Debt Talk CIC is a Community Interest Company (CIC) based in London, United Kingdom.
Established to address the profound social, financial, and emotional impacts of poverty, Debt Talk CIC offers culturally competent, trauma-informed debt support and financial education, with a strong emphasis on community empowerment and lived experience. The organisation originally emerged from work with Bangladeshi communities affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and now supports a wide range of groups facing financial hardship, exclusion and stigma.
Main missions and activities
- Providing debt advice and guidanceDebt Talk CIC offers free trauma-informed, culturally competent debt advice and related support. Individuals can access one-to-one guidance, budgeting help, and follow-up support through community outreach sessions and drop-ins.
- Offering financial educationThe organisation develops and delivers accessible financial education to improve financial resilience, reduce stress associated with debt, and help people navigate difficult financial situations with confidence and dignity.
- Community-led support and empowerment forumsThrough facilitated forums, workshops, and safe community spaces, Debt Talk CIC brings people together to share experiences, understand systemic drivers of poverty, and develop mutual support networks.
- Research, campaigning and community organisingDebt Talk CIC conducts community-rooted research and leads campaigns focused on debt stigma, poverty, racialised inequality, and structural barriers to financial wellbeing. Its advocacy work aims to shift narratives around debt and influence social policy.
- Podcast for cross-sector dialogueAs part of its public-facing campaigns, Debt Talk CIC produces a monthly podcast designed to bring together voices from different communities and sectors, including grassroots organisers, financial experts, policymakers, mental-health practitioners and individuals with lived experience of debt to highlight cases of debts in the UK. The podcast aims to open up conversations about poverty, challenge stigma, and connect community perspectives with wider public and professional audiences.
- Outreach, drop-in sessions and community partnershipsDebt Talk CIC collaborates with local organisations and cultural venues to deliver regular drop-ins and outreach support, making debt advice more accessible to underserved groups.
Particularities and strengths
- Community-led and culturally competentDebt Talk’s work is grounded in lived experience and shaped by the cultural realities of the communities it serves, especially those historically underserved by mainstream debt advice structures.
- Trauma-informed, holistic approachThe organisation integrates emotional wellbeing, community healing and social justice with practical debt support, recognising that financial difficulty is deeply linked to mental health, shame and structural inequality.
- Multi-dimensional modelDebt Talk CIC works at several levels — individual support, community spaces, financial education, research, campaigning and public dialogue (including via its podcast). This gives the organisation a wide impact across both personal and systemic dimensions of indebtedness.
Governance / Legal Status
Debt Talk CIC operates as a Community Interest Company, a UK legal structure for social enterprises that ensures activities are carried out for community benefit rather than private profit. Its SIC classifications (85600 – Educational support services; 94120 – Activities of professional membership organisations) reflect its educational, community and advocacy focus.
