Outreach

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 have been able to undertake fewer activities during 2020 due to Covid-19, but we have continued to support some charities financially. Under normal circumstances, 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, which is now called Next Chapter.

In 2019 we raised the following:
Our spring/summer Christian Aid house-to-house collections raised £816.39
We raised a total of £8773.50 for Commitment for Life, for Christian Aid partners’ work in Bangladesh.
We raised £3,115.24 in the Christmas Collections (including the Christmas Tree Festival, Art Exhibition, and concerts). Half of this went to the Colchester Night Shelter, and half to Next Chapter (formerly the Colchester and Tendring Womens’ Refuge).

We normally support one ‘focus charity’ which changes once a year in the autumn, 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 most recent focus charity was Acorn Village, but we have suspended this aspect of our giving during the current pandemic, while our income is smaller.

Here are details of charities supported in November/December 2020, to a total of £900

Friends of St. Joseph’s School, Sierra Leone
St Joseph’s School for the Hearing Impaired in Makeni, Sierra Leone, is in need of a new pick-up truck to take farm produce to market and to collect supplies – our donation will go towards this.

Combat Stress
For over a century we’ve been helping former servicemen and women deal with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. Today we provide specialist treatment and support for veterans from every service and conflict, focusing on those with complex mental health issues.

St Helena Hospice
I guess that most of us in Colchester have been touched in some way by the work of St Helena Hospice – and like all charities, their income has been severely hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Alcohol Change UK
In the UK one person every hour dies as a result of alcohol. Alcohol harm can affect any one of us, from any walk of life. We work for a society that is free from the harm caused by alcohol. We are not anti-alcohol; we are for alcohol change. We are for a future in which people drink as a conscious choice, not a default; where the issues which lead to alcohol problems – like poverty, mental health issues, homelessness – are addressed; where those of us who drink too much, and our loved ones, have access to high-quality support.

Next Chapter
We provide free and confidential services to support people who are currently experiencing, or have previously experienced domestic abuse. We are passionate about ensuring that every person has the opportunity to live their life free from domestic abuse. Our staff and volunteers are trained to provide support at the highest possible standard, informed by the trauma the individual has experienced and led by their needs. We provide immediate support and advice to promote safety and reduction in risk of harm and longer term support to promote emotional recovery and practical support wherever it is needed to enable planning for a safer future. Formerly Colchester and Tendring Women’s Refuge, Next Chapter has now widened its remit.

Grassroots
Grassroots is an independent grant making charity based in North-East Essex. By helping local community and voluntary groups in Colchester and Tendring with small financial awards we aim to improve the lives of local people, in particular those who are disadvantaged, vulnerable, isolated or lonely. Grassroots is the working name of Colchester and Tendring Community Trust.

Charities supported in September 2020 to a total of £600:
Amnesty International (donated in memory of Stephen Broadhurst)
Essex Carers Support
Five Talents
Freedom from Torture
Suffolk Refugee Support (donated in memory of Stephen Broadhurst)
Tree Aid
UNCHR (UN Refugee Agency)