Four men from Bury are undertaking an arduous 20 mile walking challenge to raise important funds for the local Debt Centre to continue offering free debt help.

Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Bury Debt Centre members are taking part in the Village Link Challenge Walk aiming to raise £4,000 so that they can continue offering free help to people facing money problems.

The Debt Centre costs £16,000 to run annually, and the team hope to raise enough to keep it running for the next three months.

The four man team, led by local Debt Centre Manager, Gordon Clark, will be undertaking the 20 mile on Saturday October 7 and plan to visit at least 14 churches on or near the route.

Gordon Clark said: "The pandemic has caused many charities, including ours, to struggle for funds but at the same time many local people really need our help right now.

"We want to raise awareness of the Debt Centre and raise a significant sum to enable us to continue providing free debt help.

"The Village Link Walk, with a dew detours to visit churches, seems a good challenge for a 4-man team with a combined age of around 250,!

"the four walkers raising to the challenge are all aware of what a difference CAP makes in people's lives and we need to save our local centre so that many more people can be helped in the future."

Nigel Thompson, Chair of The Bury Project charity which oversees the Debt Centre, said: "We''ll be absolutely thrilled if Gordon and the team can raise this target as the funding will help change people's lives here in Bury.

"Since the pandemic hit, we've seen so many families who've taken a financial hit with loss of income, so I'm glad that we're here to help.

"The unique way we are funded by generous people from churches and across our community means that we are able to offer our service completely free of charge to those who need us the most."

Gordon added: "Getting help as early as possible can make a big difference.

"At first it may seem like you can manage a drop in income but when bills start to get missed debt can rapidly build up until it becomes unmanageable.

"Debt can be caused by many different reasons - ill health, bereavement, relationship breakdown, a job loss, or low income, so it may not just be due to the pandemic although we know that many people in our area have had a reduction in hours or income and may be struggling.

"We want everyone in our area to know that our service is here, completely free of charge, and discrete and confidential."

To make a donation visit www.stewardship.org.uk/pages/villagelink2021.