North Swindon MP Justin Tomlinson was delighted to visit The Bridge in Highworth earlier this week to discus the work it does to assist the local community.
The Bridge is a Highworth Community Church initiative, which aims to help connect the church with the wider community of Highworth. As well as a support group for those with long-term illnesses and providing computer access & printing, The Bridge also offers debt crisis support and money management advice.
Working with Christians Against Poverty, The Bridge provides emotional and practical support for people in debt crisis, and has helped to date 162 families. This includes home visits, help with budgeting and teaching financial life skills.
Justin spoke with The Bridge’s volunteers, and residents who had been helped and supported by The Bridge on a range of topics, including ease of access to apply for Universal Credit, potential third party access to support Universal Credit applications, and the government’s new National Disability Strategy.
Christians Against Poverty also explained their new Job Club, which runs Back to Work Seminars to help those out of work get back into the job market. They highlighted their success rate despite lower levels of funding that other schemes have access to.
Justin Tomlinson MP said: “People can fall into debt for a variety of reasons. Organisations like The Bridge and Christians Against Poverty play a vital role in supporting people who find themselves in serious debt – not just with the financial side, but also emotionally. It was very informative to listen to people’s experience of being in debt, the impact it has had on many aspects of their lives, and I was pleased to hear that the Christians Against Poverty have helped over 50 families with their life skills groups, and got 14 members enrolled in their job club.”
