“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19

In South London, there’s an estate called St Helier. The homes there are divided into terraced houses and low-rise apartments. It’s home to about 10,000 people, most of whom have little or no connection to the Church, or to God. The area has high levels of deprivation, unemployment, single parents, isolated elderly people; obesity and mobility issues are rife. The local church on the St Helier estate was struggling and its congregation was dropping each year. Then, in 2021, something changed.

A partnership between Church Army and the Diocese of Southwark saw the birth of St Helier Centre of Mission; a community project based on the estate to meet the spiritual, social and health needs of the people living there.

Mobility and obesity are significant issues amongst people of all ages on the estate and so in partnership with Sport England the team have launched weekly Zumba classes. A monthly addiction recovery group is also running. Every week the team run two free coffee mornings, where partners from the local council and NHS also attend to give free health and financial advice.

A monthly Messy Church and weekly youth group for 10-14 year olds are reaching out to children, young people and their families, and following an Alpha Course, a new worshipping community has been launched with 14 new believers being baptised or reaffirming vows. God is truly on the move through the St Helier Centre of Mission.

“St Peters and God has changed us all in some way. The Alpha course opened a new world to us and created a church family bond I didn’t think possible.”

Thanks to the generosity of people like you, Church Army can plant centres of mission like the one in St Helier in areas of desperate need all over the UK and Ireland.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) – John 4:7-9

Imagine that.

You’ve spent your life excluded; a social outcast – living with the disappointment of what life could’ve been and the shame of what life has become.

You have to wait for the groups of women collecting water from the well in the cool of morning to return home, leaving you to draw water alone in the heat of the day. Relationships have taken their toll too. You’re friendless, on your own and desperate.

In this beautiful exchange in John 4, Jesus shares that He is the Messiah; bringing joy, freedom and new life to this woman who has been battered and bruised by the storms of life.

Two-thousand years later, Church Army’s Marylebone Project exists for women like the Samaritan woman; showing that same radical inclusivity by supporting and caring for hundreds of women in crisis every year.

Women like Kelly who rode the nightbus across London every night for three months to avoid sleeping on pavements; or like Gabriella, who arrived at The Sanctuary, the Marylebone Project’s 24/7 drop-in centre, after escaping her abusive partner; or like Samira, who after sleeping in a doorway near Buckingham Palace was greeted with the warmth and safety of emergency accommodation at Church Army’s Marylebone Project.

We helped 95 women settle into permanent independent living and provided 38,072 nights of accommodation but street life remains exceptionally dangerous for many women. Hiding from harm can often mean hidden from help.

With your help, Church Army can help more women like Kelly, Gabriella and Samira into safe accommodation where they can escape the excluded-life and begin to dream and hope again.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in” Matthew 25:35

The Long Table is a pay-as-you-like canteen in Matson, near Gloucester. Despite neighbouring the M5 Motorway, Matson is a rural suburb, a council estate on the edge of the Cotswolds and an area of noticeable contrasts. Despite being on the edge of an area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Matson is highly deprived and ranks in the top 2% of deprived areas across the UK and Ireland.

In July 2019, Andy and Emma Wilson moved to Matson to plant Church Army’s Gloucester Centre of Mission, known locally as Share Matson. This project, our partnership with the Diocese of Gloucester, would share the gospel and counter the social isolation and food-poverty facing many members of the local community. Intentionally using food from local producers, Andy and Emma established The Long Table, a community space where everyone from the area is invited and welcomed through authentic relationship. “We are keen to feed back into the local economy and we are trying to break the model of only giving left overs to people in need”.

“I had just moved from Child Tax Credits to Universal Credit so everything stopped, I had no money and no food, and also no company.”

“Coming here to Share Matson for the Long Table has made me feel like I’m part of a family again, and that I’m not on my own”

Three years on and a community has developed around Andy & Emma. Share Matson has blossomed into a new worshipping community which consists of around 25 people who eat together and explore faith. At the heart of it is a community of people who are taking small steps together along the journey of following Jesus, and of building trust and relationships within their neighbourhood.

This year, Church Army has provided 23,700 meals and food boxes, helping to meet the basic needs of thousands of families in poverty.

With your help Church Army’s projects like Share Matson can help even more lonely people and deprived communities.

“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:35

The 50 special guests stood opened-mouthed.

The room was large in size and adorned in decorative butterflies; created by some of the 16-21 year olds who live at Ty Bronna, and the staff who tirelessly support them. Each butterfly representing one of the young men and women who have called Ty Bronna home and harbour over the last two decades. In total, the room was decorated with over 800 butterflies.

800 young lives cherished, protected and transformed. 800 young people who’ve found a home, support and security because they were given a chance by Church Army’s Ty Bronna youth homeless hostel.