Social Action
Food Bank
We have long given food to the poor and homeless (now mainly but not exclusively through working in partnership with the Wild Goose Café), and now increasingly provide food and sustenance for those so-called ‘failed asylum seekers’ whom government policy makes homeless and destitute. Especially during the winter months we are often approached by those who have little food for themselves or their families and no money for heating and light in their flats etc. We help them by giving non-perishable food from our own ‘food bank’ (donated by parishioners) and by putting money on their ‘energy keys’
Homeless
Insert text here about Winter Night Shelter and other involvement
Community Building
Our premises are used by a wide variety of migrant groups for meetings and gatherings that build their communities (eg the Ethiopian Orthodox Church meets weekly for worship at St Nicks)
Support Groups
We support addiction self-help groups (AA, Over-eaters Anonymous) by providing low-cost venue for their meetings. We have parishioners involved with One25 (a Christian organisation caring for street sex workers), and with One25 and Alabaré CCC established some years ago the then only hostel in the country for women seeking to leave the sex industry (the Well). Many of those we support are also ex-prisoners (Fr Richard and a parishioner were RC chaplains to Bristol Prison for over 13 years).
We also support mission globally through CAFOD, Missio (The Red Mission boxes) and our homegrown ‘One World Schools’ (an initiative of some parishioners supporting a school in each of Gambia, Sierra Leone and Ethiopia).