Together4Bristol : inHope News January 2022

inHope News January 2022

21st January 2022

e-newsletter

The new year is spread out before us and with hospital cases down and restrictions being reduced more than ever since March 2020, there is a tentative sense of positivity in the air.

Although, this is not the case for all members of society. Inflation rates are rocketing and the cost of living is increasing, which will hit people who have the least, the hardest.

Whatever your feelings about Jack Munroe (@BootstrapCook), she released a long tweet thread a couple of days ago talking about the rise in food prices, 'This time last year, the cheapest pasta in my local supermarket (one of the Big Four), was 29p for 500g. Today it’s 70p. That’s a 141% price increase as it hits the poorest and most vulnerable households.'

This is happening with energy bills and other costs as well, but wages are not increasing at the same rate. This will cause more people to need foodbanks, people may become more susceptible to using drugs and alcohol to cope, and people may fall into arrears and lose their homes.

There will be challenging times ahead this year for vulnerable and marginalised people, but with your help through volunteering, donating, praying, and spreading the word about us, we are determined to continue to be here for those who need us most.

We are delighted to share our new vision video!

Last year, a small group of trustees and staff set about creating a vision statement that would articulate what our wide range of activities are collectively seeking to achieve. After various consultations and agreement from the board of trustees, this is inHope's vision:

Our vision is of communities where everybody can reach their God-give potential, free from injustice and insecurity.

Once we had the vision statement, we set about creating a video that would communicate our work in a simple and attractive way, which could be shared by our supporters with others who might want to join in making our vision a reality.

Watch the video here.

We hope you enjoy watching it and we'd love if you could share it with your connections on social media and via email.

Thank you!

P.S. look out for our new-look website, going live next week! It will be the same url address https://inhope.uk/.

The Wild Goose evening services are back!

We are excited to let you know that the Wild Goose will be opening its evening service again. A lot of work has been done by Amelia and Mick on inducting and training returning evening teams, because since they last volunteered in early 2020, the Wild Goose has been refurbished, has new equipment and there are new Covid-safe ways of working.

Initially, the Goose will be open on Mondays and Fridays, 7:30pm - 9pm. The first week back will be Monday 7th and Friday 11th February!

Mick, Wild Goose Manager, gives us some information about how the evenings will run.

'The evening service will be a combination of a reduced indoor capacity and a takeaway door option. 12 people will be able to sit in and be rotated out, within a reasonable time. Service users will line up at the service user entrance and those who want to eat indoors will walk around to the emergency exit door, have their temperature checked, given a mask to wear and walked to their designated table, at which point volunteers will serve them tea/coffee/meal. They will also have access to toilets, and will exit out the staff entrance once they've finished. We will have an ongoing staff presence to support the returning evening volunteer teams, and our hope is to increase the number of evenings later on in the year.'

Hope into Action Bristol are looking for a Church & Tenant Empowerment Worker.

A Hope into Action franchise covering the Bristol area has recently been launched and is operated by us (inHope). We are looking for someone to join the team for 16 hours a week as a Church and Tenant Empowerment Worker. This role will increase to full-time, 40 hours a week, as the franchise grows.

The role will be more heavily church focused initially, involving training volunteers and helping them prepare houses to open this year. The right person will be working with our partner churches to train, equip and encourage them in their role in mentoring, befriending and giving practical support to tenants in the houses we are seeking to set up.

As an Empowerment Worker, the right person will also provide the primary support to the tenants who have previously been homeless.

Find out more about this exciting new role and how to apply here: https://inhope.uk/get-involved/work-with-us/.

Vision for the Vulnerable

Tuesday 25th January at 7 - 8pm, on Zoom.

An evening to hear an update from, and pray for, three charities who support and help vulnerable woman in Bristol: One25, Beloved, and Spring of Hope. Each event has a guest speaker, who will share a little about issues affecting women in Bristol. And then there is time for questions and prayer for each organisation.

We are excited to welcome Outreach and Evangelism Minister from E5 Church, Trudy Makepeace, to Vision for the Vulnerable next Tuesday.

Trudy has an incredible testimony, from a past of abuse, addiction, sex work, prison, and homelessness, to a life of freedom found in Christ. Over the last fifteen years she has worked in and managed a drug rehabilitation home, and has visited prisons to encourage, minister and give hope to others. Alongside this she has ministered overseas and in the UK, being involved in missions, teaching and preaching the Gospel by sharing her story.

Join us to hear from Trudy and others from One25, Beloved, and Spring of Hope, who are supporting vulnerable women in Bristol.

Everybody is welcome (whether you want to pray out loud or not). Come and find out how charities and churches can make a difference by collaborating across our city.

This is a free event on Zoom. Log in is from 6.45pm, but participants will need to register in advance. Register here.

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