The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) has built its own partnership team to increase its level of collaboration with other charities.

The national debt charity has employed Leigh Andrews as partnership manager to lead a team of three partnership officers: new employee Helen Handzel; Caroline Hamilton, who has moved from CCCS counselling, and Rob Sandalls who has been a partnership officer for four years.

In March, CCCS received the Learning Partnership of the Year award from the Institute of Credit Management, which it worked with to create the first professional debt advice qualification. In November last year the charity also won a competitive tender to deliver debt management plans through some 80 Citizens Advice bureaux in a pilot project which could see services expanded to all 500 bureaux in due course.

Andrews said the new partnership team will help deal with an increase in demand on debt charities: "The deteriorating financial positions of millions of households means that we expect to see a rise in people needing help with their debts over the next year. Other charities working in related areas are likely to experience an increase in demand too.

"That is why CCCS wants to create new and innovative partnerships with other charities to ensure that the many people who are under increasing pressure can get the help they need."