Local Churches Join Together To Help Families Across Derbyshire

Warm-hearted congregations have joined together to bring festive joy to families living on the bread line.

Members of Belper church congregations under the umbrella of Hope for Belper have filled and packaged close to 50 hampers of food and other essentials to deliver to people in the local community.

The churches run a CAP Debt Centre in partnership with national charity Christians Against Poverty so it sees the real hardship that some people have to endure.

“We know there is a serious, immediate need among some of the people in our care,” Debt Centre Manager, Adriaan van Wyk.

“It’s really tough living on a low income and many of the people we are working with have a list of other difficulties besides such as ill health, joblessness or grief. It is an absolute privilege to bring about a smile or two and lighten the load for them.”

“Christmas is about God’s gift of Jesus to all of us. He set the tone of outrageous generosity right at the start so giving is a great way for us to celebrate this special time of year.”

Local groups and individuals have generously contributed towards the cost of filling the hampers, which cost in the region of £1,600.

The hampers are just one way the churches are planning to bring Christmas cheer to the community. Belper Community Church will be hosting a Carols Evening at The Greyhound on the 18^th of December at 18:00. Also planned for the 18th, Belper Baptist Church will be hosting a ‘Carols by Candlelight’ family service at 18.00.

Belper CAP Debt Centre offers people a free debt counselling service which, uniquely, is done through home visits, making it ideal for people with poor health or mobility issues.

Adriaan added: “It’s a privilege to be able to say to people that however impossible their financial situation seems, we will be able to unravel the mess and help them to become debt free.

“If you know you are already in crisis, please get in touch via our website capuk.org or by calling our freephone number 0800 328 0006. We’d love to visit you and see how we can help.”

Anyone wanting to donate to CAP’s hamper appeal can visit www.capuk.org/christmas.