BRASS – Your money matters.
22nd April 2025
BRASS is a financial wellbeing initiative.
It has been designed to help people maximise what money they do have, earning the most they can, spending and borrowing money in the most efficient ways, and reducing the risks and impacts that changes to financial circumstances can have.
BRASS – aims to host various activities, events, support and information for residents and partners under one umbrella (framework/brand).
Background to BRASS:
BRASS has been brought back to life by the Dalton Ward Partnership – Kirklees Council provided some communication/marketing funding (over 7 years ago) to the Kirklees Financial Inclusion Steering Group (then, a multi-agency body led by the community, now replaced by the Kirklees Tackling Poverty Partnership – led by Public Health) who decided to use the funding to co-produce a financial inclusion framework/brand that could be used by any partner to ‘package’ their community financial wellbeing information and support under.
Dalton Together have seen the value of the framework and are now using the brand to drive forward their financial inclusion priorities across the Dalton Ward.
If anyone is interested in finding out more about BRASS, the brand and/or you would like to promote any information under BRASS please contact cheryl.reid@kirklees.gov.uk.
What is BRASS?
BRASS stands for:
Budget
Budget
Making the most of earnings by understanding pay, benefits and other income.
Making sure your earnings add up by understanding other ways of maximising your income.
- Financial Support And Debt Advice – Food shopping can be one of the biggest bills and it’s becoming harder to afford the essentials as prices increase. Regular meals are important to keep yourself and your family healthy so it’s important you don’t go without. Checking you’re claiming all you’re entitled to could help to maximise your income and ease the burden. The link above includes free online tools that you can use to check your income.
- Money Helper Benefits Calculator – Find out what benefits you’re entitled to, how to claim them, when you qualify, and what to do if things go wrong.
- ICAFS Money Advice: Dalton Ward Residents – Need FREE, confidential money advice. If you’re living in the Dalton ward and are aged 16+ (E.g. Universal Credit/Benefits, Housing Benefits, Household Heating Grants) and lots more. Download: ICAFS flyer.pdf
- The Welcome Centre – Telephone referral-based service and food bank providing essential support to people in South Kirklees who are in financial crisis. Download: ReferralLeaflet1.pdf, ReferralLeaflet2.pdf.
- Yorkshire Building Society (Money Minds) – Everybody’s future matters, especially when it comes to money, work and careers. So it’s important to talk about it. Money Minds has advice, guidance and learning waiting for you.
- Yorkshire Building Society (Citizens Advice) – We can all face problems that seem complicated or intimidating and we realise these past few years have been challenging for everyone. So what can you do, and where can you go to discuss your problems? Our innovative partnership with Citizens Advice might give you the answer.
- Local Welfare Provision Scheme (LWP) – Helping people in short-term crisis with food and essential items including food parcels, fuel vouchers and advice around benefits, debt, budgeting, employment and housing.
- Barclays Life Skills – LifeSkills created with Barclays is a free, financial capability and employability programme that offers educators modules, tips and advice to support residents and communities improve their financial skills.
- BetterOff Kirklees – A service for people who live in Kirklees. BetterOff will show you the benefits you are entitled to and will help you apply for them online. BetterOff also provides information on how to find and apply for jobs.
- Kirklees Citizens Advice – Kirklees Citizens Advice and Law Centre could help you save money on your energy bills with advice about switching energy tariffs and suppliers, fuel debt, benefit checks and application support. Tel: Freephone 0808 278 7896.
- Daily Mail Airfryer Recipes – Five air fryer recipes that you can cook in as little as FIVE minutes – from crispy cauliflower nuggets to Japanese fried chicken!
Rainy Day
Rainy day
Saving for future goals such as Christmas, a holiday, new appliances.
Figure out a formula to save for the things that are important to you by monitoring money and controlling a savings account.
- The Bread and Butter Thing – Save over £30 on your weekly shopping. TBBT runs out of the Dalton/Rawthorpe Library every Monday. To register please follow the instructions located on the flyer HERE. This is available for all residents living within the Dalton Ward!
- Dalton Ward Emergency Food Bank – Emergency foodbank referrals available HERE.
- Money Helper Savings – whether for a rainy day or a special treat – is often easier said than done.
- Martin Lewis Money Saving Tips – More than 60 tips on coping as cost of living soars.
- Cost of Living Survival Kit – 90 ways to save from MSE and Moneysavers.
- Yorkshire Water – If you’re struggling to play for your water bill there’s immediate short term and longer-term schemes you can apply for.
- CCW Water Meter Calculator – Depending on how much water you use, you may be better off with a meter. General rule of thumb from MoneySavingExpert: If there are more bedrooms in your home than people, or the same number, it might be cheaper to get a meter. The Consumer Council for Water has a free water meter calculator that tells you if you could save.
Avoid Arrears
Avoid arrears
Borrowing can enable essential purchases, but needs to be affordable and right.
Solve ways of borrowing the right amount of money that will allow you to make important purchases without getting into difficulty.
- GamCare: National Gambling Support – Free specialist advice, support and treatment for gambling harms. GamCare offers forums, chat rooms, live chat and more. If you require support around Gambling please call The National Gambling Helpline at 0808 8020 133 (Lines open 24/7).
- Dalton Together, GamCare and Krysallis: Understanding Gambling Harms Webinar – In case you missed our webinar or were unable to attend, you can download the PowerPoint Presentation here.
- Money Helper Everyday Money – Want to be better with the money you use every day? Check out our guidance. Get help with banking, cars and insurance – plus credit and borrowing.
- Money Helper Debt Relief Order (DRO) – Find out more about how a Debt Relief Order (DRO) works and which debts you can use it for.
Spend
Spend
Be sure you are getting good value with everyday and big purchases.
Calculate your spending by bringing a budget into the equation and learning how to buy things of equal value for a fraction of the price.
- Kirklees Cost of Living Support – Financial support and debt advice, keeping your house warm and reducing energy bills and support with the cost of food. Download Flyer: RiseInCostOfLiving.pdf
- Help For Households – See what support is available to help with the cost of living and find out how to save money with energy saving tips.
- Kirklees Council Keeping Your House Warm and Reducing Energy Bills – Advice and support on energy schemes.
- Help To Buy Healthy Food And Milk – if you’re more than 10 weeks pregnant or have a child under four, you may be entitled to Healthy Start vouchers.
- MoneyHelper – Part of the Money and Pension Scheme and is here to make your money and pension choices clearer. Open to everyone, MoneyHelper is helping people to clear their debts, reduce spending and make the most of their income. MoneyHelper can explain what you need to do and how you can do it. You can access information online or over the phone and face-to-face.
- BBC: Cost of Living Tips – Need help saving money on your energy bills? From heating to eating, BBC consumer affairs correspondent Colletta Smith has picked out some of the best ways to cut costs in your home.
- Free Energy & Money Saving: Green Doctor service – Groundwork’s Green Doctor can help Kirklees households to stay warm, save money on bills and reduce carbon emissions.
- Warm Welcome Spaces in The Dalton Ward – a resource outlining FREE warm welcome spaces accessible across the Dalton Ward.
- Safety In The Home Service – If you live in Kirklees and have a child under 2 years old you could be entitled to FREE home safety equipment supplied and fitted in your property, as well as been provided with home safety information and advice. Provided by the Yorkshire Children’s Centre a partner of Thriving Kirklees partnership, working with West Yorkshire Fire And Rescue Service.
- SCOPE: Disability Energy Support – Free energy advice to disabled people, helping to manage energy needs including energy efficient, switching suppliers, changing your meter and energy debt.
Security
Security
Taking away risk in your financial situation, emergency saving and insurance.
Take away the risks surrounding finance by working out how much you’ve got and how to prepare for a money emergency.
- Free School Meals – If you receive certain benefits your child could get free school meals.
- Money Helper Scams – We’re here to help you understand the different ways you could be scammed, and how to recognise them so you’re confident you can spot one and let friends and family know too.
- West Yorkshire Join Services Scam Awareness and Advice – Scams are tricks used by dishonest people who try and con you out of your money. They come in many different disguises such as letters saying you have won the lottery, emails saying you are owed a tax refund or phone calls offering a free boiler.
- Telephone Preference Service – The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is the UK’s only official ‘Do Not Call’ register for landlines and Mobile numbers. It allows people and businesses to opt out of unsolicited live sales and marketing calls. It’s free and quick to register a telephone number. Doing so will reduce the amount of unwanted sales and marketing calls you receive.
- Uniform Exchange Free School Uniforms – Requests can be made by parents, schools, social workers and other agencies to receive clean, passed on recycled uniform items. Paper forms available HERE but online forms are preferred if possible.
- Uniform Exchange Donation Points – Donation points for school uniforms, there are also boxes in schools in Moldgreen, Kirkheaton, St Joseph’s and all three phases of Netherhall.
- Uniform Exchange Recycling Partner – Information on how to get set up as a recycling partner.
Be sure to check out our events page to see upcoming BRASS events!
If you would like to find out more please contact the Dalton Together team at info@daltontogether.co.uk, you can download our what is BRASS flyer HERE.
Warm Spaces in Dalton 2025
Download – WarmSpacesDaltonWard.pdf
Dalton BRASS General Support Card 2023 – 2024
Support card currently being refreshed.
Download Digital Version of the Card – Brass20232024DigitalCard.pdf
Download CMYK Print Version of the Card – Brass20232024PrintCard.pdf
Dalton BRASS Loan Shark Christmas Support Card – 2022
Support card currently being refreshed.
Download our Loan Shark Christmas Support card – BrassLoanSharkChristmasCard2022.pdf
We have a BRASS partnership subgroup. If you would like to join please contact: Cheryl.reid@kirklees.gov.uk
The next meeting will be on 30th June, if you would like an invite please contact Cheryl.
Previous BRASS webinar we held on the 15th September 2021
In case you missed our webinar, the slides are available to download here – DTBRASSWebinarSlides.pptx
BRASS Action Plan – Dalton Ward
Plan currently being refreshed.
Find out what Dalton Together partners are doing across the ward, contact Cheryl.reid@kirklees.gov.uk for more information.
Download Partner Action Plan – BrassAndCaringIsSharingActionPlan.xlsx
