Thank you from Rob and Georgina
Dear fellow brothers and sisters in Christ
Warmest greetings from The Salvation Army in Great Yarmouth. I do hope you are well. I wanted to take the opportunity to once again thank you personally and your fellow congregations for all your untold generosity last year with your Harvest / Christmas donations. Once again, we have received unprecedented support from churches and schools alike and it has been so encouraging; actually quite awe inspiring to witness the Body of Christ working together to make a real difference in the lives of people in our communities
I count it a privilege on each occasion, to witness first hand how appreciative people are when they receive help and assistance with a food parcel and how in many cases, the donated food has literally provided a life line for many, both adults and children alike. For some, it’s a means of helping them get over a difficult period in their finances; whereas for others it is literally the first bit of food they have had perhaps in a short while. I must stress that generally the need for food parcels is through a direct referral we receive although some people do of course self refer too which we monitor carefully. We regularly receive requests for example from the Housing Office, Job Centre Plus and a host of voluntary sector agencies asking if we can help people in turmoil. This ensures that the donated foods get used to assist those most in need and at a time of crisis and desperation. And of course through relationship building we get to know people and their circumstances much better and can often tailor our help and support in a more targeted and effective way
 Our community drop in known as ‘Herbie’s’, through which your donations will be used and our Christmas Toys and Tins Appeal are both continuing to go from strength to strength and we believe that God is richly blessing the work that we do and opening new and exciting opportunities and partnerships all the time. Our highest recorded attendance continues to be surpassed and only recently we had 66 people from the community who came in to our Community Drop In during a 2 hour period. A total of 76 people came to our Herbie’s Christmas Party and with the volunteers included; around 100 people enjoyed the festivities on the 15th December. Not all of the people we see have needed practical help and support. Some come in purely for friendship and to socialise with friends, others come into simply find a place to warm themselves, others to use the Resource Centre either to keep in touch with family and friends or to find information off government websites or to search for job vacancies. Others come in for clothing or for toiletries or for a shower. Whatever their need; we do our very best to help meet it or at least point them in the right direction
Many I am pleased to say simply come in because they find it’s a place that is friendly and where everyone is made to feel welcome. Of course, whilst our strapline is ‘a friendly place to meet’, our desire is that the person they actually meet is God and of course the greatest service we can give to anyone is to help guide them towards Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the world and to a whole new experience of the Holy Spirit working in their lives. In this regard
God has been faithful. We have people that are regularly attending our Sunday worship, and we have on many occasions had people asking for a copy of the Bible. God is working in the lives of the people we meet and I remain convinced that He has some far more exciting things for us to look forward to in the coming year
It is always a great pleasure to speak of the many different agencies that support Herbie’s. To be honest the list is endless, and above all it is always my pleasure to speak of the many Churches that help us make such a difference to so many people. We are just about to produce an End Of Year report for Herbie’s which will tell of some of the successes we have seen. If you want to read more about this; we will ask for it be posted online via the Borough Wide Churches Forum website; www.networkyarmouth.com in the coming weeks. in the coming weeks.
In terms of Toys and Tins; which some of your food would have been used for; I am delighted to report that we were able to help 332 Adults, 582 Children and 192 Families. Once again we could not do what we do without your help. So from the very bottom of our hearts, thank you, and may God continue to bless you in your own work for Him. We often remember you in prayer and thank God for you all. It goes without saying that we would be delighted and extremely grateful for your continued support throughout 2012 however, I appreciate fully that there may be other causes you wish to support too. Whatever may be, I know that we’re in God’s hands and He will provide what we need just when we need it. Faith as small as a mustard seed. Well yes; but also a belief that He can move mountains!
Kind Regards and Warmest Greetings and thank you all once again
Lieutenants Rob and Georgina Symons
Commanding Officers
The Salvation Army (Great Yarmouth)
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