Church may have the answer for those with money troubles

If money is a source of stress, new free sessions run by the local church might be an answer to your prayers.

A new, eight-week course will start on 23 February 2018, to give people the confidence and decision-making skills to live well, look after themselves and feel positive, even on a low income.

It will be run by Mustard Seed Edinburgh, a recently established missional church operating from St Margaret’s Episcopal Church on Easter Road in the heart of Edinburgh. This is the only church in the city trained with charity Christians Against Poverty to offer CAP Life Skills and it works in partnership with other churches across the city that offer other CAP services.

Mark Harris from Mustard Seed Edinburgh said: “It’s a series of lovely, relaxed sessions. We’ll be looking at lifting the pressure to spend and sharing some great practical tips to help us take control of our money and make it go further. We’ll also be doing a big section on making good food so we can help our families stay healthy on a budget. Later on in the course, we’ll spend some time looking at healthy relationships – as these have a big impact on how we treat our finances.”

Rich Cornfield, the Pioneer Priest at Mustard Seed Edinburgh, added “Most of all, it will be time to share what works and what doesn’t, both as a group and one-to-one, and give each other encouragement to do the things that work best in our own situations. It will be some of those key things you wished they had taught you at school, but didn’t.”

During the pilot course, one attendee said the best thing about CAP Life Skills was: “Making new friends, learning about money and making good plans.”

Christians Against Poverty is a charity that gives free help to everyone regardless of age, gender, faith or background. Started 20 years ago, it first offered debt counselling and now offers a range of help to tens of thousands of people in hardship across the UK every year.