After a nail-biting wait there has been cause for celebration at St Paul’s Boundary Road.
In early December 2023, the church put in a bid to The National Lottery Community fund for 3 years worth of funding to sustain and expand their work in the community. Café on the Corner, based in the church, has been welcoming, feeding and supporting local people since opening in March 2022.
The café project, along with regular Social Eating events, grew from the Covid pandemic and the impact it had on the community. Tim Fox, Vicar of St Paul’s, explains the motivation behind the idea: “We saw the negative effects most starkly on the elderly, those with additional needs, and the isolated such as single parent families and people with mental health issues. These groups are still dealing with the long term fallout from Covid as social connections have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, and they are also now impacted by the ‘cost of living’ crisis.”
Now, two years on, the project has grown to encompass a successful community café, community garden, and a volunteer scheme. “Through these we deliver a range of groups, activities, and food schemes.” explains Tim. “We work closely with local charities, businesses, schools, care settings and GPs to offer a welcoming and friendly community space.
The team got the good news about their successful funding bid in late January and the lottery support officially began on Friday 1st March when the St Paul’s team, along with invited guests from the community and church congregation, enjoyed champagne and homemade cakes to celebrate.
And how will the new funding make a difference? “Lottery funding will allow us to increase our staff team,” says Tim, “thereby increasing our delivery capacity, and enabling the creation of a full time Community Wellbeing Hub at St Paul’s.”
The team are looking forward to having Café on the Corner open for longer hours through the week, being able to support more volunteers, groups and events, and increasing their reach in the community. Tim says “We believe we can positively impact people’s lives by improving social contact, giving joy and friendship, connecting them to others in their community, and reducing isolation and loneliness. We’ll also be offering free meditation resources inspired by the Christian faith.”
And do you need to be a part of the church to benefit from what the Community Wellbeing Hub has to offer? Not at all, says Tim. “Our project is our gift to the community and it is open to all.”
More information can be found on the website at: www.stpaulsboundaryroad.com