Christians Against Poverty opens second centre in Whanganui

Whanganui Central Baptist members (from left) Lez Kiriona, Lynette Archer and Nigel Irwin will be helping those in the community who want to become debt free. Photo / Lucy Drake

Twelve Whanganui families have become debt-free over the past five years, thanks to Christians Against Poverty at Elim Church.

Now a second centre is opening to continue the movement.

Whanganui Central Baptist launched a new Christians Against Poverty (CAP) centre on December 2.

Nigel Irwin, senior pastor at Whanganui Central Baptist, said with fairly limited capacity in terms of the number of people they could commit to at Elim, they saw a need to extend the service.

"Our goal is to continue to expand as necessary with the increased number of clients."

The organisation was founded in England and has been running throughout New Zealand since 2007.

The first centre in Whanganui opened in 2014, run by centre manager Graeme Sage from Elim Church.

Every centre has a manager and a debt coach who works with local families, offering advocacy, debt help and money courses.

Manager Lynette Archer will oversee the new centre and Lez Kiriona is the debt coach.

Irwin said potential clients can call the organisation's free 0508 number and request a debt coach to visit them in their home.

The coach will listen to their story and the difficulties they are having.

"CAP works with those who are experiencing unmanageable debt outside their ability to meet repayments," Irwin said.

After the home visit, a second meeting will be scheduled and the client will be asked to provide all available balances and contact details for creditors.

Delwyn Bailey (left) and Graeme Sage in Whanganui's first Christians Against Poverty centre in Elim church. Photo / File

The organisation's New Zealand head office in Auckland offers partial money management and negotiates with all creditors on behalf of the client.

"They negotiate a payment plan so the client can begin to pay their way out of debt so, although all of the help is free, CAP don't pay any debt off for them, they still need to pay off their own debt," Irwin said.

Since the organisation began in New Zealand it has assisted with $54 million being paid off in debts.

Irwin said that although the service is run by the church, it is for the community.

The service was close to his heart as he experienced significant debt in his early 20s and narrowly avoided bankruptcy, Irwin said.

He was able to get through this trying time and become debt-free through a similar organisation.

"I can remember how awesome that felt and how good it was to know that I wouldn't be getting knocks on the door or harassing phone calls or letters so it's a real personal motivation for me."