Community
Grace Community Church’s primary responsibility is to love and care for people in the local community.
Grace offers a wide range of essential community outreach activities and support services for children and adults, many of which operate from Project 229, a proactive community centre and independent charity in Kempston town centre.
Some examples of Grace’s community programme can be seen below:
Foodbank
In partnership with the Trussell Trust, Grace Community Church operates a Foodbank distribution centre at Project 229.
Christians Against Poverty
Christians Against Poverty is a national award-winning debt counselling charity offering hope and a solution to anyone in debt.
The NET
A group that aims to support those who are experiencing isolation for whatever reason.
Well Woman Workshop
Run in conjunction with the Net charitable Trust. A group for physical, emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing, lifelong learning and creativity.
The Shed
A free group which exists to serve men in the community who for whatever reason find themselves isolated and in need of support.
The new community hub will allow Grace to expand these essential services and meet our long-term aspirations to significantly grow our community work. It is anticipated the new hub would run alongside the services currently offered at Project 229.
The new hub will also allow those living in the west of Kempston, who may not currently be able to access services or have difficulty accessing the town centre, to be closer to these services within their own neighbourhood.
Together Bedford Borough: Supporting People and Empowering Communities
The extensive community work undertaken by Grace Community Church is directly aligned with the aspirations contained within Bedford Borough Council’s new Together Bedford Borough Corporate Plan.
The Corporate Plan states that the Council aims ‘to reduce risks for vulnerable people, support those in crisis, safeguard where necessary and help to maintain independence wherever possible.’ Grace Community Church shares this ambition, and the new community hub and enabling development will help the church actively provide services that address these community aims.
Another goal in Bedford Borough Council’s Corporate Plan is ‘Empowering Communities.’ A key measure for this goal is increasing the number of registered volunteers and community groups supporting service delivery. Volunteering will continue to be at the heart of the new community hub.
"From my work in the CMHT I know that some of the people that we support are engaged with various aspects of Grace “in the community”. Both The Shed and Well Woman groups have people in them who either have contact with Mental Health services or have had contact. In the case of The Shed some people have been directly referred.
People with mental health problems often experience "social isolation". The groups at Grace provide "community involvement" and "community presence". So the groups at Grace provide interventions to the most vulnerable in society.
The staff in the CMHTs are always on the lookout for groups and activities that are not run by clinicians and are not linked to professional services.
I have worked with service users who avoid professional groups due to the stigma attached to those groups. The Shed and The Well Woman Workshop are both open to anyone in the community. Therefore they are both free from stigma and are able to deliver meaningful relationship opportunities. As a consequence these build esteem, confidence and wellbeing.”
- Richard Cooper, Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) member
