Acts Trust

Rachel’s StoryFrom client to volunteer...

“I was a student, and you get offered all sorts of credit when you’re a student, and you just take it. I had to start paying bills and I got an awful job and what I was earning wasn’t covering my outgoings. I ended up being £3,500 in debt. I was getting awful letters through and no money to pay them.

“One of my friends introduced me to the Acts project with Christians Against Poverty. They said that they could help me. They even offered to give me a food parcel through the Foodbank project because I had no food, although I didn’t accept it.

“The calls I used to get were so awful and nasty. I cried down the phone because I couldn’t afford to pay them. I started to feel weak and I had never felt weak before. My CAP case worker acted more like a counsellor. She was absolutely fantastic. I got a letter from my electricity company threatening court. I sent her an email, I was crying while I was writing it. I got this lovely response back saying I wasn’t wasting her time. She dealt with it, all of it, it was such a relief.

“Now just over a year after being with CAP, I’m having less panic attacks and I’m coming off antidepressants.

“At that time I couldn’t give anything back and I felt terrible. I’d helped people who are homeless before, so I started donating my time to the Amigos project. Sometimes people just want to talk to you, just for a couple of hours of week.

“Now I can even save money, and CAP has shown me how to budget. I live more comfortably and I have even started a pension. Now I donate money back to CAP. It has helped in more ways than one, it hasn’t just been the debt side. I just get to meet so many fantastic individuals through Amigos, I would never have met them if I’d just carried on my everyday life. It made me realise that money isn’t everything and it’s who you are that counts, and giving people the time of day is important.”

Rachel, Lincoln