Earlier this year, Simon Peters, project manager for Walking the Way, reported on a visit to the New Zealand Area of Derby. Vicky Longbone, Church Related Community Worker, explains how things have changed since lockdown began:
Here in Derby, some amazing work is being done! So many people are helping each other, with organisations, both statutory and charities, working more closely together to make a real difference to the most vulnerable across the city. The Derby A2C (Ashbourne Road to Central URC) Churches in Community project, which I help to lead, is involved in a lot of this work, enabling people to help each other, and themselves.
There are three particular pieces of work going on, expanding on previous projects that we’ve been involved in. Our little seeds are growing…
A phone service has been set up so that the most isolated and lonely can have at least one or two chats on the phone each week. Thirty volunteers are calling around fifty people. Friendships are being formed between people who would never usually meet. One gentleman receiving the calls said, “It means so much to me, I look forward to the calls. I’ve a man and a lady ringing once a week. They’re both really lovely. We’re getting to know each other. It will be nice to meet them when this is all over”
A community meals service has developed for people who miss the company and food offered by lunch clubs and other groups. It became clear that many of these people are not only isolated, but often not capable of cooking for themselves. Once a week, two nutritious homemade meals are taken to them, one fresh, one frozen. Volunteers assist with the cooking and delivery of these meals. An elderly single lady with mental health problems who receives cooked meals said, “I really struggled to get out of the house to go to the few groups where I felt comfortable, and now I can’t face going out at all. I also know that on bad days I wouldn’t bother cooking for myself. Without your help I know I would be going hungry.” One volunteer said, “It’s been fun volunteering and feels fulfilling to know what a difference it makes. I know personally how much help we as a family has received through the school holiday food project. It feels great to have the opportunity to give something back.”
Distributing food parcels started as a small project that has very quickly become a major lifeline for many people. Over the last two years we have run a school holiday food project, in partnership with the New Zealand Community Association (Unfortunately this is an area of Derby and not the other side of the world!). The project has given families some relief from concerns about feeding themselves during school holidays, when we provide a healthy freshly cooked meal every evening, Mon-Friday, along with breakfast parcels. During half-term breaks, we provide basic food parcels, and at Easter and Christmas, we give out gifts. With the current coronavirus crisis closing schools, we continue this vital service. Numbers have grown and grown, with referrals being sent our way from some of the local schools, the local neighbourhood coordinator, the city council, other churches and by individuals worried about their neighbours.
Derby City Council have now teamed up with the Hope Centre, (the largest food bank in Derby) to ensure food can continue to be distributed across the whole city We have been asked to become a Local Food Distribution Hub, one of ten being set up across the city, with the Hope centre providing the food and resources needed to supply those in need.
I am amazed at the generosity of local businesses and companies too. We received a hundred, large Thornton’s Easter Bunnies to distribute at Easter, Virgin offered us vans and drivers to help move stock around and Derby County Football Club are sending players and staff to help out in any way they can (Let’s hope they send us Wayne Rooney. That would be great publicity for us!).
We are building a great team of packers and delivery drivers, including a young lady who started volunteering in the very first week, helping to pack food parcels. She is now pretty much running the whole storeroom! She said, “Being a new volunteer feels really positive in many ways. It feels like I am doing something worthwhile to help people in the community. It gives me a sense of purpose while enabling me to gain some new skills and confidence.” One mum who receives a parcels said, “The food parcels have been invaluable to us. I have a chronic health condition and two small children, so it’s difficult to go shopping, made even worse by the current situation. It’s not just helpful, but very heart-warming to receive this support.”
I believe that the local Neighbourhood Co-ordinator sums it all up when she says, I have been extremely fortunate in my role as Local Area Coordinator and now as Ward Coordinator for The Covid Response Hub to have made great connections with Vicky Longbone, Ashbourne Road Church and The Lonny Wilsoncroft Community Centre. Firstly, it gives me complete peace of mind that if I introduce Vicky and her team to someone in need in the community that they will be treated with kindness, compassion and enthusiasm. Secondly, the practical support that is given promptly and reliably is vital to so many of the residents in Mackworth Ward. Food parcels being delivered, befriending phone calls and shopping trips have all been coordinated through Derby A2C. Probably more importantly, it has put some people on the radar when perhaps they would be forgotten. The volunteers are able to keep an eye out for the most vulnerable in our neighbourhood. Without the support that has been given by Vicky and the team, I don’t think the neighbourhood would be so joined up, so supported, so cared for. I know the people really appreciate the meals that have been delivered to them, not just for the food, but because they haven’t been forgotten. I am very fortunate to be able to talk to people and turn to Vicky and her team to get some of the support they are asking for. It makes my job so much easier.’
In all of this, we see ordinary people achieving extraordinary things, and hopefully we will see some lasting outcomes from this. It would be wonderful to see organisations continue to work together. It would be great if people could continue offering help to their neighbours. All of this is so important in our mission to walk in Jesus’ footsteps.
How does/could your church offer support to the community, in the name of Jesus, in a time of great need? Contact us to find out how you can help.
