In they come,through the door, slopping their tea across the floor
but we don't mind just mop it up, they can always go and refill their cup's.
We give them food, information, advice, cos basically it's nice to be nice.
At times it tests us and we ask ourselves, why?
But I've seen despair, we've seen them cry.
So on they go, we watch them leave, we hope they find peace,we have to believe.
young and old, weak and feeble, we won't stop doing this,
as they are REAL PEOPLE.
We help REAL people in all kind of difficult life situations. We run 2 weekly Drop in session for people struggling with housing, drug- and/or alcohol abuse, crime, loneliness and financial difficulties. We provide warm food, plenty of tea and coffee as well as listening, practical help, advice, advocacy and much more.
Thursday 10 am - 1 pm Sunday 2 - 4 pm
Volunteers always needed.
In different words:
The people we are working with usually have a variety of complex needs and issues, which keep them socially excluded, often for many years and often at the very prime of their 'productive years'. This is not only disastrous for the individual, but also for the socio-economic well being of our local area as a whole, through the drain on resources needed for various benefits as well as the missed contribution to society. We seek to assist them to reintegrate into society by boosting their self esteem to first face their problems and secondly address them. Given the complexity of the mixture of long term unemployment, social exclusion, poor housing, substance abuse and poor mental health (to mention but a few factors), this is often a long process and our clients regularly fall through the net of statutory services, leaving us as their last port of call. We do not operate a ‘three strikes and you are out’ or similar policy, or select potential ‘success story’ clients to boost our statistics. Therefore our services are accessible especially to those who, for various reasons, are no longer able to access other services normally available, or have exhausted all other help available and yet have not succeeded in overcoming their problems.
We also work with parents, guardians and youth in order to prevent many of the issues our adult clients are struggling with. The benefit of preventing young people slipping into social exclusion and therefore bringing up their children (the next generation) as active, productive and responsible members of society cannot be overrated.
Let me explain why we do what we do:
Faith love hope
Our Faith in Jesus motivates us to work with people loved by God because we have hope that things will work out for the good.
We work with people who have lost Faith; in themselves, in humanity and society, who have lost Love; the love of humanity and lost the love of their family and who have lost Hope; that things will improve, will ever get better, that they will ever get out of the vicious circle of loneliness, debt, addiction, homelessness.
Because they lost the final spark of hope, they struggle to access services, NHS, Council, Jobcentre, Third sector, anything...
And of course the services themselves are riddled with cuts, under-staffing and are under pressure to produce positive outcomes - success stories.
So it usually takes initiative and being a 'squeaky wheel' to get the grease.
In other words: unless you proactively pursue it, you don't get the help you need.
Add to that associated problems like drink, drugs, poor mental health etc.
...and the safety net will gladly open up for them and let them fall through.
But they are of course still PEOPLE. Not lost cases or bad statistics.
People like you and me. People who deserve the best we can do with what we have.
This is the heart of why we do what we do.
Let me explain why we do what we do:
Faith love hope
Our Faith in Jesus motivates us to work with people loved by God because we have hope that things will work out for the good.
We work with people who have lost Faith; in themselves, in humanity and society, who have lost Love; the love of humanity and lost the love of their family and who have lost Hope; that things will improve, will ever get better, that they will ever get out of the vicious circle of loneliness, debt, addiction, homelessness.
Because they lost the final spark of hope, they struggle to access services, NHS, Council, Jobcentre, Third sector, anything...
And of course the services themselves are riddled with cuts, under-staffing and are under pressure to produce positive outcomes - success stories.
So it usually takes initiative and being a 'squeaky wheel' to get the grease.
In other words: unless you proactively pursue it, you don't get the help you need.
Add to that associated problems like drink, drugs, poor mental health etc.
...and the safety net will gladly open up for them and let them fall through.
But they are of course still PEOPLE. Not lost cases or bad statistics.
People like you and me. People who deserve the best we can do with what we have.
This is the heart of why we do what we do.
