Charity leaders, volunteers, clergy, and church members gathered at St Paul’s, Southville, on Thursday 26 February to celebrate the launch of the Diocese of Bristol’s Social Action Audit. Throughout the evening, guests heard powerful statistics and stories from projects taking place in churches across Bristol, South Gloucestershire, North Wiltshire and Swindon. Richard Leaman, Diocesan Secretary, highlighted the dual purpose of the event, which was both to “celebrate the inspiring work already happening”, and to consider how we can continue to “grow and strengthen this vital area of ministry together."
The evening began with an opportunity to meet other attendees and speak with local charities over delicious traybakes donated by Cakesmiths. Archdeacon Becky Waring then opened the evening, beginning by thanking the “volunteers, leaders, and partners who made the audit possible." She then handed over to Naomi Jervis, who oversaw the audit process.
Naomi detailed the breadth and impact of the projects taking place across the Diocese, sharing the phenomenal statistics that “over the previous 12 months, 97 churches across the Diocese delivered 418 activities to over 40,000 people and 1,634 volunteers gave 121,660 hours of support to church-led activities supporting their communities.” She went on to highlight how churches are “investing deeply in children and young people, with youth clubs, mentoring, afterschool groups and holiday provision making up a significant part of the activity across the Diocese”. She closed by touching on some of the challenges faced by churches, including low finances, limited volunteer numbers and issues with buildings, detailing some of the support available from local organisations and Diocesan support staff.
The most inspiring part of the evening was the panel discussion, where representatives from three churches shared stories of the practical and spiritual impact of serving their communities through social action projects. Trudi Murray spoke about the impact of B&A meals, a project serving over 1,000 meals, free of charge, each week to Church-based social action projects. She shared stories of groups tackling social isolation by welcoming their community in to eat, socialise and hear about Jesus. Revd Lizzie Kesteven explained how All Saints, Fishponds where working with transforming lives for good and local schools to offer 1 to 1 mentoring for young people, many of whom have difficult starts in life. Revd Alison Sowton then shared how St Marys, Shirehampton, are working closely with young people in their area, describing the plethora of activities they offer, ranging from wellbeing sessions to dancing and a soon to be launched boxing group!
Following the panel discussion, Diocesan Secretary Richard Leaman reflected on the strategic importance of this work, stating that social action is “not an add-on to ministry, but a vital expression of the Gospel in practice.”
The evening closed with time to connect, share ideas and explore opportunities for partnerships across the Diocese.