LONG LANE CHURCH
This organization has already been registered
Someone in your organization has already registered and setup an account. would you like to join their team?Profile owner : o************s@c***k.o*g
Mission Statement
Our charity aims to reach the most vulnerable people struggling with unmanageable finance and debt so that we can journey with them to debt freedom and financial control. We also aim to give people a community that they can belong to, giving people further support networks that can help them in emergencies and day to day life. Over 50% of our clients have 3 significant vulnerabilities or more such as mental health, a recent bereavement, or unemployment, and 80% have 1 significant vulnerability. Our charity is free (to the client) and we walk the clients through the debt management process to debt freedom, helping as much as we can throughout the journey. We are unique because we visit the client where they are, in their home. We also befriend the client as often debt is linked with crippling loneliness. The way we measure success is two fold, first; have we helped the client get debt free, ensuring that through the process they have access to emergency fuel and food to alleviate the symptoms of debt and poverty. We also try to help in other ways such as emergency house repairs and access to private mental health support. Second, have we made friendships with the client, ensuring they know they have got someone fighting for them and advocating for them. In the last year we have seen 37 clients become debt free, and have many more well on the way to becoming debt free, and 16 more on the journey to becoming debt free. We also run a free money coaching course every other month to help people have the tools to budget well, offering a budgeting tool, and easy to access videos and workshops to help people get into a better situation with finances. Our charity is based in Garston, Long lane church, where it is funded by the local churches who want to see the alleviation of debt and poverty in the 3rd highest ward in Liverpool for universal credit claims. We cover most of the South Liverpool area.
About This Cause
Introduction We run a debt centre which is free to the clients, that helps people out of debt, befriends people, helps in emergency situations, and visits people in their home giving bespoke care. We also run money management course 4 time a year, to teach people how to budget for free! Why help us? I can say with confidence we are unique in what we do, we are motivated by our faith to give people struggling under the burden of debt and poverty dignity. Our centre in particular seems to specialise in the ultra-vulnerable, this is people with 5 or more at risk categories such as severe illness (cancer etc), disability, mental health issues, single parent households, crisis after losing job, bereavement etc. Most of our clients have serious mental health issues, with a disability. According to the Rowntree foundation 50% of those with a disability are in poverty. We aim to restore dignity and hope to those often who feel like they have none. Often our clients are those who under any other programme would fail. But we carry them through the process looking at ways to help bless and support them. We try to give people a community, extra support networks, and just an advocate who is giving there all to fight for them. We see fantastic results, and I always say, the only way you will drop out of this process is if you totally blank me as I will fight for you. We see the difference dignity and hope can give, we see people go debt free, get back into work, have better mental health outcomes, better relationships, etc because the debt burden is lifted. We can’t wave a magic wand, but we get in the situation with the client and make sure they get debt free. And we help in more than just the pragmatic sense, we look how we can make a difference holistically, one client had no furniture, and we sourced a whole new living room for free from Facebook! We can operate in a unique way to help transform lives, often like no other charity can in this situation. My motive is that I had a baby at 17 and know what poverty feels like and know the difference acts of kindness can make, leaving lasting feelings of hope and bemusement that people could want to fight for you or do something this kind. About what we do? Christians against poverty (hereafter cap) is a national charity that partners with local churches, to free people from debt. We work holistically and pragmatically with our clients. We work holistically by befriending people, partnering alongside people who are often (but not always) isolated because of debt, to help people know there is hope in their situation and that they are not alone, letting them know someone cares and advocates for them. We work pragmatically by helping people out of debt and helping cover emergency costs such as fuel poverty and food poverty. We operate in the third highest ward in Liverpool for universal credit claimants. Nationally 50% of our clients having 3 at risk factors, However, locally we find 90% or more have 5 or more at risk factors. We are unique because we visit the client where they are, in their home. We also befriend the client as often debt is linked with crippling loneliness. The way we measure success is twofold, first; have we helped the client get debt free, ensuring that through the process they have access to emergency fuel and food to alleviate the symptoms of debt and poverty. (We also have access to mental health support.) Second, have we made friendships with the client, ensuring they know they have got someone fighting for them and advocating for them. In the last 24 months we have seen 47 clients become debt free and have 16 more well on the way to becoming debt free. My hope is to keep the service running to reach the most vulnerable people in debt, who alternative services wouldn’t be able to work with. I also want to try to prevent people getting into debt, through money management courses we run 4 times a year. We have already alongside the debt centre started free money management course that is set to go into schools and help the public, we run this for free to bless people. How cap works is it's essentially a charitable franchise you buy into, and you have all the resources needed to effectively help people out of debt, as well as being backed by the FCA and compliance with all the debt advice. Cap is currently funded mainly by Long Lane church and also bridge chapel. But funding has been less this year. I want to see the sustainability of this project, looking to get some funded by grant awarding bodies. I’m currently looking at fundraising, both through events and other churches, to help sustain this gap, and continue to grow as an organisation helping the most vulnerable in society. The Cap Process – How it works? The Cap process works through 4 appointments. First the Client calls the central number on 0800 328 0006 to book into our debt centre. The central team take information from them and book the client into the first available slot, either me (Olly Hargreaves Debt centre manager) or Steve Taylor (Volunteer Debt Coach) will go out and visit the client in their Home. The First appointment explains how Cap works and what the process involves; looking at what we can and can’t do. A debt coach and a befriender will go out and do a home visit for the client. The befrienders’ role is just to help and support the client, and to make friends with them if possible. After going through the set work, we ask how we can support the client. If the client doesn’t have food or fuel, We at Cap do an emergency shop /top up, either funded through cap centrally or through donations from our church, and in the last two years has been funded through grant funding. From this appointment we ask the client to gather paperwork together and book again., if clients have issues with this, we can support them in opening new banks and getting letters, calling creditors etc. Then we do a second visit 2 – 6 weeks after the first which is called the fact find. Here we find out all the debts and take information of expenditure and income to work out a financial statement. Hopefully in the meantime the befriender will have seen the client, maybe taken them for coffee, a meal or just helped practically, befriending them through the struggles of debt and unmanageable finance, reacting to the emergency needs that come up throughout the process. After this the information gets sent off to head office, who work out a budget and the best financial pathway for the client, they attempt to get debts interest cancelled. They then help with a financial option either to go in an insolvency option or pay back the debts over a set period. I as the debt coach explain go on the third visit and go through this information. After these appointments we support and befriend people, continuing the relationship we have built through the process. We have also expanded what we offer to include cap money, a money advice course that teaches people to budget, running this between 2 -4 times a year. Helping people who have recently come out of debt budget, but also working across areas in Liverpool, to prevent debt. This is because the demand is there for money advice, and budgeting tools, we offer an online budgeting calculator which takes the hard work out of budgeting all for free. Caps teams – Cap debt centre Cap has extensive teams; we are really fortunate. First is the befriending team, this is the team who comes out on visits with debt coach and meets with clients after a visit. They get alongside the client to live life with them and help them and bless them. We currently have 20 befrienders and we are growing this team. The befrienders volunteer time from their week to help clients, either by taking them out for food or coffee, befriending them, or helping them with paperwork. Their role is crucial and operates in two parts, first they come with the debt coach on visits, this acts as a safeguard, but also means there’s someone on hand to help, especially if children are around for the visit. Secondly, they aim to make friends with the client to support them. Our approach is holistic, tackling the isolation felt by clients, but also supporting them out of debt. On average they give about 2 hours a week (when averaged over the year) so roughly 40 hours a week in volunteering. The second group is the helper group – these are people who can band together to bless people, sometimes poverty can shock you, one lady had no floor due to a pipe leak, so Cap helped fit a floor. Another lady has all of her doors not attached, I’ve grouped together people who are happy to lend their service and time to this, so they can bless people with outrageous acts of generosity. It can be something as simple as a food shop to something as massive as buying a bed or fitting a floor. This is hard to pin down in time, due to its nature. But we look actively to alleviate poverty and hardship. And then we have 2 debt coaches, who see clients and help them directly, myself (Olly) and Steve Taylor. We are involved in arranging and seeing clients and helping practically with debt solutions. Steve is a Volunteer who gives up to 12 hours a week for Cap. With one paid employee at 25 hours a week, as advised by cap. Finally, I have an admin support who gives me 6 -8 hours a week to help make packs, or do admin tasks that I just struggle to get to, (quotes from builders when grants come in, finding free furniture, getting delivery’s to clients houses etc) along with general admin and grant funding help. As well as this we have our cap money coaching team which has 10 volunteers who help deliver course to help people budget and learn financial literacy