Emergency appeal sees frontline teams describe how surging demand and complex client cases are pushing them to their limits
Debt Centre Manager, Ruth Mulvenna, has revealed the heartbreaking dilemma facing her and many others on the frontline, as new figures from CAP reveal that they had to turn away over 4,000 people last year, due to surging demand and appointments being fully booked.
Ruth, who manages CAP’s Lewisham debt centre in London which is based at Grace Church Brockley, said: “I’d have never imagined how drastically UK poverty was about to escalate when our church first opened a CAP debt centre three years ago. Household income that isn’t enough to cover basic essentials. Families going hungry. Thousands unable to pay their rent and bills due to persistently low incomes.
“At Grace Church, we’re going above and beyond to see people step into the fullness of life that Jesus desires for each of us. We’re delivering emergency aid, tackling isolation, and supporting people who are at crisis point. But, as it stands, we are only able to help a certain number of people, and it’s not enough to match the demand. It breaks my heart to say this, yet last year our church had no choice but to turn away 58 people who asked for help with their debt.
We cannot continue like this. I can’t bear to turn anyone else away. The surge in poverty requires an equal and urgent surge in response – the kind that will enable us to double the number of people we can see. It’s hard to find the words to express how much we need support right now.
Ruth Mulvenna, Debt Centre Manager
Ruth has joined together with one of her clients, Jim, as the main voices for CAP’s emergency appeal. Jim said: “I had a successful career as a technical support engineer that came to an abrupt end when I ended up in hospital through back pain. I couldn’t work and keep on top of the bills. Our family home was repossessed and my marriage crumbled. I felt I had no one to turn to. Frankly I was a wreck.
“But on Ruth’s first visit to me, she said, ‘From this day forward, you are not alone’. For the first time, I felt that someone understood how I was feeling.
“Together, we started gathering all the mail that I’d been so afraid of opening. From then on, I could send the demanding letters straight on to CAP to deal with, and if the creditors called I could simply say, ‘I’m working with CAP’ and they’d back off.
“Because I was still off work sick with no wage, just the Universal Credit, and I had no assets, Ruth explained the benefits and consequences of going through a Debt Relief Order. When an advisor from CAP called me to confirm that I was now debt free, it felt surreal. I couldn’t believe I’d been given this opportunity to start again. All of that fear, worry and shame had gone.
“Following the DRO, I also decided to attend CAP’s money coaching course. I wish I’d known this stuff years ago, because it felt like I was back in control, empowered. It was just what I needed. My finances are still on a knife edge despite being debt free, and so it makes a big difference to have these tools to draw on.
“Ruth invited me to her church – Grace Church Brockley – and after years of not wanting anything to do with God or faith, I started going to services and loved it. I tell everyone I’m living my ‘James 2:18 moment’ because I think that verse sums it up: ‘Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith with works’. For me, the best thing to have come out of my time with CAP is the community and support network that I’ve gained, and the confidence to welcome other people in too.”
