A BOLTON church aims to help people overcome their money woes.

St Peter’s Church in Halliwell is launching a series of free sessions to show how to control finances following the Christmas spend.

The aim of the Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Money Course is to stop people struggling alone and starts on January 18.

Samantha Wolstencroft, the CAP co-ordinator from St Peter’s said: “Many of us may have already used credit cards or dipped into the overdraft to pay for the Christmas festivities.

“Our message is: please don’t struggle on - make a resolution to do it differently next year!

“Now really is the best time to put things in order and we can get your head in gear and take the practical steps to sort things out for good.

“When you know what you have in your account and you know where it is going and can plan for big expenses like car repairs, you’ll have a much more peaceful 2017.”

The Budget, Save and Spend Well course provides a ‘simple cash-based system’ which teaches how to build a household budget and how to manage savings for big expenditures such as car insurance.

A small team from the church has received training from CAP to put on the course which helps 10,000 people around the country every year.

The course is aimed anyone, regardless of age, income level or employment status and starts next Wednesday, with additional sessions on January 25 and February 1, all from 8pm, at St Peter’s Church centre in Church Road.

CAP is a national debt counselling charity in the UK

In conjunction with the courses, Bolton CAP Centre runs in partnership with The Bridge Church where it has been established for the past nine years.

The centre runs a drop-in every Thursday and job club every week offering support with debt management, bills, and job applications.

Centre manager Anna Cooke said: “After December the bills arrive and the rates go up, it is a struggle.

“We want to let people know we are here to help, they do not have to suffer in silence.”

To find out more about the three day course contact St Peter’s Church office on 010204 599900.