Magheralin Parish tackles debt
The Parish of Magherlin and Dollingstown has joined forces with an award-winning debt counselling charity to provide a free service to those in financial difficulty. Christians Against Poverty (CAP) currently has 107 centres in England, Scotland and Wales and has supplemented its pilot Belfast East Centre by opening four more in Northern Ireland. A launch event was held recently at Stormont and hosted by Naomi Long MLA, Lord Mayor of Belfast.
The charity, which operates through a growing network of church-based debt counselling centres, has seen huge demand for its Belfast East Centre and in response has opened four more in Belfast North & Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Dungannon and Lurgan & District.
The launch event, which took place in the Long Gallery at Parliament Buildings saw key referral agencies from across Northern Ireland joining with politicians, members of the press and partner churches to formally launch the charity's service across the country. CAP's Chief Executive (Matt Barlow) and CAP's Belfast East Centre Manager (Jim Fleming) both made presentations detailing CAP's unique formula for proven success in debt management procedures, following a formal introduction from Naomi Long MLA.
With all five centres operational, nearly half of Northern Ireland's population now falls in the catchment area for CAP's centres, meaning that nearly one million people in Northern Ireland have access to the charity's free, award-winning service and can get the support they need to break free from the misery of uncontrollable debt.
Debt in Northern Ireland has been an ever-increasing problem, with the average household debt currently standing at nearly £10,000 (not including mortgages). One in nine households are struggling with unmanageable debt, and credit card debt in Northern Ireland is now at more than £1billion, according to Credit Action.
Naomi Long MLA said: ‘I was thrilled to be able to officially announce the launch of CAP's service across Northern Ireland. We are living in a time of unprecedented economic upheaval and the charity's proven track record of helping people get debt free and then stay debt free, is very much needed across the country at this time.
‘I believe that CAP will help many people across Northern Ireland who are currently trapped in uncontrollable debt.'
Matt Barlow, CAP Chief Executive, said: ‘Debt is a massive problem across the UK and in launching our service in Northern Ireland we hope to bring relief to many living in desperate circumstances. We are very grateful to Naomi Long for her support of our work and for giving us an excellent opportunity to present what we do.'
As well as Magheralin Parish, the new CAP Centres operate in partnership with Vineyard Church Dungannon, Carnmoney Presbyterian Church in Newtownabbey and Greenisland Baptist Church in Carrickfergus.
The contact in Magherailin is Basil O'Malley (tel: 07912087505) pictured with Rev Gareth Harron (Rector) and George Savage, MLA.
If you are struggling with debt you can contact CAP on 0800 328 0006 or visit http://www.capuk.org/.