AssetID: 54580477
Headline: UNCAPTIONED: Michael Sheen clears £1m debt for 900 people
Caption: Michael Sheen has cleared £1m debt for 900 people. The Welsh star has used £100,00 ($130,000) of his own money to set up a debt buying company to help 900 people in South Wales get out of debt. Sheen’s charity project has been documented in a new Channel 4 show called Michael Sheen's Secret Million Pound Giveaway, which is due to air next week. The show, which aims to expose how some finance companies and banks profit from society's most vulnerable, comes months after the last blast furnace in Port Talbot closed, marking the end of traditional steelmaking in South Wales. During an appearance on the BBC's The One Show on Tuesday, Sheen revealed that he decided to pursue his goal of helping people out of debt after meeting a woman in a Port Talbot cafe who told him about the steelworkers who had lost their jobs. ”I didn't have £100,000 to throw around, so I wanted it to be effective," he said, explaining his reasons for starting a debt buying business. ”But when I realised I could do this, I could get a £1 million pounds worth of people's debt and write it off, it seemed like a good thing to do.” Explaining how the debt scheme works, Sheen said that people's debts are bundled together and the debt buying company can then buy these bundles at a lower price. Sheen added that he had to keep an "arm's length" from the company, which was not set up in his name, and that he did not know the identities of the people whose debts he was paying off. The news comes just two months after the Twilight actor, who has previously described himself as a "not-for-profit" actor, announced he was funding a new theatre company following the closure of the National Theatre Wales. Instructions: THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT
Keywords: Michael Sheen,Clears,Debt,Pound,People,Money,Documentary,Show,Channel 4,Documented,Charity,Project,South Wales,Secret Million Pound Giveaway,Non Profit,Actor,Theatre,Vulnerale,Families
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