Â£3,000 for debt advice service in Skegness

Gail Dunn, manager of the Christians Against Poverty charity at the Storehouse. ANL-160808-092439001

The donation to The Storehouse, in North Parade, has been made by the Nottingham Building Society’s Grants for Good scheme.

The Storehouse has been running a service to help people clear their debts since November after it became aware through its foodbank work of the scale of the issue in the area.

It runs the provision, which is free, in association with the Christians Against Poverty charity. Currently, it is operating at 94 per cent capacity - compared to a national average of 76 per cent.

The aim is not just to set clients on the right path, but help them along it as well, explained The Storehouse’s community manager Alan Bailey.

“We support them all the way through to being debt free,” he said. “If it takes two years we will support them for two years.”

Mr Bailey said Christians Against Poverty finds about a third of all clients have considered suicide and about five percent have attempted it.

He said such desperation is evident in Skegness too, speaking of a sense of hopelessness among some clients, a feeling that ‘there is no way out’.

Gail Dunn manages the centre that provides the debt advice service at The Storehouse. She said it sees a range of clients – young, old, families, with workers included among them.

Of receiving the £3,000, she said: “It’s absolutely brilliant because it helps us towards being able to run the centre.”

Anyone who thinks they may benefit from the scheme is asked to call Christians Against Poverty’s enquiries team on 0800 328 006 or visit a drop-in session at The Storehouse, held on Wednesday, from 10am-12pm,