A leading energy company is teaming up with a housing charity to help provide practical support to struggling households.
Scottish Gas is entering a partnership with Shelter Scotland, which will see the power company fund two money and debt advisers who will work for the charity.
The move is part of a five-year partnership between the company and the housing and homelessness charity, aimed at helping improve safety standards and the quality of living for some of Scotland's households.
About 500 households will receive help and advice as a result of the two advisers being taken on, Shelter Scotland estimates.
The posts are funded by Scottish Gas Energy Trust and will help provide people with free and impartial money and debt-prevention advice, focusing on helping people who struggle to pay their fuel bills.
The advisers will also provide information on improving energy efficiency in people's homes.
It comes after Shelter Scotland recorded a 43% increase in calls to its national helpline last year.
One of the recruits will be based in the charity's Edinburgh office and the other in its Dumfries office.
Shelter Scotland director Graeme Brown said: "We know from the 43% increase in calls to our national helpline last year from people seeking housing, money and debt advice that tens of thousands of households across Scotland face a constant battle to make ends meet.
"Our advice is that people should get help sooner rather than later, before finances get out of control and it becomes much harder to find a solution.
"So we are delighted that our partnership with Scottish Gas has enabled us to deploy two new money and debt advisers that will help 500 struggling households over the next 12 months.
"This is an exciting and positive programme and I look forward to developing a strong and fruitful relationship with Scottish Gas and the roll-out of further initiatives aimed at helping more households across Scotland."
Kevin Roxburgh, managing director of Scottish Gas, said: "We all know that household budgets are stretched and people are finding things tough at the moment.
"As a major Scottish company we want to offer the practical support and advice to all those households who are hard pressed and struggling to cope. That's why we're working with Shelter Scotland and funding these new advisers so that people who are most in need get the help they need."
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