Dundee Student Council working to banish payday lenders from city campuses

Published On Fri 7 Feb 2014 by Grant Hill

Representatives from both Dundee University Students' Association (DUSA) and University of Abertay Dundee Students' Association (UADSA) met recently and agreed to work together to ensure that students across the city will never again see payday lenders on their campus.

The agreement was reached at the first meeting of Dundee Student Council, a body created to represent the views of all students across the city, wherever they study.

Richard Cook, President of UADSA said, 'Payday lending is dangerous, and particularly tempting for students as austerity continues to hit education and those in education. It is the belief of Dundee Student Council that payday lenders are not providing students a real solution to personal financial issues, but instead clamp students into further debt. For this reason we are opposed to them, and want to give students real advice for their money issues.'

Management at both universities have agreed to support the decision of their students and will ensure that payday lenders are not invited to any events hosted by the institutions or feature in any publications they produce.

Iain MacKinnon, President of DUSA added, 'It's great to have the backing of our universities on this issue. Both DUSA and UADSA have been working on this separately so to have us both come together, along with our universities, is a great way to make our voices heard and ensure that students are freed from the vicious cycle of debt which these companies create.'

Both UADSA and DUSA have stressed that any students who are facing financial difficulties should speak to the relevant student support service at their institution. Abertay students should contact Student Services and Dundee students should contact the Student Funding Unit.

Dundee Student Council will meet regularly to discuss issues relevant to the university students of Dundee and is currently working to expand to include Dundee & Angus College. Currently they are working on a housing accreditation scheme for landlords of Dundee to ensure that students are treated fairly in all housing issues.

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Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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