Outreach at Lion Walk Church is about raising awareness of human need and supporting community projects worldwide. We regularly support projects in our local community and across the world, with funds raised from our lunchtime concerts and from donations from members.
We collect for the Christian Aid door-to-door collections during Christian Aid Week. Through the period of Harvest Thanksgiving, we have gathered in donations for the local Soup Run, which teams from our congregation support each month, as well as our substantial contributions from the congregation for Commitment for Life. At Christmas-time we raise funds from the Christmas Tree Festival and from Christmas services for the Colchester Night Shelter and the Colchester and Tendring Women’s Refuge.
We normally support one ‘focus charity’ which changes once or twice a year, and then we also donate smaller sums of money to other charities, with a particular focus on those based in our own community or smaller charities. Our focus charity at present is Homestart Colchester. Here are details of the charities to which we donated recently.
In Autumn/Christmas 2018 we raised the following:
£ 8325.50 (including Gift Aid) for Commitment for Life – Christian Aid work in Bangladesh – a wonderful result.
£ 2970.07 from the Christmas Collections and Christmas Tree Festival – this includes £992.36 raised at the art exhibition at the Festival – enabling us to send £1485.03 to both the Colchester Night Shelter and the Colchester and Tendring Women’s Refuge
And between February and May 2019 we made the following donations:
Homestart Colchester (Focus Charity) (£1000)
Homestart is one of the leading family support charities in the UK, and their volunteers help families with young children deal with the challenges they face. They support parents as they learn to cope, improve their confidence and build better lives for their children. We were very pleased to welcome the Colchester Manager, Shelley Henderson, to Church Meeting on 18 February, to give a most informative talk about Homestart’s work.
Integration through Language (£200)
The Integration Through Language project (part of DNA Networks) aims to support clients by providing free English courses for refugees, migrants, and others. It has been running for more than 6 years. Located currently at the Bunting Rooms in Colchester, it is co-ordinated by an employee of DNA but relies on the generosity of volunteer teachers and classroom support staff. The students are of all ages and abilities and come from across Europe and the world, and, working at their own level, they learn vocabulary and usage for activities such as catching the bus, talking to officials, doctors, and shopkeepers. The courses are entirely free apart from a voluntary donations for refreshments.
Smaller hubs and centres have also been set up across Essex using the same model – but adapted to suit numbers and location.
DEC Cyclone Idai Appeal (£200)
A cyclone swept through Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Hundreds of people have been killed and around 3 million need help.
Tools for Self-Reliance (£100)
We are a UK based charity working to help relieve poverty in Africa. We work with local African organisations to deliver a programme of tools and training to bring about effective and sustainable change to trades people and their communities. The primary countries we work in are; Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia.
We run vocational training projects which provide people with the skills they need to set up their own business. We also equip them with a toolkit to get them started. As well as technical training in trades such as carpentry, welding, and bricklaying, we also provide training in business and financial management. We believe that this approach gives people the best chance of success.
Colchester Gateway
£100 to help support the Music Group of Colchester Gateway, for adults with learning disabilities. The group meets once a month and is led by a local singer/songwriter. Up to 20 people attend each session, during which they learn to play percussion instruments , and then develop arrangements of popular songs. During the sessions they also take turns in soloing, developing listening skills.
The Eagle’s Nest Worship Centre, Kabula (£100)
The Eagle’s Nest Worship Center Kabula is located in Bungoma County, Kenya: preaching the Gospel, they reach out to poor and needy women and vulnerable children. They deliver food, medicine and clothing to individuals, children and families who lack these essentials due to famine, poverty, and natural disaster. The key goal of the organisation is developing self sufficiency among their community with a support programme, and the building of an orphanage.
Donations made in December 2018
Homestart Colchester (Focus Charity)(£500)
Home-Start is one of the leading family support charities in the UK, and their volunteers help families with young children deal with the challenges they face.
Benin Christian Support (£100)
The vision of Benin Christian Support (based in Clacton) is to go out to the people of Benin bringing with us a message of Hope. Going beyond the towns and out into the villages, taking with us the resources that will help make their lives better. By working alongside the local people, we demonstrate God’s love through education, health care, and community development.
Colchester Korban Project (£100)
Colchester Korban Project is a Christian charity providing supported housing for 16 – 25 year olds who have found themselves in crisis. We offer young people a home, support and guidance as they prepare themselves for independence. Korban was started by several local churches as their response to youth homelessness in this area.
Mercy Ships (£100)
Mercy Ships is a faith-based international development organisation that deploys hospital ships to some of the poorest countries in the world, delivering vital, free healthcare to people in desperate need.
Mines Advisory Group (MAG) (£100)
We find and destroy landmines, cluster munitions and unexploded bombs in places affected by conflict. Since 1989, we have helped over 18 million people in 40 countries rebuild their lives and livelihoods after war.
Practical Action (£100)
Practical Action is a global innovator, inspiring people to discover and adopt ingenious, practical ways to free themselves from poverty and disadvantage. Practical Action’s projects are organised under four programme themes: sustainable energy access, food and agriculture, urban water and waste, and disaster risk reduction. Two cross-cutting themes are also present across our work: climate change and markets.
Refugee Council (£100)
We work with refugees and people seeking asylum in the UK, offering them practical support and advice throughout their journey in the UK. We have been helping refugees for more than 60 years and have a thorough understanding of the difficulties facing people arriving in the UK, having fled war, rape, torture and with unimaginable stories to tell. Many refugees have lost everything and their lives will never return to normal. We offer a helping hand to support and empower them to rebuild their lives.
Send a Cow (£100)
Over the last 30 years, Send a Cow has been helping families to grow their own food, confidence and aspirations. We’ve worked with two million people and we want to keep on growing so more African families can lift themselves out of poverty for good.
Suffolk Refugee Support Group (£100)
At Suffolk Refugee Support, we help and support refugees and asylum seekers to integrate into the UK. Our Advice Service offers quality independent advice and support, and help with housing, utilities, driving, welfare benefits etc. No matter what the problem, we aim to resolve it.
Tools with a Mission (£100)
Our mission is to collect unwanted tools, refurbish them, sort them into trade kits and send them across the world for livelihood creation. We send around 20 containers filled with over 300 tonnes of tools every year. We want to support local people supporting their own communities through livelihood creating projects. We believe there is dignity through work and the ability to provide for yourself and your family. We believe entire communities can be transformed through training and the provision of tool kits and equipment.
UNHCR (The UN Refugee Agency)(£100)
Our primary purpose at UNHCR is to safeguard the rights and well-being of people who have been forced to flee. Together with partners and communities, we work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country. We also strive to secure lasting solutions. For over half a century, UNHCR has helped millions of people to restart their lives. They include refugees, returnees, stateless people, the internally displaced and asylum-seekers. Our protection, shelter, health and education has been crucial, healing broken pasts and building brighter futures.
Donations made in September 2018
Homestart Colchester – our new Focus Charity (£500) Home-Start is one of the leading family support charities in the UK, and their volunteers help families with young children deal with the challenges they face.
Stepping Stones Play and Learn (£200) – Based at the Wilson Marriage Centre, Stepping Stones Play & Learn Group is an integrated nursery for mainstream children and children with additional needs. They have a tots group for babies with special needs, and an integrated nursery to give both mainstream children and children with additional needs the chance to play and learn together. They also run ‘After School Clubs’ for children with challenging needs.
New Bridge Foundation (£200) New Bridge’s motto is ‘befriending reduces re-offending’. Working in prisons throughout England and Wales, New Bridge’s volunteers build up a link with their ‘own’ offender, writing regular letters and visit them every few months. Research shows that a strong visiting system improves prison life and contributes to a reduction in re-offending on release.
Mzimkhulu Trust (£200) The Lorraine Poswa Mzimkhulu Pre-School was established in 1994 by the late Lorraine Poswa and the community of Zithathele area in the rural town of Libode, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The area was subjected to some of the worst ravages of the apartheid area and as a result still suffers from extreme deprivation and poverty, with very high levels of unemployment. The school plays a vital role in the community. Most of the children are HIV positive or are HIV orphans. Most are living with grandparents or with older siblings who themselves are still in high school. The meal they get at the school is usually their only meal of the day.
Young Dementia UK (£200) Dementias that affect younger people can be rare and difficult to recognise. People can also be very reluctant to accept there is anything wrong when they are otherwise fit and well, and they may put off visiting their doctor. YoungDementia UK is the dedicated national charity for younger people with dementia and their families. Over 42,000 people diagnosed with dementia in the UK are aged between 30 and 65. It is a life-changing condition to have at any age, but when you are younger and believe you have a long and full life ahead of you, the impact is significantly different. We are committed to helping those affected by this challenging condition to continue to live life, by providing support, social events and information.
CBM (£200) Formerly ‘Christian Blind Mission’ CBM works today with people with a range of disabilities. People living in poverty with disability are the world’s poorest people. CBM transforms the lives of people with disability, their families and communities in the poorest places of the world. Every year, they help over 30 million people living with and at risk of disabilities in more than 60 countries worldwide.
Felsted Aid for Deprived Children (UK-Aid) (£200) Felsted Aid supports the Revival Centre in the town of Chernihiv, Ukraine which treats sick and disabled children, especially those genetically affected by the Chernobyl disaster. It is now recognised as a centre of excellence by UNICEF. This small charity, based in Essex, makes trips 3 times a year with their three vans and trailers in convoy, driven by volunteers and loaded with donations received from churches, businesses and community centres.
Donations made in May 2018
Samaritans of Colchester, Tendring and Suffolk Borders (Lion Walk Focus Charity)
Donation £500
Child Health International
Donation £200
Grapevine Essex
Donation £200
The Suffolk Law Centre
Donation £200
Trinity Homeless Project (Trinity Methodist Church, Clacton)
Donation £200
Trinity Methodists are in the process of building a Day Centre as part of the church building, to provide somewhere for homeless people to shower and spend the day; there is provision in the town for sleeping, but not for the day. Work on building the extension is due to start very soon. They are appealing for financial help to acquire a laptop and appropriate software, to book people into the Centre and help them with their needs.
There is a high level of homelessness in the Clacton area. Jaywick is one of the very poorest areas in Britain. Apart from the poor housing conditions, people often don’t have internet access, or have difficulty accessing online benefits even if they do. Without access to benefits they are not able to rent a property, nor do they have the documentation to open a bank account, and can suffer from social isolation. There is a definite need for help.
Donations made in February 2018
Samaritans of Colchester, Tendring and Suffolk Borders (Lion Walk Focus Charity)
Donation £500
Praxis Community Projects
Donation £200
Emmaus UK – Colchester branch
Donation £200
Iceni Ipswich
Donation £200
The Haven Project
Donation £300
Donations made in December 2017
Samaritans of Colchester, Tendring and Suffolk Borders (Lion Walk Focus Charity)
Donation £500
Christian Aid Rohingya Appeal
Donation £200
Talitha
Donation £200
Global Justice Now
Donation £200
Crisis at Christmas
Donation £200
Book Aid
Donation £100
Affiliations:
Amnesty International – we have having regular presence at their conferences and support activities, such as card signing around Christmas-time.