IN A bid to help people struggling with the cost-of-living crisis and energy bills, churches across Reading have teamed up to publish a list of help available.
The charities and community groups can offer help with urgent needs, take referrals and offer support and advice, free of charge.
In many instances, the groups work with Reading Borough Council to ensure people who need additional support can receive it.
Christians Against Poverty is a national charity that has local branches based out of churches.
They run non-judgmental and confidential courses that aim to help people with budgeting, money management and debt. All sessions are free.
The charity says that it estimates more than £6 million in potential support is currently being left unclaimed because people don’t know the funds are available for tapping into. This is despite seeing a 20% rise in calls to its free debt helpline, and a 60% rise in emergency food shops.
CAP’s Director of External Affairs, Gareth McNab, sad: “Millions of people are starting 2023 facing rapidly rising costs, with huge energy bills during the cold of winter, and static incomes falling in value against record levels of inflation.
“Right now, it’s absolutely vital for anyone living on a low income to make sure they are receiving all the support they are entitled to and are aware of the free help available if they are in debt.
“Billions of pounds of benefits are still going unclaimed every year, and that’s why we’ve launched this new benefits calculator on our website, in partnership with our friends at Turn2us.”
He continued: “According to CAP’s latest client survey, half (50%) of CAP’s clients have waited at least a year before seeking help with their debt issues. A quarter (25%) took more than three years.
“If you are in debt, making the first call for help can feel tough but people often tell us they feel a real sense of relief after doing so. The sooner you get professional free debt advice from an organisation like Christians Against Poverty, the sooner we can put a plan in place and help you move forward.”
More information can be found by calling 0800 328 0006, emailing info@capuk.org, or logging on to capuk.org.
Christian Community Action provides furniture, bedding, kitchen items, white goods and support via its network of charity shops in Southcote, Whitley, Sonning Common and on Oxford Road. Its furniture shop is on Northumberland Avenue and includes beds, sofas, sideboards and dressers.
It also operates a drop-in from Caversham Baptist Church on Wednesdays from noon to 2pm.
For more details, call 0118 951 2337, email support@ccam.org.uk, or log on to: ccam.org.uk
CIRDIC in Berkeley Avenue is the Churches In Reading Drop-in Centre, offering help, hot meals, cleaning clothing and bedding to guests. Among those who can use its facilities are homeless people, substance abusers, those living in poor housing, unemployed people, people with mental health issues, and people in serious financial difficulty.
As well as food, it offers bath and shower facilities, telephones, a postal address, and a listening space.
For more details, email: enquiries@cirdic.org.uk, call: 078717 373773, or log on to: www.cirdic.org.uk
In east Reading, behind Wycliffe Baptist Church off Kings Road is CommuniCare.
People can drop-in Mondays to Thursdays from 10am, and receive advice, or get help with form filling, on benefit claims, and related issues including housing, employment, debt, and carers support. Other services include pro-bono legal advice by referral, and community information.
It is hugely popular and people can start queueing an hour before it opens.
For more details, call: 0118 926 3941, email: office@communicare.org.uk, or log on to www.communicare.org.uk
Engage Befriending is a charity that aims to reduce isolation and loneliness, to older residents, through a volunteer befriending scheme. It also runs Engage Wellbeing, which aims to help adults make positive choices to maintain or improve their emotional and mental wellbeing.
In 2022, it helped more than 500 people, trained 249 people and ran 113 activities.
For more details, or to make a referral, log on to: https://engage-uk.org/ or call: 0118 995 2102.
The food bank is Reading is called ReadiFood, and provides emergency food parcels to help people in need. As well as provisions, they can include toiletries, nappies and other essentials.
It is a referral service – people cannot request a parcel for themselves. Instead, they should approach Reading Borough Council, social services, a doctor, a school or a professional body or agency that can vouch for the need.
For those in desperate need, the charity encourages people to call its office for an assessment. Parcels can be delivered to the home address or to the referring agency.
For more details, call the charity on: 0118 987 2672, or log on to https://readifood.org.uk/
Those who live in Woodley, Earley and Lower Earley should call Woodley Food Bank on 0118 969 9956.
And people who live in Theale, Thatcham, Mortimer and Burghfield can contact Newbury Food Bank on 01635 760560.
Starting Point is a charity that provides mentoring for young people aged between 11 and 25, and works in partnership with Saint Laurence Church in Reading’s town centre.
For more details, log on to: https://startingpoint.org.uk/ or call: 0118 995 2160.
And Torch Hub is a network of help hubs run by churches across the town with the aim of providing help to those who would otherwise struggle to get support, or fall through the gaps of existing support of provision.
This includes free practical help, signposting to schemes that can provide support, and a community action scheme that aims to benefit the wider community.
Examples of urgent help it can offer include being able to collect shopping or prescriptions for people who are housebound, or linking up to another charity or organisation that can provide longer-term support.
It also offers help with confidence building, for those who get anxious about social interactions, or attending appointments.
And it runs drop-in cafes across the week: on Wednesdays from 10.30am to noon at Abbey Baptist Church in Reading town centre, from 7.30pm to 9pm on the same day at Grace Church in Caversham.
On Thursdays, it runs from 2pm to 4pm at Trinity Church in Lower Earley, while on Fridays from 10am to noon at St Nicolas Church, also in Lower Earley.
For more details, call: 0118 380 0260, email help@torchhub.org.uk, or log on to: torchhub.org.uk
The organisations are all linked to Transform Reading, an umbrella network for most churches running across Reading.
Help is also available via Reading Borough Council: reading.gov.uk/money-matters
