#ThroughTogether: Christians Against Poverty - helping free people from debt & poverty across London

“I felt very alone before CAP and my whole family didn’t see a way out of our situation. But we are now debt free and have been given the support & encouragement to thrive rather than just survive.” (CAP Debt Client – London)

Some of our London Christians Against Poverty frontline team

Free debt advice charity, Christians Against Poverty’s Regional Leader in London – Andrew Whitaker:

The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) released data this year which has revealed 7 out of the top UK 10 local authorities where people had the most need for debt advice were in London.

With over two years of rising costs where many of us have had to tighten our belts, it’s no surprise that thousands of people in our communities across the capital now face a personal debt crisis. Having spiralling debts can be all consuming. It can fill people with fear and anxiety and makes them feel isolated and hopeless.

At free debt advice charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) around half of the people we support say they had considered or attempted suicide as a way out of their debts before seeking help. This is the sad reality of how much debt can impact people’s lives.

But what is being done to fight back against the growing issue of debt and poverty in London during these difficult economic times? And how can we all play our part?

There are many amazing organisations working hard to provide people in need with support across the capital right now and CAP is one of them.

We partner with local churches in London to offer free debt advice and group sessions all with the aim of helping people improve their financial situations. One of the most important aspects of our work is that we offer face to face help. Our local debt coaches go and visit people in their homes (often 3 to 5 + visits per client), this gives us the opportunity to really understand a person or family’s context and needs so we can provide much wider practical and emotional support and sign post them to other organisations if required. The debt advice is provided by FCA regulated and authorised debt advisors at our Bradford Support Centre.

This holistic approach helps us to get to the root of the problems a person or family might be facing so we can aim to make a real, long lasting impact on their circumstances. The way we do our work also means we see first hand the devastating impact of debt and poverty.

Imagine yourself struggling to find enough cash to buy a carton of milk. Shivering in an icy cold house. Your lights are off, curtains closed because you fear people knocking on your door demanding you pay thousands of pounds that you don’t have. You’re stuck in an endless cycle of borrowing to pay off another debt and all your energy is being used up on trying to survive.

These are the types of situations our debt coaches and volunteers from local churches see when visiting people’s homes after they call us seeking free debt advice.

These situations seem completely hopeless but CAP’s amazing local teams have continued to take on this huge challenge of helping people out of unmanageable debt since the charity was created in 1996. We help thousands of people each year to go debt free and improve their financial situations with the aim of giving them a fresh start and the opportunity to thrive. Across London we have around 150 managers and coaches involved in our client’s journeys of transformation. Alongside our free debt service we also offer free, friendly and relaxed group sessions, including CAP job clubs, life skills and money coaching all with the aim of helping people improve their financial situations and stay out of debt and poverty.

Nicky Routledge works for CAP in Enfield (offering debt help, money coaching & a job club) and recently shared this story:

“The eldest daughter of a local Muslim family called our helpline looking for free debt advice. The family of six had fallen into debt after the dad lost his job during Covid and hadn’t been able to get back into employment since.

“We went to visit and began to build a relationship with them and understand the family’s circumstances and needs. They had a lot of priority debts which are often for essentials and were struggling to keep up with their household bills.

“With their daughter’s help we talked them through a plan to get them out of debt but they also had other immediate needs too. One urgent need was that they didn’t have a working oven so we helped them to request funding from an online service to fit the oven and get it ready to cook their first family meal.

A big benefit of doing face to face appointments at people’s homes is we can see these often hidden, additional needs and aim to find extra support to fix the problem.

“As we continued to help them out of debt we also recognised both the family’s daughter and mother were interested in getting back into employment to support their family so we invited them to our CAP Job Club at our church.

“We have helped the mother get volunteer work at Grow Baby, a project at our church, where she’s improving her English and her confidence.

“We also helped the daughter get into work as an associate healthcare scientist which she told us is her dream job!

How can you play your part?

You as an individual can also play your part in helping people out of debt and tackling poverty in London and across the UK. Follow Christians Against Poverty on social media to join the fight against poverty and raise awareness of the free help available.

Join our campaign to ensure poverty in London and the UK is on the agenda of our local and national government’s policy conversations. capuk.org/campaign

You can also consider donating to CAP on a monthly basis at capuk.org/donate

With all the rising costs leading more people into debt it’s vital we try and grow our services in London further so we can offer more people holistic debt support across the whole of the capital and see more lives transformed.

We need more churches to partner with us and run CAP services. To find out more visit CAP’s website at capuk.org/partner

Together, we can see more lives transformed in London and tackle poverty in our local communities.