Money Advice Trust: rolling story gathering

• Money Advice Trust gives people the confidence to face debt and manage their money. We help them to capture the powerful stories that show their impact.

The client

Money Advice Trust is the national charity that runs National Debtline and Business Debtline. They provide free, independent, and confidential advice to individuals and small business owners struggling with financial difficulties. They also work to influence policy and improve the UK’s money and debt advice landscape through research, partnerships, and training.

The problem

When Steve Vaid took over as CEO of the Money Advice Trust in Spring 2024, he quickly noticed a gap: there was a lack of content that truly reflected the voice and experience of the people the organisation serves.

The solution

With an imminent board meeting on the horizon, Steve needed compelling stories—but there was no existing process for gathering customer narratives. To meet the short-term need, we recommended starting with internal voices. Staff stories would be faster to identify, involved less sensitive content, and could be signed off more quickly.

We spoke to five employees from across the organisation, whose insights and anecdotes brought to life the breadth and impact of the Money Advice Trust’s work. These stories laid the groundwork for a more structured, long-term approach to capturing the customer voice.

Next, we supported the Money Advice Trust in developing an ethical storytelling framework and a robust consent process—ensuring that lived experiences would be shared with care, respect, and integrity.

With this groundwork in place, we began gathering customer stories. We spoke to five individuals who had contacted the charity’s debt advice lines and felt ready to reflect on and share their experiences. Each story was written in the first person, allowing the customers’ voices to come through with authenticity and clarity.

The impact

“It’s been really interesting, uplifting and sad to read these stories. They are all about normal folks that just got themselves and their finances out of control – so easily done. Mile 91 have listened and told their stories so well and solved the problem that we had, which was that no one really knew what we did. Responses are 10 out of 10 every time. So far, no one that’s read any one of those stories hasn’t come back to me and said, ‘Wow, what you do is amazing!’”