Almost £1m of debt cleared in decade, charity says

A Surrey charity said it had helped people to clear almost £1m of personal debt in the 10 years since it opened.

Debt centre manager Lucy Bahiti, from Christians Against Poverty (CAP) in Epsom and Ewell, said they continued to see a lot of demand for help, with appointments providing support being booked up into the summer.

The organisation first opened the centre at St Barnabas Church in Epsom, as well as a service visiting people in their homes, in July 2015.

One man who was supported by CAP to get out of debt said his "finances just spiralled out of control" and he was "constantly having to put out fires".

Ms Bahiti said there were parts of the area where people were "really struggling".

"We're seeing at the moment all our appointments are full," she said.

"We're booking up into the month ahead, which is a new thing for us.

"Things are getting a lot more difficult for people and actually, we often find in the summer things are quieter because people have got children at home, but it's not this year."

The charity said it estimated it had supported people to clear a total debt of £972,413 in Epsom and Ewell in the last 10 years.

Alan, who lives in Epsom and is now involved with running another charity, Love Me Love My Mind, told BBC Radio Surrey he went to CAP when the amount of money he owed became overwhelming.

"My finances just spiralled out of control to the point where I had no disposable income," he said.

"It was just, you know, my salary was coming in, going straight out, paying off debts, mortgage, and it just got too much.

"I think it was a slow process, over maybe a three or four year period, I noticed that I was just constantly having to put out fires, you know, letters from loan companies, bailiffs, credit card companies, banks saying you're overdrawn, you've spent over your limit."

He added that his life had become "quite toxic".

Ms Bahiti said CAP also worked with organisations like Citizens Advice and StepChange to try to get people the help they needed.