CRCW — Mark Tubby

Lighthouse Project – a beacon shining out to our community.

Dovercourt Central Church is a Local Ecumenical Project of the United Reformed Church and Methodist Churches, coming together with an agreement in 1989 and subsequently uniting as one church.

Mark Tubby, previously CRCW at Weoley Castle in Birmingham had his Induction at Dovercourt Central in September 2019 meaning Mark had about six months in post before the Pandemic altered everything. Despite this, the project still seeks to engage and have a presence with local residents and groups, where possible.
The church building is ideally situated in the centre of town with a bus stop outside the door. The church is growing in number and members see the Lighthouse Project, the original name of the project, as part of their Christian outreach for sharing the Christian faith further.

The church is one of the few in the area with young people within its community who regularly meet on Sundays, at Messy Church and JAM group. One young person asked to be made a member of the church and they were proud to do so. The church sees itself as very much part of the community, working within it and facing challenges as they arise, with positively. Over the last few years, the church has had to learn to be self-sufficient, with limited ministerial input from the denominations. Since Mark has been there, the church is working alongside other churches more closely.

The Leadership team at Dovercourt originally identified the following areas to be considered for outreach projects within the community: Homelessness & Isolation/ Migration into the community/ Families – young & single/ Gaming & Alcohol problems, including debt/ Poverty/ Schools & issues for teenagers/ Carer’s/ Unemployment/ Elderly including loneliness. From this, the steering group complied the following, which would incorporate many of the identified areas of concern:

Messy Church for 60+ to be entitled Lighthouse 60+
A day per month which includes a meal and activities. These are to be determined by attendees, but suggestions so far have been films, games, book sharing and possible advice sessions and Guest speakers. Whilst this has yet to be explored in any real depth, the fact that a Community Hub has opened across the road from the church will have altered the outlook. The Hub has several groups, some of whom are aimed at the retired generations. Mark built a working relationship with the manageress of the Hub but then Lockdown came, the person left, and things are very much in limbo. What did happen was an extension of their own coffee morning on Friday’s. Mark spoke to many organisations and several agreed to attend the coffee morning, providing advice and support. The groups included Age Concern, Tendring Council, Harwich Councillor, Peabody, Police, Phoenix Futures and CVST (The Area Voluntary Service). This led to different people coming to the premises and a chance to build stronger relationships with local organisations. Again, things were curtailed by the Pandemic and remain postponed.

Families – to be entitled ‘Lighthouse Families’
A drop-in for families, whatever the make-up of that family, to build upon groups that already use the premises, such as the Sure Start group and Messy Church. Whilst there was the Friday morning drop-in, there was no obvious place specifically for families so, in collaboration with the local Salvation Army, Mark looked to create a space that was welcoming to families. Messy Church had begun that, and the SA also ran a Messy Church, so they looked to combine resources and create a Messy Space. Whilst talks were happening and churches were ready and willing to get together to discuss possibilities, the Pandemic happened and so these have been on hold since last March (2020). It is hoped that they can work alongside the SA to get it going, once things are up and running again. There has also been, since the profile was created, a local dad’s group set up and they are looking at ways to support it. The Sure Start group no longer run locally, although they are working closely with Homestart, who offer similar services.

Project Original Ideas Included:
1. Workshops on various topics such as healthy eating; low budget cooking; DIY
2. A clothing exchange scheme

Schools and teenagers – ‘Lighthouse Teens’ Suggestions include:
1. A drop-in venue
2. Advice and support on offer, including careers advice for older teens
3. Somewhere for older teens to go

Mark has been in contact with local youth organisations, including the Essex Youth Service, to look at possibilities in this area. The Youth Service agreed to the use of their building once each week for any group they worked with and offered training and support too. This offer still stands despite the pandemic shutting down many things. Mark has worked with the local churches and youth organisations on this and they are still keen to offer something once they are able to meet up, without so many restrictions.

Whilst it sounds like much is on hold currently, Mark has been busy instigating and helping to run a co-ordinated response to the Pandemic. Over 20 local organisations are involved offering support such as Food Supplies and Utility Top-ups, Shopping and Prescription Collection Services, Home-cooked Meals Delivered, Telephone Pastoral Support, Family Advice and Activity Packs, Gardening and DIY Tasks, Library Delivery Service and Volunteer Co-ordination. Whilst much of this has slowed down, many are still running, and the team meet regularly over Zoom to ensure they are catering for local needs. As they move into a new year, they hope things will become more stable and therefore working with others will be more seamless and create better opportunities to make a real difference in Harwich. 

 Read Mark's recent reflection: In this Together.