At a time when so many families are experiencing financial pressures, FamilyLife UK, part of Agapé, and Christians Against Poverty (CAP) are pleased to announce a new collaboration in 2018 – to help couples to talk about and handle the impact of money and debt on their relationships.
This week, the Money Advice Trust (MAT) debt charity advised that low-earning households should start saving money now for next Christmas, after a survey showed that 7.9 million people are likely to struggle with their finances in January as a result of Christmas spending.
A Relate survey last year found that money worries were the top (most-identified) pressure on relationships, with 26% of people responding that financial concerns caused a strain on their relationships – a pressure which increases when partners have contrasting approaches to money management. FamilyLife UK and Christians Against Poverty will be working closely together on material for the ‘Money’ module of the Toucan app, an app which can be used individually and together by couples to invest in and strengthen their relationship. The module is due to be released in autumn 2018.
Dan Lane, Director of Fundraising and Marketing for Christians Against Poverty, said that he was ‘very excited’ to be working with FamilyLife UK on this project:
‘Money and finances can become a real challenge and are a leading cause of stress in relationships. It’s an area where couples can have different expectations and understanding of how their family finances are working. That’s why it’s so important to provide couples with engaging and practical content that helps them to both have the same expectations for their money. Toucan’s ‘Money’ module is an exciting opportunity for Christians Against Poverty and FamilyLife UK to work together to tackle the impact of finance on relationships.’
Mark Daniel, Director of FamilyLife UK, added:
‘Money issues can cause huge strain on relationships, which is why we felt it was so important to develop a ‘Money’ module for Toucan. We are delighted to be doing this in collaboration with our friends at CAP – this means we can help couples to address relational issues AND help to equip them with practical money management tools. Toucan enables us to easily point anyone who might be struggling towards the expert help and support provided by CAP. We will also be able to increase the scope and reach of Toucan, helping couples in the UK and beyond to strengthen their relationships.’
Ahead of the release of the ‘Money’ module, Toucan will launch a ‘Loving’ module in February 2018 for National Marriage Week – the first two modules on ‘Communication’ and ‘Conflict’ were released in 2017.
How you can help us help others
Toucan is a world first. It uses technology to meet a huge social need and share a very practical Gospel in a gracious and fresh way. By working with CAP we will be able to reach and strengthen tens of thousands more UK families.
The Money Module plus vital technical enhancements and functionality will require funding of £126,000 to be in place by end March 2018. Please consider supporting this exciting project. Every donation will help us to help others
You can give online today at: www.agape.org.uk/supporttoucan
More about Toucan
Full details about Toucan and an introductory video can be found at toucantogether.com
Toucan is an app being developed by FamilyLife UK – a ministry of Agapé – which provides a unique online series for couples to invest in and strengthen their relationships in a way that can easily fit in with their busy lifestyles. It is now available from App Store and Google Play. Toucan brings together practical relationship tools with video clips of couples from a wide range of backgrounds and ages sharing their experiences, alongside interactive exercises, fun quizzes, engaging animation and eye-catching graphics. Sir Paul Coleridge from the Marriage Foundation described Toucan as ‘a powerful new app’ which is ‘fun and motivating’, while Katharine Hill from Care for the Family commented it was ‘easy to use’ and ‘perfect for busy couples on the go’.
Toucan builds on the popularity and success of FamilyLife UK’s courses for couples – in particular, A Day Together. The main aim of Toucan is to strengthen relationships by helping to: • build friendship and greater intimacy • develop and deepen communication • resolve conflict in healthy ways • learn to speak each other’s Love Languages • deal with tough times and grow a vision for marriage • manage money well together.
