ST HELIER CENTRE OF MISSION

North Sutton, London

Built as a garden city in the 1920s and 1930s, the St Helier Estate in Sutton is now recognised as having high levels of deprivation, unemployment, single parents, elderly people and people with long-term disabling illness. 31% of all households with children are lone-parent households. Large parts of the parish are amongst the 20% most deprived neighbourhoods in the country. The centre of mission’s focus is to bring Christian hope and life to the community.

Rev Tracy Marlow has been appointed as Lead Evangelist and vicar of the parish and will focus on building community and Fresh Expressions. In February 2022, Hayley Humphries and Rachel Marlow were welcomed to the team as Pioneer Evangelists.

Update: October 2022

The newly renamed St Helier Centre of Mission (formerly known as North Sutton CoM) has been reaching out to the St Helier Estate in London since it was launched in April 2021 with the licensing of Tracy as Lead Evangelist. In November she was joined by Hayley and Rachel as joint Pioneer Evangelists. After spending time getting to know the community and listening to their needs, the team have launched an exciting array of activities. These activities are under three streams: Active St Helier, Social St Helier and Spiritual St Helier because the team believe God is calling them to meet people at their point of need and to be the fragrance of Christ amongst them. You can keep up with all they are doing on their Facebook Page

Active St Helier

Mobility and obesity are significant issues amongst people on the estate and so in partnership with Sport England the team have launched weekly Zumba classes. One of the women who attends came along to a service and said to the team, ‘If it wasn’t for Zumba, I would be sitting indoors, crying’. They are also planning a bicycle project in partnership with Community Action Sutton, where bikes recovered by the police will be restored, teaching skills and encouraging cycling for fitness and better mental health.

Social St Helier

Every week the team run two free coffee mornings, where partners from the local council and NHS also attend to give free health and money/benefits advice. After the death of Queen Elizabeth they held a short prayer service after a coffee morning and it was well received so will now happen regularly. The group are also exploring how they might run a bereavement group in conjunction with one of their coffee mornings. St Helier Voices is a newly launched community choir with a choir director employed thanks to a grant from the NHS. This group is a chance for fun, friendship and joy with singing with others being a known way to improve mental health.

Spiritual St Helier

A monthly Messy Church and weekly youth group for 10-14 year-olds are reaching out to children, young people and their families, as well as a monthly addiction recovery group which is exploring faith using The Recovery Bible. A recent Alpha course has also had 20 people take part. God has been working in the lives of people through all these activities and has been drawing them with their friends and family into a new worshipping community. Much to the surprise of the team they have found that this new worshipping community has been gathering on a Sunday Morning in a church building! This has been a great joy as they recently celebrated 14 new believers being baptised or reaffirming baptism vows.

 Some quotes from new Christians:

“I have never felt accepted until I came here” – Gary

“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.” – Teresa, who was baptised along with her daughter, her foster daughter and granddaughter.

“I never dreamed I would join the God squad!” – Emma

“I feel like I’ve been born again” – Scott

Donate Now

£8
could mean reaching more young people with the gospel in schools
£17
could provide days of fun filled activities to children in the holidays
£29
could provide emergency supplies to families in crisis
Or
£
Donate
Help us reach more people by making a smaller donation every month
Change to monthly
No
£26
could provide a care pack of food and clothing to women involved in sex work
£47
could provide one night in an emergency bed and essential toiletries for a vulnerable woman facing crisis
£91
could take one of our youth groups to a national youth event
Or
£
Donate
Your kind support will help us tackle social deprivation through partnership and collaboration to help empower individuals and communities
Your kind support will help us tackle social deprivation through partnership and collaboration to help empower individuals and communities
£

Custom Amount

Email Marketing
Text Marketing
Your kind donation will support our work where it is needed most.
What prompted my donation
Select Payment Method
My details

Billing Details

Reclaim Gift Aid

Make your %PRICE% worth %GIFTAID% at no extra cost to you!

Note: if you are donating on behalf of an organisation Gift Aid is not applicable (please do not tick the box), as it is only applied to individual donations.

By ticking the “Yes” box, I agree I would like Church Army to Gift Aid my donation of %PRICE% and any donations I make in the future or have made in the past 4 years. I understand that if I pay less Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax than the amount of Gift Aid claimed on all my donations in that tax year I may be asked to pay any difference. I understand that Church Army will reclaim 25p of tax on every £1 that I give.

What is Gift Aid?

Gift Aid does not cost you a penny more, but can add an additional 25p to every £1 you donate. When Church Army receives a donation from a UK taxpayer, we’re entitled to claim an amount of tax (calculated at the basic rate of income tax in that year) paid on that donation. Once you have given your permission for us to do this on your behalf, there is no need for you to do anything else.

All that is required is that you must be a taxpayer and that would have paid or will pay sufficient Income and/or Capital Gains Tax to cover all the Gift Aid claimed on all your donations in that tax year. Please note that it is your responsibility to pay any difference.

The amount of tax we claim will be 25% of the total value of your donations in that tax year. Furthermore, if you are a higher taxpayer, you are also entitled to claim the difference between the basic rate which we will claim and the amount of tax you have actually paid. For further details on how you can do this, please contact your tax office. If your tax situation changes and your gifts will no longer be eligible for the Gift Aid scheme please contact us and we will amend your record accordingly.

Take me to my donation »

Donation Total: £25.00 One Time

Evangelists & Leaders

Tracy Marlow (Lead Evangelist)

Hayley Humphries (Pioneer Evangelist)

Rachel Marlow (Pioneer Evangelist)

Image (left to right): A Church Warden of St Helier, The Archdeacon of Reigate, Tracey Marlow (Lead Evangelist), Rachel Marlow (Pioneer Evangelist), Deputy Mayor of Sutton, Bishop of Croydon, Mayor of Sutton, Hayley Humphires (Pioneer Evangelist), Emma Sivyer (Church Army Regional Development Officer for the South and East of England) and a Church Warden of St Helier.

Connect with ST HELIER CENTRE OF MISSION

Partnerships

Diocese of Southwark

The Diocese of Southwark is a rich vibrant mix of Christian witness across South London and East Surrey comprising churches, schools, chaplaincies and missional communities.

Share this Page