Crosslight’s Autumn 2021 Newsletter
What’s been happening at Crosslight?
As you may know, Crosslight has been continuing to expand to meet the pressing needs of those struggling in our communities. During 2021, we have already opened new branches in Balham, Swindon, and Ealing. And in the last few weeks we have opened two new locations - in Fulham, in partnership with St Dionis church, and in Shepherd’s Bush alongside St Stephen’s church.
We now have 18 branch locations, part of our ongoing strategy to hold appointments directly within those communities we seek to serve, and we hope to add to this number in the months to come. We’re also delighted to be reopening many of our branches for face-to-face appointments again, which we know will be vital and transformative to so many from our communities who are facing hardship.
Lastly, we are proud to have launched our refreshed and updated Money Course in August, which now offers both self-led and live group courses, as well as an expanded programme of one-to-one budget coaching. In this edition of the newsletter, we focus on the new Money Course and how we are offering holistic financial education to those who need it most.
Spotlight on The Money Course
We caught up with Lorelei, our Financial Capability Manager who has been working tirelessly this year on updating Crosslight’s new and improved Money Course platform.
Can you tell us a little more about The Money Course?
The Money Course is a simple, interactive budgeting course, designed to help people get to grips with their money. The course is free to undertake and is suitable for anyone; it can be accessed from anywhere within the UK as all courses are currently being delivered online. We will also restart our 'face-to-face' courses soon from some of our Crosslight branches and partner churches.
Exciting! How can people take part?
Those wanting to take part have a choice of ways to do this. One option is to join the 'live online' course, which is made up of a series of live, interactive sessions hosted online in small groups. The sessions include videos, practical exercises and the opportunity for discussion with course leaders and other guests. The other option is the 'self-led' version of the Money Course. In this format, learners can take the course at their own pace from anywhere with an internet connection. They can access the materials whenever it suits them and save their progress as they go along.
Signing up is so simple, and participants are taken straight into the course, to enable them to get started straight away.
Why is The Money Course so important?
The Money Course is important because it provides some solid foundations for people to start from when engaging with what can be a daunting, complicated and emotive topic for many. It breaks managing our money down into simple parts, and supports people to apply the tools and ideas to their own situations.
How is the new Money Course different from the previous course?
The big change is that the ways in which people can access the materials has been broadened and made more user-friendly. Specifically:
The new Self-Led money course is broken down into 'micro units' which make it accessible, engaging and easy to understand.
Those taking part in live group courses also have online access to the materials so they can catch up or go over the topic again as a refresher.
And our new 'Leaders' Hub' is a one-stop shop for the comprehensive resources for prospective external Money Course facilitators who would like to run their own course for their community, organisation, church or company.
It sounds like there is an excellent choice of options for users to access the material. How are people responding so far?
Since we launched the new Money Course website on 11th August, we've had over 300 enrolments across the various courses, with 170 unique users signed up on the platform.
Why should people sign up?
The topics that the Money Course covers are relevant for all of us - whether we are struggling with low income and/or debt, or comfortably off, it is incredibly useful to go through our approach to managing our money step-by-step, to make conscious choices about how we plan and use our finances, and to be aware of potential or actual issues.
3 reasons the Money Course works
The course looks at our current situation and our past and present relationship with money, and then goes through simple steps, alongside introducing easy-to-use practical tools, to help us manage our money day-to-day.
The Money Course also supports learners to use the Budget Builder - an excellent, easy to use app (also available online) which helps to keep track of both planned and actual income and expenditure, and what that means in real terms for our budgets.
Lastly, anyone completing the Money Course is eligible to take part in Crosslight's Budget Coaching programme, which offers one-to-one support to help learners put into practice some of the ideas they've covered on the course.
What do participants have to say?
Since launching in August, we’ve received some lovely feedback from Money Course participants.
“Just a comment to say thank you so much for creating this course. The format of the course made it to understand what felt like a difficult and sometimes shame filled topic. [It] has given me more confidence to face my finances. Also, my facilitators were fantastic it was a lovely combination being able to watch the video but having them on and to be able to ask questions. The way they explained things but also how they held the space has made the course really enjoyable for me and encouraged me to attend the session each week. Thank you!”
With grateful thanks
All of us at Crosslight have been deeply saddened by the deaths of two incredible members of our ‘family’ in the last couple of months. Richard Sewell, a case manager in Kensington, and Graham Roper, our Branch Manager in Sevenoaks, were both dedicated and long-serving volunteers who inspired us all by their heart for those in need. There are many hundreds of clients whose lives have been made better by their wisdom, kindness and support over so many years - we owe both of them a huge debt of gratitude.
Please keep in touch
As Summer gives way to Autumn and we look ahead to the end of the year, we want to thank you for all you have helped us achieve already throughout 2021. We simply could not have continued providing our holistic service and financial education without our supporters, volunteers, as well as Money Course facilitators.Thank you!