Hackney Winter Night Shelter
Once a week in January, February and March, young adults from the Circuit stay overnight at Hackney Methodist Church to support five guests with bed and breakfast as part of Hackney Winter Night Shelter.
The Shelter provides an evening meal, bed and breakfast for twenty-two guests at church centres throughout the borough. Support work is provided by workers from Thames Reach.
On Sunday nights, guests go to St. Michael and All Angels Church, London Fields, the main venue for an evening meal. Seventeen guests stay at that church, but five come to the Methodist Church in Mare Street, the dormitory venue, to stay the night with breakfast in the morning.
The main volunteer work at the church is done by the young adults; Stephen, Sunny, Kofi, Sinmi, (pictured above) Fred and Kwaku (pictured below) with support from Joan and Shaun. The bedding is cleaned by the women of the church's Susannah Wesley Society. The beds are basic camp beds with blankets and pillows. Guests are given cereal, toast, tea and coffee in the morning.
The volunteers chat to the guests over a cup of tea when they arrive. When the guests have settled down for the night and it's all quiet, the volunteers get the chance to talk with each other. Sunny says, "The Night Shelter is a good chance to get out and meet up with other young people. We discuss gun crime, terrorism, policing, and college. The shelter makes you appreciate what you have." They also spend time playing games such as Connect 4, Scrabble and Playstation 2.
Young people in Hackney face many challenges. Stephen says, "You have to work hard to achieve your potential." In the face of these challenges and the media portrayal of our community, here are young people prepared to give time and energy to serve God and make a difference.
Link
For the website of the Hackney Winter Night Shelter... www.hwns.org.uk