Bristol Churches Coronavirus Response - 2021 Update

Dear Bristol church leaders,

As the new year begins and we find ourselves in Lockdown 3, we are once again inviting you to join us in a coordinated response to support our city through the Coronavirus pandemic. Below, you will find an update on the achievements of last year, along with some key actions we are inviting you to participate in. 

It is also viewable on the Bristol Noise and Christian Action Bristol websites, and later will be on social media too. We invite you to share these updates with your church families.

During 2020, churches across the city joined together with others, to show a spirit of generosity and kindness, and to give practical assistance to those most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. This coordinated response saw: Over 60 Christian households volunteering to support emergency foster care provision through Home for Good. Over £130,000 raised through the Bristol Churches City Fund to directly support foodbanks and ensure they had a sustainable supply of food and to employ additional support workers over the next year. Over 300 volunteers from different churches signing up to connect with volunteering opportunities, via Bristol Noise, to support the many initiatives happening in neighbourhoods across the city, and many more offering their time to charities across the city directly. Three new foodbank delivery hubs set up in partnership with existing foodbanks to ensure that every neighbourhood has access to emergency food provision. Churches reaching out to support neighbours in their community with practical support, such as shopping, as well as social support through befriending, including four churches who set up telephone befriending with national charity, Linking Lives UK.

As we begin a new year, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact our city and so, we are encouraging churches to continue in engaging with the coordinated response to help those most affected.  On a practical level, we are inviting you to: Keep praying! We’ve found UNITE 7:14 a helpful starting point, but we encourage you to continue finding creative ways to pray during this crisis. Be generous in responding to the citywide appeal to provide digital access to disconnected vulnerable families and children through the laptop donation project - click here Connect with emerging opportunities to support the mental health of children and young people in your community, for example, through initiatives such as Transforming Lives for Good (TLG) and Kintsugi Hope. There will be more information to follow on this in the coming days/weeks. Give financially to projects across the city that are providing ongoing support for food poverty and child welfare, through the Bristol Churches City Fund Encourage each other to keep looking out for other people, whether they are in your street, at your workplace, online or far away. We shared some ideas before, and will be sharing more in the coming weeks. Do get in touch if you have found creative ways that could be shared with others!

Across the city, working in partnership, churches and Christians responded to the felt needs of the city of Bristol. As we look back, we also look forward to the challenge ahead. We do this with the knowledge that together - we can make a difference.

Finally, we are planning to host a Zoom call for church leaders across the city on Thursday 28th January at 4pm. If you would like to receive the Zoom details to join this short meeting and future gatherings for church leaders as we work together to response to the pandemic, please sign up here. Thank you for your continued support. God bless, Andy Street (Christian Action Bristol) Stewart North & Rachel Varley (Bristol Noise)