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Responding to the cost of living crisis

By Hayley Beckett on 4th October 2022

Pam Davies a minister in Southend and part of the EBA Justice Group writes the following article:

Much has been written already about the cost of living crisis that is affecting all of our communities. Rather than repeating that, this update shares what we’re doing at 57 West in the hope that it might be useful to other churches who aren’t sure where to start, or what to explore next.

Sessions:

Drop in sessions – our daytime drop in sessions create safe spaces for people to be in the warm, charge their devices, chat over coffee and receive support with form filling, signposting to housing provision, mental health services and debt management organisations. This is generally the first point of contact for somebody joining us for the first time. This is also the session that is easiest to run, requiring only two DBS checked volunteers and a risk assessment that follows our safeguarding policy (we’re happy to send out these documents as templates if churches contact us directly).

Evening drop in – our evening drop in is much like the daytime although is more focussed on making sure people have something hot to eat, someone to talk to and practical items like clothing, toiletries and sleeping bags. We have a small storage area for these items and work alongside the Street Pastors who signpost people to us on Friday nights.

Wellbeing – in response to general low mood and increased feelings of anxiety among our community, we started weekly wellbeing workshops. This is a creative space that gives people an opportunity to talk through particular issues, draw, write or express themselves in a slightly different way.

Cooking – we’re piloting a weekly cooking session that helps give people ideas on what they can prepare on a budget or from a food parcel. We have a small food storage area to top up anything we might need, and this is usually covered by donations. We’re really happy to share our six week plan, risk assessment and feedback with other groups who might be interested in starting something similar.

Who are our partners?

The best advice we can give to churches responding to the cost of living crisis is please don’t try and do it all on your own. There are so many services who are willing to offer their support in specialist areas, as a small charity seeking to support people through significant challenges we’d be completely overwhelmed if we tried to do so in isolation. This is who we’re working with to try and offer the best support we can to our community over the next few months:

• Stephen’s Place – we refer to this local charity for the provision of supported housing when we come across somebody in urgent need of accommodation. They will accept referrals from outside of Southend so please contact us if you’d like a referral form, and there are similar charities across the association so we may be able to signpost somewhere closer where appropriate
• The Trussell Trust – we issue Foodbank vouchers to community members who can pick up food parcels from supporting churches seven days a week and we’re exploring the possibility of opening a distribution centre on site (all you need is some space to store pre-packed boxes and volunteers to welcome people in). You can find a foodbank or register your interest here: https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/ and there’s advice on the BU website at https://www.baptist.org.uk/Articles/401533/Helping_you_run.aspx
• Christians Against Poverty – we recently had CAP advisors lead a workshop which was tailored to the needs of our community. We discussed budgeting, debt management and which scams to look out for. We didn’t know that they have a debt service for people whose expenditure is more than their income. Where this is the case an advisor can be allocated who will manage all of this for someone (as part of this individuals don’t even have to open their post, it is forwarded on to their advisor and this includes a three month window where a person can’t be contacted about their debt). It was an invaluable experience, and you can connect with them at: https://capuk.org/get-involved/how-your-church-can-be-involved
• The Street Pastors – we wanted our drop-in sessions to reach everyone, so we partnered with the Street Pastors who now signpost people to our sessions on a Friday night. You can contact them to find out how they are serving your area at: https://www.streetpastors.org/connect/

However you decide to respond, you can also pledge your support at https://www.warmwelcome.uk/#pledge. Warm Welcome launched this week and is drawing together all of the spaces that churches are creating so we can collectively support as many people as we can, and they can give advice and guidance on where to go from here.

We hope that there are thoughts and ideas here that will help you to respond. Despite all of the workshops, drop in sessions, partnerships and weekly services, we have found that above all what people value is having the opportunity to be together regularly so that we all feel less alone. If you’re able to open your doors to people this winter, that is more than enough. Please do contact pam@57west.org.uk if we can support you in any way, and if there’s enough interest, we can explore regular contact, training or a zoom session to talk this over a bit more.

We will continue to pray for the churches across the association as we seek where God is leading in these uncertain times.

With every blessing,

57 West

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