Families are facing enormous pressures to spend their way to a “perfect” Christmas, Church Urban Fund (CUF) is warning, as new figures were released showing a growing number of Church of England parishes are providing help to people with debt problems.
CUF is asking churches to consider the poorest families in the run-up to the festive season including those who face a struggle in the New Year to repay high cost loans taken out to buy children’s Christmas presents.
The charity has released an online survey showing nearly half, or 48%, of parishes are providing help to people in financial difficulties compared to 41% three years ago.
More than a fifth, or 22%, of churches are running debt advice or budgeting courses with a fifth supporting their local credit union through measures such as encouraging membership, opening a corporate account or offering premises as a local branch or information point.
Many churches are looking to do more to support credit unions with 12% saying they are actively considering specific activities and 24% saying they are exploring these further. Most interest is shown in promoting membership, setting up access points and helping to run school savings clubs with a local credit union.
The vast majority, or 79%, of clergy surveyed said they believed that helping people to manage their money wisely was an important part of the Church of England’s mission.
Projects highlighted by CUF include a budgeting course run by Nottingham churches. “We don’t tell people what to do with their money, but encourage them to think about the implications of their decisions,” Susie Bergenroth, who wrote and delivers the course, said.
“We want to give people the tools to understand the decisions they’re making and the chance to make good choices.”
The survey has been released as churches prepare for the start of Advent on Sunday (November 30) the season of preparation and reflection in the lead up to Christmas.
Canon Paul Hackwood, executive chair of CUF said: “At Christmas, many families feel under enormous financial pressure to create the perfect Christmas.
“This short-term pressure often leads to long-term despair for the poorest in our society and it is very good to see the scale at which churches are already working to help alleviate some of these pressures.’
CUF has released church resources and an online Advent calendar, with daily reflections, videos and prayers including moving personal testimonies from people involved in CUF-supported projects throughout the country. You can find this at www.cuf.org.uk/advent