Herbie's Latest Wish List

Dear Friends

 

Greetings in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ

 

Allow me once again to introduce myself for those I have not yet had the pleasure of meeting. My name is Lieutenant Rob Symons and along with my wife Lieutenant Georgina Symons, we are the Commanding Officers (Ministers) in charge of The Salvation Army here in Great Yarmouth. Many of you I will have no doubt met over the past 18 months or so since we arrived however, I do appreciate there will be some of you I have yet to speak to formally. I hope to be able to change that in the near future

 

 

Following a discussion last year, it was felt that it might be helpful for people to know of particular ways they could help / specific items that were needed for our Community Drop In, particularly as we lead up to Harvest time and I felt it was right to inform our supporters of ways they could continue to help us. The hope is that people will be able to consider in a more informed way what they might want to contribute or even provide opportunity for people to sponsor items throughout the course of the year as a wider way of the churches working together

 

The list below is indicative of the type of items we use on a weekly basis and are always in demand for. As you can appreciate, the majority of the food items donated are stored and used throughout the year and as many people have extremely limited (and in some cases no) cooking facilities; this somewhat limits the type of donations that we can most effectively use. The items highlighted in RED are the ones we are most in need of at the moment; particularly bed linen / blankets and sleeping bags

 

 

 

Whilst I am here, I thought I would take the opportunity to update you on what we currently provide and the type of work that donations will go towards. Amongst our varied weekly programme, as you will know we have a community drop in, predominantly for those suffering from some form of vulnerability although not exclusively, that we host between the hours of 09.30-11.30 on a Monday and Friday and between 12.00-14.00 on a Thursday. Here we offer food parcels, clothing through our Charity Shop on King Street, a shower facility, a clothes washing service, sleeping bag and blanket provision, an employment resource centre where people can search for jobs online, prepare a CV or complete some online learning along with general advice and a listening ear. One of the main areas we are involved in at the moment is teaching people how to use a computer and get on line and even how to use other basic items such as a digital camera or a mobile phone

 

Whilst we as The Salvation Army host the project; we are supported by a range of agencies, including; NORCAS, Norfolk Constabulary, Voluntary Norfolk, GY & Waveney MIND, GY Borough Council, Jobcentre Plus, DIAL, the Community Mental Health Team, GYROS, the NHS (smoking cessation), the British Red Cross, and a dedicated team of volunteers. Other organisations who have also had some involvement are the CAB, Leeway Domestic Violence Service, Community Health Trainers, GY Community Trust, Stonham Housing to name just a few. The project aims to provide vulnerable people (in the widest sense of the word – we welcome anyone in need of assistance) with an accessible, friendly environment, in which they can be supported by the agencies involved to address a wide range of issues, including health (mental and physical), housing, substance misuse, training and employment, basic life necessities (food, showering, clothes washing), domestic violence, crime reporting, and at times of course, most importantly, a chance to meet with God and pray. Over the past 12 months, I am pleased to report that we have given away on several occasions’ free bibles to those who’ve asked along with copies of Mark’s Gospel and leaflets explaining who Jesus is. God is working in a powerful way. We may not always see it. However, I am sure he is right there in the midst of all that we are doing

 

Since the project's inception, we have seen in the region of 550 different people who have accessed the project for support, with the project having a daily footfall of anywhere between 20 and 50 people. An important aspect of the project is that Herbie’s is a partnership; it is not a separately funded initiative or a stand-alone organisation. The name simply signifies all the agencies’ commitment towards providing a more coordinated and aligned service to vulnerable people and gives the project an identity of its own. And of course, it embodies the partnership of the Body of Christ too

 

One of the consumables that we use most; as you can imagine is food however, more and more basic items such as pillows, sheets, duvets, sleeping bags and other linen type items are increasingly in demand. Please find below, an overview of the help we were able to give last year compared with the year before

 

 

N.B – Often, bed linen included sheet, pillows, pillow cases etc. The food parcels on occasion may have ranged from an individual to those for smaller / larger families. Clothes Washes will have ranged from one load to several loads per person

 

 

So all in all, we distributed almost 1400 food parcels which we simply could not have done without your kind and generous support. We are always keen to inform people of where the food donations come from and this is an excellent opportunity to display first hand, particularly how the churches are working together to impact people’s lives and champion social justice. We have seen many success stories, with several people having their lives transformed by partners working together; we have even seen people return to employment, secure housing, receive much needed support with alcohol, drug and gambling addictions, help with collating their CV and accessing training courses to aid their personal development

 

If you would like to know any more about the work that we do, please don’t hesitate to contact me and let me know. And of course, if you would like to support our work in any other way (once again I echo how many of you are very kind in supporting us at Harvest and Christmas time), you would be more than welcome. You can find out more information by visiting www.salvationarmy.org.uk/greatyarmouth and clicking the link to our Social care and Community Programme; Herbie’s

 

I hope this letter in a small way emulates the appreciation we have for your kindness and generosity and serves as a reminder of how each and every one of us can really make a difference and impact the Kingdom of God. We look forward to working with you in the near future

 

Warmest greetings, Kind Regards and God Bless