Charity Christians Against Poverty have seen a 27 per cent rise in the number of people turning to local churches for debt help in the past year

An increasing number of Britons are turning to churches as the cost of living crisis continues to bite – for advice about debt, not simply spiritual consolation.

The growing demand for financial and legal advice from places of worship has left charities like Christians Against Poverty (CAP) “inundated” with people seeking support.

At St Peter’s Church, in Harold Wood, Essex, the debt centre – run by CAP – hit capacity for the first time this month since launching in 2021.

We speak to those running the services to find out why there has been such an upturn.

‘The debt people come in with varies from about £4,000 to £500,000’

Sally Mills says they have had more working people turn to them for support in recent times

Sally Mills, the debt centre manager for the CAP in Romford, told The i Paper: “This is the first month in the whole of our three years that we’ve reached capacity.

“It’s been pretty consistent since we opened here but with bills and prices so high at the moment, there has been a real increase in the number of people seeking our help.”

Currently, the centre, which has two members of staff – Sally, who works 16 hours a week and a debt coach, who works eight hours a week – can take on four new clients a month on a rolling basis.

The type of people that come to the church for advice varies, she said – from single mothers to working families – but Sally said she helped more professionals and younger people in recent months than ever before.

She added: “The debt people come in with varies too, from about £4,000 to one man we dealt with who was in £500,000 worth of debt, but this was an extreme case.

“Most people are getting into debt with their priority bills, like gas and electric, council tax, and mortgages, which is sad to see. We’re seeing a lot more of that now than we did when we first opened.”

The client in £500,000 debt is a rare example but illustrates how it can mount up. His debt came from legal fees, Sally said.

The charity CAP worked with 545 local churches across the UK to help 4,162 people with money coaching in 2024 – an increase from 3,287 in 2023, it said.

A spokesperson said: “A key emerging insight is that our teams are spending an estimated 40 per cent more time providing frontline support on average per client.

“We’ve seen client situations in the last few years become much more complex in many cases.

“Obviously, our aim is to do all we can to try to help people out of debt and support them to stay out of debt in future but with cost of living pressures, it’s becoming increasingly more challenging as many just don’t have enough income even after cutting out non-essential spending.”

‘We were on the verge of losing out home’

Sally (left) helped Angela (right) get debt-free

Mother-of-three Angela, who was helped by Sally to get out of debt, said at the family’s lowest point, they nearly lost their home in Harold Hill, Essex.

The 54-year-old was diagnosed with an eye condition which leads to blindness and meant she had to give up work.

Just before the pandemic, her husband was made redundant after the company he worked for went into liquidation and quickly they started to get behind on their mortgage repayments, she said.

Angela said: “We were struggling for money and with three growing teenage boys, who needed a lot of food to keep them energised throughout the day and were growing out of their clothes and school uniform quicker than ever, we started to get behind on payments.

“The debt we got ourselves into was so bad we were on the verge of losing our home. When the place you live in is compromised, especially when you have children, that’s the ultimate worry.”

In a panic, Angela said her husband took out a few payday loans with high interest rates, using his father as a guarantor.

“It was several thousand to give us some sort of monthly income. We had applied for benefits but we were told it would take a few months for our applications to be processed, so we needed some quick money to pay our bills, our mortgage and feed the children.

“We felt really ashamed and like we were letting our children down to be honest. We wanted to be good role models and show them the best way to do things, so we asked for help.”

Angela heard about CAP through a friend at her son’s school who often attended St Peter’s Church.

The charity is based in Bradford and when someone needs their support, they need to call up their headquarters and explain their situation.

From there, they will be connected with a local church with a debt centre and a debt manager or coach, like Sally, will get in touch with them and arrange a home visit.

Sally said: “We do three home visits to start off the process. The first is just an introduction to get to know the person or people, their situation, and how much debt they are in.

“The second takes a couple of hours and we do all of the paperwork in this, including where their current income comes from and their outgoings too.

“All of this information then gets passed onto HQ and they come up with either a debt management plan for them or they suggest insolvency.

“I then visit the client for a third time to relay this information back to them and they decide if they want to go ahead with it or not.”

St Peter’s Church in Harold Wood, Essex, where Sally works and Angela was supported

Angela, who is now a devout Christian, said she has “never seen kindness” like she did when she received help from CAP.

She said: “Within my first year of being supported by CAP at St Peter’s Church, we were christened.

“I found it hard at first because I had never been shown love and support in this way before, especially from people I didn’t know, and I felt like I didn’t deserve it.

“Being a member of the church has given me companionship, friendship, and something to fill me time with, on top of the financial advice.”

After around four and a half years, Angela and her family became debt free and now, they are in a much better place.

It’s not just the Church of England, synagogues and mosques across the country have also increased the level of debt and legal support they offer in recent months, it has been reported.

Help is available for all

Former pensions minister Sir Steve Webb helps out at a similar debt advice group – Community Money Advice – at his local church.

Although the founder of the charity and many of the volunteers are church members, the service is open to all.

He said: “I find that people we speak to often have a sense of relief to have someone who is there to listen, without any judgment, and help them come up with a plan to sort things out.

“Sometimes it gets to the stage for people that every letter through the post is bad news – someone demanding payment or another bill – so it’s an ordeal even opening the post.

“Being able to share it all with a debt adviser helps them to navigate the pressures they are under, which can include mental health problems or relationship issues, and gives them someone to turn to, especially if they are being pressed to deal with debts.”

Stewart McCulloch, chief executive officer at CAP, said: “Thousands of people are turning to local churches across the UK for practical help as a result of years of rising costs.

“The local church has always been a place of hope for those in need but in these challenging times it’s become an essential lifeline for many.

“The churches we partner with at CAP offer a range of free, face to face help such as debt advice, money management sessions and job clubs all aimed at helping those who are struggling with their finances.

“Despite living in a very online era, we’re finding more and more people really value and benefit from that deeper, meaningful, face to face connection that local churches provide.”





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