Overwhelmed parents turn to Egham church in desperation for food and energy

CAP’s latest YouGov polling is revealing:

Over half (54%) of parents with children in the household limited their electricity or gas use in the house at least once a monthA quarter (25%) of parents with children living at home have skipped mealsAlmost 1 in 5 (19%) households with children sometimes or often couldn’t pay all their bills and living costs without borrowing money28% of UK adults with children have a deficit budget which is when a person’s income doesn’t cover the cost of the core essentials they need to live on, that compares to 19% without children

St John's Church has been working with UK debt and budgeting help charity Christians Against Poverty (CAP) for the past 10 years to help people in poverty by offering free debt advice and holistic support in Egham. Demand has never been higher than this winter.

Sue Gray, CAP Debt Centre Manager, says, “We’re seeing desperate parents and other people turning to us for help. The main support we offer in partnership with CAP is free face to face debt advice & money coaching, but many of the families who come to us are in crisis and also need emergency aid, such as food or energy top ups. That’s why we’re launching this urgent fundraiser and asking for the kind people of Surrey to support CAP and help people in poverty through this winter. Families on low incomes are facing a bleak Christmas, being unable to afford the basics, let alone afford even the simplest of Christmas presents.

We make Christmas hampers for all our clients, and Hope Cafe, our gift to the whole community, is open from 11.30am to 1.30pm every Wednesday.

Find out more about St John’s Church and our Community Projects at www.stjohnsegham.com

“At St John’s Church and CAP, we want people living in poverty to know someone cares about them. At the heart of our church is the invitation to “Experience Hope”, so it’s such a privilege to be there for someone when they’re at their absolute lowest and offer them help to get back on their feet and it’s such a blessing to see them go debt free and be on the road to recovery.

“By donating to CAP’s winter appeal this Christmas you can provide light and hope to someone in the darkest moment of their lives.”

Visit capuk.org/help to find out more about the free help CAP offers and capuk.org/winter to donate and help provide an emergency energy top up or food shop and free debt advice to a family living in poverty this Christmas.