Tim Hatton writes…

Hawick (pronounced Hoick) feels completely cut off. Most people speed up the M74 and think they’ve only hit Scotland when they get to Edinburgh. And people feel that isolation, they feel abandoned – even our hospital is two bus rides away.

People can go the whole week, almost live their entire lives, and not go outside of our estate. It’s ground down poor; you see cars on the street that don’t move because they need a repair – there’s one across the road from us that hasn’t moved in a year.

When I told people I lived here, there was this sharp intake of breath and, ‘ooh, what do you want to live there for?’

I’M THE FIRST MINISTER TO HAVE LIVED ON THE ESTATE IN AT LEAST TWENTY YEARS!

But we wanted to be here, to be good residents, to walk the streets with our dog, say hi to our neighbours, and make relationships. And it makes a difference. People have come to faith just by us being here.

One lady, we only got to know because she was living four doors up the street, asked if we could Christen her baby. In the end both she and her baby were baptised. Now, some of her friends are enquiring about baptism as well!

We’ve been making real relationships, supporting people in crisis, and inviting them into community. Our vision is to set up a Church on the High Street and turn a dilapidated old shop into something special.

Bringing a bit of love back into one of the most deprived places in a forgotten corner of the Borders.

Tim Hatton, A7 Centre of Mission