Life Beyond Debt

Churches must help in recession, says Hazel Blears

Churches must take a key role in helping individuals out of debt during the credit crunch. This is the message from the Communities Secretary Hazel Blears MP. Ms Blears was speaking on the eve of her keynote address to the Alliance's Life Beyond Debt conference in London.

She said, 'In the current economic climate everybody has got to pull together. That's fundamental. 'Local authorities should be commissioning faith organisations to do this kind of work. 'Often churches can reach people that other people can't reach.'The Life Beyond Debt conference heralded a year-long campaign from the Alliance to bring together churches and Christian agencies working in the area of debt relief. The event came as Britain officially slumped into recession and debt became an increasingly serious problem.

The UK has a public debt of £650 billion and a consumer debt of £1.4 trillion. According to Credit Action, every adult in Britain owes £30,420. The average outstanding mortgage is more than £100,000. As unemployment stands at 1.92 million - the highest in ten years - an increasing number of homes are being repossessed. It's estimated that one family in the UK loses their home every seven minutes.

Daniel Webster, the organiser of the Life Beyond Debt said, 'There could be no more crucial time for churches to take on the task of providing help for people who are struggling during the credit crunch. 'We are urging every church in the country to get involved in this in whatever way is appropriate for them. That could be anything from providing practical help to those struggling to pay their bills, running credit unions or food banks or providing debt counselling.'

Back to Previous Page