Updates from Churches Together Projects - May 2021

WINTER NIGHT SHELTER

During January to march this year, the Council was housing all homeless people who came to them for help. The Winter Night Shelter team has been helping the Council with people being housed, who have not got the basic bedding and kitchen equipment they need by providing Starter Packs containing bedding, towels, pans, crockery, cutlery, a toaster and a kettle. During the winter period, 22 starter packs were given out. Morrisons was helpful in providing some funding towards these items.

THE PEACE COTTAGE COMMUNITY PROJECT

Plans are developing for the use of the old Quaker Meeting House in Lord St, with its linked community hall and cottage, as a Community Centre, with an accompanying Community Garden. Urgent work is about to start on the building to make it waterproof and to bring in hot water. There also needs to be a new heating system installed. Applications for funding for the building and the activities within it, have been started, and some funds have started coming in.

Work on the Community Garden has already started. Volunteers have cleared the brambles and work is starting to redesign it as a community garden. This project has been put forward for ‘Green Social Prescribing’, - a place where people can go for healing and restoration.

THE HEAR4U LISTENING TEAM

Hear4U is a team of volunteers who are trained in Active Listening. Their role is not to give advice, but to listen to people, reflect back what has been said, and help people to come to their own solutions for the way forwards. Hear4U is working in the Borough of Broxbourne and can take adult referrals from front-line workers, through the online Frontline system. They will work one-to-one with clients, usually in a church location, giving sessions for up to an hour. Each client can have up to three sessions. Good communication will be kept with the referrers, and the client would be referred back to them if further needs were identified.

14 people have been trained as Listeners for the Hear4U Listening Team and the team is now open for referrals.

WELCOME TO BREWERY ROAD FLATS

Twenty-two new flats are being built by B3 Living in Brewery Road, Hoddesdon, as rented accommodation for the over 55s. They are due to be ready by June 2021. Plans are being developed by Churches Together, Love Hoddesdon and local partners, to give Welcome Packs to the new residents. The welcome packs will contain information about Hoddesdon and local activities, along with information about the churches in Hoddesdon, a few goodies, like tea, coffee, biscuits etc., and a Welcome card.

Updates from Churches Together

WINTER NIGHT SHELTER

The churches will not be able to provide a Winter Night Shelter this winter, because of the restrictions due to Covid-19. To support single homeless people this winter, the Council has received a ‘Next Steps Accommodation’ grant, which will enable them to provide alternative accommodation. They have also received funds for support workers, to help the single homeless with mental health problems, alcohol and drug problems, in the hopes that they can enable them to cope better with everyday life and keep their accommodation.

In the meantime, the Winter Night Shelter team has been helping the Council with people being housed, who have not got the basic bedding and kitchen equipment they need. The Winter Night Shelter has been providing Starter Packs containing bedding, towels, pans, crockery, cutlery, a toaster and a kettle. These Starter Packs are being stored in Barclay Hall, and the clients come to the church car park to collect them.

The Winter Night Shelter has also been working in partnership with the Street Pastors to support homeless people who do not feel they can cope with support from the Council. Items such as a simple mobile phone, sleeping bag, rucksack, warm clothes etc are being given to homeless people located by the Street Pastors.

PEACE COTTAGE

Plans are developing for the use of Peace Cottage as a Community Centre, with an accompanying Community Garden. Some work needs to be done on the building to make it more structurally sound. A structural survey was undertaken at the beginning of this month, and this will help to inform the Quakers of the immediate needs for work on the building. There also needs to be better heating installed, and a hot water system. Applications for funding for the building and the activities within it, have been started. 

It is likely that work on the Community Garden will be able to start more quickly. There are some volunteers who are keen to work on the site, and this work is likely to start soon. This project has also been put forward for ‘Green Social Prescribing’.

LISTENING TEAM

The Listening Team will be called Hear4U. We have 16 people who are interested in volunteering for the Listening Team. The trained listeners can be involved in helping people in several ways:

• In 1:1 listening sessions

• By supporting the Bereavement Support Group

• By joining a walking group, and listening alongside individuals on the group

• By joining the volunteers for the Peace Cottage Garden and listening to people in that setting.

The plans are for training to take place between November and March, and for Hear4U to start in April 2021.

WELCOME TO BREWERY ROAD FLATS

Twenty-two new flats are being built by B3 Living in Brewery Road, Hoddesdon, as rented accommodation for the over 55s. They are due to be ready by the end of January 2021. Plans are being developed by Churches Together, Love Hoddesdon and local partners, to give Welcome Packs to the new residents. The welcome packs will contain information about Hoddesdon and local activities, along with information about the churches in Hoddesdon, a few goodies, like tea, coffee, biscuits etc., and a Welcome card.

Winter Night Shelter featured in the Herts Mercury

The Hertfordshire Mercury features an article this week about the launch of our Winter Night Shelter, which can be read here.

To find out more about the WNS, visit our webpage.

Prayer Points for the Winter Night Shelter - Week Three

The Broxbourne Winter Night Shelter started on 7th January 2019 and is running until 3rd March.

• Praise God that the night shelter is continuing to go well. The number of guests each night is gradually building up, starting with two in the first week, now up to five in the third week.
• The volunteers continue to work well together, and there has been a good atmosphere at each venue. Guests have been grateful for gloves, hats, socks and scarves, provided through the Foodbank.
• Please pray for the venue coordinators and the core organising team, that they will have wisdom in making decisions about how to manage specific needs of guests.
• Pray that in this cold weather, all those who need this service will find out about how to access it.
• Give thanks for the volunteers, who have been making the guests feel welcomed and valued.

Winter Night Shelter Prayers - Week Two

The Broxbourne Winter Night Shelter has started and is running until 3rd March.

Praise God that the night shelter has started well. For the first week, there were two guests, both very grateful for a warm bed for at night. Three guests at the beginning of the second week, with more potentially coming soon. The volunteers have worked well together, and there has been a good atmosphere at each venue.
Please pray for each new guest as they arrive, that they will feel welcomed and valued.
Pray also for the volunteers, that they will enjoy the experience and for the venue coordinators, that they will have the stamina they need for the full 8 weeks.

For more details of the shelter, see the WNS webpage

Winter Night Shelter - Starts Next Week!

Our Winter Night Shelter starts next week! For more information see the WNS webpage.

Each week we shall be circulating prayer points - here are the prayer points for the first week:

PRAYER POINTS FOR THE WINTER NIGHT SHELTER
The Winter Night Shelter will be starting on Monday 7th January and running for 8 weeks.
Please pray for the following:
* For the final preparations, that all will go smoothly.
* For the venue coordinators at each of the seven venues: Waltham Cross Baptist Church, St Joseph’s Waltham Cross, Wormley Free Church, Elim Life Church, Hoddesdon, St Cuthbert’s Church, Hoddesdon, St Augustine’s Church, Broxbourne, St Augustine’s RC Church, Hoddesdon
* For all the volunteers, as they start out on this new role
* For effective communication between those in need and those at the council so that guests for the night shelter are appropriately matched up to the venues.
* For each guest who comes, that they will feel welcomed and valued
* For an atmosphere of peace, love, warmth and encouragement at each venue.