Laura Knight
SCPA Manager

I grew up in Cambridge and moved to Southwold, Suffolk when I was 16. After university I moved to London and trained to be an English teacher. I lived in Tooting and Streatham for nearly 20 years, moving back to Southwold, with my husband and 2 children 8 years ago. I continued to teach in Suffolk until 2021 when I joined the Suffolk Coastal Poverty Action. It’s exciting to be a part of such a powerful and growing mission and also to work with CAP which is an amazing charity with an inspiring mission statement ‘Transforming lives, inspiring churches and an end to UK poverty.’

Chris Cotton
Debt Coach

Born in the East End of London in 1951, I was fortunate to be brought up in a loving caring family. I was the first in our family to go to university gaining a degree in Mathematics. I married Carol and we lived in Manchester for nearly 40 years before moving to Suffolk in 2015. As a member of SKC Church in Saxmundham, I believe that Jesus calls us all to help the needy in our society as best we can. Christians Against Poverty  provides free professional financial advice to anyone that requires it and I am extremely pleased to be a small part of this of this great charity

Doug Fletcher
Administrator

I’m Doug, my wife, Christine, and I moved to Suffolk from Horsham, West Sussex in December 2016.  I am a member of Quay Church in Woodbridge. In Horsham, I managed a Christian Centre for 20 years and was actively involved in the setting up and running of an independent Debt Advice Centre for the local churches.
My role in SCPA is primarily administrative, as a member of the Leadership Team, but I am also a Debt First Responder.

 

Keith Pickersgill
CAP Money Courses Coordinator

Hi, I’m Keith. My wife, Christine and I moved to Suffolk with our three children in 1991.  In 1995 we experienced financial problems, lost our house and ended up renting and were in serious debt. CAP wasn‘t around back then and we had to work our own way out of the situation. In 2001 we bought a house and now live in Melton and we attend the Avenue Evangelical Church in Woodbridge.
As a result of our previous debt situation, I have always had a passion to help those in debt and when I heard about CAP and the incredible support they gave to those in debt, I was keen to get involved. About eight years ago, I met Nic Stuchfield at a Filling Station event in Stratford St Andrew. The rest is history.
I became a CAP Befriender and I also trained as a CAP speaker. I have since spoken at many churches around Suffolk and Cambridgeshire and raised funds from new CAP supporters. I have trained as a CAP Money Coach and now, as Money Course Coordinator, I look forward to enabling more people in Suffolk to manage their money and avoid getting into the same situation that we faced in the past.

 

 

Rev. Nic Stuchfield
Chair

I’m Nic Stuchfield, Assistant Priest at SKC Church (Saxmundham and Kelsale) and one of the people behind the original set-up in 2017-18 of the organisation now called Suffolk Coastal Poverty Action. Debt distress is an increasingly common problem in our society. There are so many families who are just about keeping their heads above water financially in Britain today, bombarded by influences to spend money that they don’t have.
What can be a sustainable debt burden in good times can rapidly turn into major distress when problems arise. Times of crisis like unemployment, serious illness or family breakdown are painful enough to experience but they are also often the catalyst that pitches households into debt slavery: the trap in which rising interest costs and arrears become something that no realistic amount of hard work can escape from.
The Christian Gospel is, at its heart, a Gospel of love: not only did God love the world so much that He came to save us but he commands that we love each other, especially those in need or distress. Both SCPA and our national debt-help partner Christians Against Poverty are powerful expressions of that divine love for one’s neighbour and I am honoured to be involved with this work.

CAP Life Skills Manager

Julia Rose

‘Hi, my name is Julia and I have worked as both a Maths and an ICT teacher over many years, but now (normally) enjoy time with grandchildren, selling fair trade, doing some admin for my church in Framlingham and many other things in retirement.

A number of years ago, when I was working only part-time and our three children were young, my husband’s business went to the wall and we found ourselves in a financial crisis, losing our house to the bank, so I know what it is like to struggle financially. Thankfully for us this did not last long, but I wish I’d had a CAP Money course back then to help us with a very tight budget.

I’ve been helping to run CAP Money courses for many years and seen people with a wide range of income and assets benefit from the organisation it provides and also the online budgeting tools.

I took over management of the CAP Life Skills course in 2024, joining an experienced team. This course includes budgeting and so much more! I love that it helps the whole person, not just our finances, as every part of our lives has a bearing on our sense of wellbeing; and eating lunch together helps everyone to bond and feel a sense of belonging and mutual support.

My work with CAP is part of my response to Christ’s calling to ‘bring good news to the poor … set the captives free …’ which he leaves his followers to do in his place.’

CAP Life Skills Leader

Peter Marett

I am a retired teacher with experience in Secondary and Further Education where I taught a variety of vocational subjects such as Business Studies and Health and Social Care and organised PSHE and Careers Education programmes as well as youth activities such as the Duke of Edinburgh Award. My wife and I fostered children for about 20 years and I now work part-time for Social Services in Essex and Suffolk. I enjoy gardening and I attend the Anglican parish church in my village.

 Helen Peats 

Schools Money Course Coordinator

Having been bought up in Surrey, I trained as a Primary School Teacher at university in South Wales.  On completing my degree I moved to Suffolk to begin my teaching career, which continued for many years in Ipswich.  I have always believed that teaching is a vocation, rather than a job.  Something I could do to make a difference, however small, to the lives of the children who I have had the pleasure to teach.  I am excited to be a part of the SCPA Team as the Schools Money Coordinator, and to have the opportunity to visit many schools in our area; to deliver CAP’s Schools Money programme to Year 5 and 6 pupils, and in so doing developing their money skills for the future.