foodbank
When I am not doing churchy stuff, I tend my allotment, help at our local foodbank and play bass in a jazz group.
Poverty and inequality have increased, with increasing foodbank use (often run by churches), and our society seems to take a position driven by self-interest.
e Community service, volunteering with a local foodbank and having led a church project supporting vulnerable families at our church school.
I chair St Paul's Compassion Committee, which oversees our community programme — weekday meals, the Friday Foodbank, and Fairbite — and advises the PCC on charitable giving.
Trustee of Local foodbank
However, I have always seen practical action as a vitally important demonstration of my faith and have been instrumental in facilitating and taking part in Foodbank at St Elisabeth’s since 2014, a community café, and children’s work in the form of Totz toddler group and Messy Church as part of our parish’s witness.
My other activities are volunteering for the local foodbank and supporting Christians Against Poverty (CAP) to help clients find a way out of debt.
Green, we have seen our Foodbank grow to become a social supermarket, and fostered stronger relationships with our community hub, releasing resources and building trust in the wider community.
I have served various capacities in London Diocese: as an Area Dean, as an Area Director of Ordinands, as Director of Mission for the Willesden Area, as a Chair of two new C of E Secondary Schools, and founding Chair of Ealing Foodbank.
The ‘third age’ I went part-time at the age of 55, allowing me to take up a number of new roles, including becoming increasingly involved in a variety of Deanery and Diocesan matters: Training for and being admitted as a Licensed Lay Minister (LLM), and subsequently becoming responsible for co-ordinating the ministry of all LLMs in the Diocese by acting as the ‘Registrar of LLMs’; Taking on the role of Lay Chair of Dorking Deanery Synod; Assisting with the management of a Foodbank being newly set-up by the ecumenical group Churches Together in Dorking; Being elected to Bishop’s Council (where I currently serve on sub-committees covering Finance, Risk Management, Safeguarding and Remuneration); Recently, becoming Vice-Chair of the Guildford Diocesan Board of Finance; and Continuing my involvement in the world of pensions (after I had formally retired from actuarial work) by becoming a member-nominated trustee of four schemes for employees of the insurance company Aviva.
I am Chair of Churches Together in Bexhill (overseeing the work of Bexhill Foodbank and Advice Centre) and convenor of the ecumenical clergy group.
We’re celebrating new leaders and vocations as well as running a local foodbank hub, helping rough sleepers through an amazing project called Half Time and celebrating 150 years of the church building.
I have a passion for the local church- I have served as churchwarden, treasurer, children’s group leader and Foodbank volunteer.
I have also worked with churches across Coventry to see almost 5,000 Gospels of Mark placed into people's hands, alongside partnerships with organisations including Lighthouse, Foodbank, Feed the Hungry, Hope into Action and Embrace.
Great Yarmouth Foodbank;
Our volunteers sustain a weekly foodbank and lunch club for older people.
- Host of annual village FIND foodbank fundraiser
In Ashby, I oversee the ministry of Ashby Foodbank, our CAP Debt Help centre, a drop-in cafe called Pathways, a community gardening project, The Bereavement Journey, and the Alpha Course.
I was on the diocesan Racial Justice Committee I was southern lay rep for the executive of A.M.E.N (Anglican Minority Ethnic Network) During Covid I worked for my church setting up and managing a Trussel Trust Foodbank which was based at our sister church site on the housing estate where I live.
During this time we saw various inter-church ministries develop including Foodbank, CAP, Streetpastors, Thrive Youth Ministries, & several others)
Foodbank, community meals, work with children and young people, practical support and Sunday worship are all part of one mission: loving our neighbours, building relationships and creating opportunities for people to encounter Jesus.
I was on the organising committee which helped set up Burnage Foodbank in partnership with the Trussell Trust.
Because of my scientific background (doctorate in Molecular Biology), my clients have often been Research & Development organisations but since starting a family, professional engagements have been few and are often pro bono e.g. facilitating a strategy day for Bedford Foodbank.