicide by loan shark Paul Nicholson, who is now serving an indefinite life sentence.

Carol said:  “I have heard of people who have planned suicide pacts as result of loan sharks.  There are also cases where people take out small loans of around £100, and struggle to pay back thousands over 20 years or more.  If loan sharks are caught these debts are written off and people can get their lives back on track.”

Riverside’s community engagement officer Mark Browne is keen to support the charity.  He added:  “We want to spread to the word to people in our neighbourhoods that they don’t have to live in fear.  Social housing tenants often have no access to affordable credit.  Their vulnerability is a magnet to loan sharks who regularly work within our communities and start by offering small loans of sometimes less than £100, which can escalate in a short space of time to thousands.”

Visit The Brian Shields Trust web site at www.tbs-trust.co.uk or telephone the helpline on 03333 554 545.