On Saturday 5 April members of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Bonymaen, Swansea teamed with the members of the Swansea Bay Fair Credit Campaign to meet Jeff Cuthbert AM, Minister for Communities and Tacking Poverty (pictured).

The meeting allowed people who have been victims of debt to payday and doorstep lenders and of illegal lending practices to give their testimonies.

Mount Zion minister the Revd Chris Lewis, who is a leader of the campaign, said the session had been ‘good humoured and constructive’, explaining that Mr Cuthbert had said that ‘brave people coming forward to share their experiences strengthen his hand to work against these illegal practices which are widely recognised but hard to pin down.’

Mr Cuthbert invited representatives of the campaign to the Senedd for an early meeting to decide on the next steps to be taken.

In addition Mr Lewis has also been invited to Westminster to take part in a discussion about how churches can support credit unions as an alternative, fair source of credit.

The Swansea Bay Fair Credit Campaign is supported by Bishop John Davies (Swansea and Brecon) who was also present, as were the Revd Colin Dickson (Vicar of Glantawe) Mike Hedges AM and Sian James MP (Swansea East) and members of the Swansea Council.