Leigh Christians debt advice gearing up for Monday rush (From Leigh Journal)

Leigh Christians debt advice gearing up for Monday rush

12:10pm Sunday 27th January 2013 in News

A FREE one-to-one debt advice charity is gearing up to face its busiest Monday.

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) says that it expects to have its busiest day on record on Monday as the number of people ringing for its free debt counselling reaches its annual peak.

But Leigh-based Christians Against Poverty (CAP) says it is unfair to blame Christmas indulgency for the influx of people needing debt help.

Laura Cochrane, manager of the Leigh CAP centre, said: “It is simplistic to think people have done too much shopping at Christmas and then call organisations like ours for help in January.

“Many of the situations I see are very serious. People fear losing their homes and creditors are constantly on the phone causing enormous stress – that doesn’t happen overnight.”

The Leigh Centre, which is run in partnership with the Leigh Sports Village Church, gives a face-to-face free service where every client is seen in their own home.

They get the chance to talk through difficulties, often built up over a long period of joblessness, or low income, sometimes mixed with other issues like relationship breakdown or illness in the family.

CAP then gets to work negotiating with creditors to stop interest paymentswhile helping the client to budget and stick to a repayment plan or explore insolvency options.

“When the New Year comes along, people long for that fresh start, to find some order and, over Christmas, they’ve had time to find the courage to do it.

“Also, many of the professionals who recommend our services such as council tax or housing officers, return to work following the break which serves to make it a busier time as they deal with a seasonal backlog.”

More about CAP’s free debt counselling is available.capdebthelp.org or call 0800 328 0006.