|PIC1|Christians Against Poverty (CAP), the national debt counselling charity, today launched CAP Volunteer Centres throughout the UK in a move that will enable significantly more local churches to help the poor in their communities through debt counselling.

In addition to Christians Against Poverty's long-established and successful 'CAP Centre' model, the charity will also be offering all churches the opportunity to launch centres staffed by volunteers, reducing the financial commitment on local congregations without jeopardising the quality of debt counselling undertaken.

The charity currently has 65 centres across the UK and hopes that the addition of the 'CAP Volunteer Centre' model will let more churches offer hope to those trapped by debt in their local communities.

'CAP Volunteer Centres' will receive Christians Against Poverty's official training to enable them to operate at the same level of efficiency and professionalism as a standard 'CAP Centre', whilst costs for a local church can be significantly reduced.

Matt Barlow, the CEO of Christians Against Poverty in the UK, said that the launch would enable CAP to offer hope to more people throughout the UK.

"We understand that setting up a CAP centre in a local church brings a certain financial commitment and we are excited that CAP Volunteer Centres will open the doors to those churches not previously able to afford a standard CAP Centre," he said.

"Whilst the cost is lower, we also want to highlight the fact that the quality of the training and the subsequent work undertaken by the volunteer debt counsellors will in no way be inferior to what is offered in our established CAP Centres.

"What's more, there are three different ways that CAP Volunteer Centres can be run, which gives flexibility for those wishing to establish a centre in their local church who have limited hours or manpower."