WHETHER opting for the best value supermarket range or forgoing a foreign summer holiday this year – many of us are tightening our purse strings.

Despite recent economic growth, the UK economy still has a long way to go before it reaches the levels of output seen before the recession.

Families struggling to pay bills know every penny still counts.

To try to help, Stanway Evangelical Church has funded three of its members to work with a debt charity which helps people balance their budgets.

Nigel Drew, Martin Hill and Julie Weighill – who all have financial experience through their jobs – are money coaches with Christians Against Poverty.

The church paid for their training so they could pass on their knowledge to the Stanway community and further afield.

They voluntarily provide free, confidential courses for people to review their spending and get to grips with their finances.

“It’s about helping everyone to manage their money better – not necessarily just those who are in serious trouble,” said former banker Mr Drew, 39.

“We want to help people look at their budget and understand if there is a problem or not, to prioritise their debts and work out repayments. And we want to help people get off credit.

“We have so many problems caused by credit that weren’t an issue for previous generations because they weren't so dependent on it.

“But more recently credit has been so freely available that people haven’t worried about it and we’ve just spent and spent.

“Now there is not much credit and people have less ready cash, but they are still having to pay their debts from better years.”

As well as the courses, the charity is able to give additional help in cases of severe debt, such as by acting as a mediator in disputes with creditors.

Christians Against Poverty was set up in 1997 and has been endorsed by secular money experts like TV consumer campaigner Martin Lewis.

Stanway Evangelical Church, in Chapel Road, is the only church in the Colchester area offering the charity’s services, but others are hoping to follow suit.

There is also the possibility of starting a debt centre at Hythe, which would also be accessible to the Tendring district.

Christians Against Poverty debt centres, staffed by people employed by the church to work with the charity, are located in areas facing significant economic hardship.

The nearest centres are in Ipswich and Haverhill, Suffolk.

Mr Drew explained money coaching was a service the church wanted to offer the community.

“This isn’t something just for Christians,” he said.

“It’s something we want to offer people in Stanway and Colchester.

“The church runs things like youth clubs and mother and toddler groups, so this is another way we can serve the community.

“We’re not doing this to convert people and we don’t want people to be put off because it’s ‘Christians’ Against Poverty.

“This is a practical way of helping people where they really need it, and that’s exactly what the church should be doing.”

Mr Hill added: “The main reason we do it is because we see debt ruining lives.

“It causes people to commit suicide and marriages start to crack under the strain of financial pressure.

“Debt can ruin your life and is one of the biggest worries people have in this age.

“We want to prevent people getting into debt in the first place, help those who are in debt and get them back in control.”

To find out more about free money courses in Stanway or to talk about debt problems, call 01206 530927.

For information on the charity, visit www.capmoney.org