Come in off the streets

Birmingham City Mission’s new Care Centre Manager, Steve Bagnall, shares his hopes, plans and prayers for the coming year and talks about how we can all help transform lives.

What an end to the year! In the 6 weeks prior to Christmas, the Care Centre was full to capacity every evening we were open. 45 guests each night.

The Lord provided us with food for everyone. Nobody went away hungry. Everyone who wanted a shower received one. Everyone who needed a fresh set of clothes received it. Everyone who needed support with housing or benefits was given the help required. Everyone who wanted prayer was prayed with. Everyone was shown love and everyone had the chance to listen to God’s word through different speakers.

Care CentreThere are multiple reasons for being so busy. Winter tends to be a busier period anyway as we offer a warm, safe place to rest and a hot meal. Many guests will come to discuss accommodation. A nearby hostel has opened their lounge room as a temporary solution over the cold period. This is often used by EU nationals (Polish, Romanian, Czech, Slovenian, Slovakian, Lithuanian etc) who can’t claim public funds and therefore can’t access the majority of hostels as they have no housing benefit. These guests then use our services for a meal in the evening.

Please pray for us as 2020 begins…

• that we can soon open additional evenings and afternoons and for more volunteers to allow this to happen
• for new ideas and skills to help the guests in any way we can
• for us to create more networks and work with other agencies to gain knowledge on issues like addiction, mental health and debt
• for staff member Laura, as she balances her teaching job with her work at the Care Centre, and new staff team member, Peter
• for a hairdresser
• for new contacts for food
• for continued donations of clothing and toiletries
• for the safety of all our guests, volunteers and staff in a chaotic environment
• for more speakers or house groups to deliver the bible message
• for soft hearts and open minds as the guests hear the good news

How can I help the homeless? Many people continue to ask this question. Each circumstance is different but please contact us directly if you’re concerned about someone or would like to know more about how you can help as an individual, church or organisation. To read the artice in full

You may consider getting involved with our Sleepout at the end of February.  Details at https://www.birminghamcitymission.org.uk/bcms-sponsored-sleepout/

Hannah from BCM also shares, “You may also be interested to read a report on BCM’s Christmas activities at https://www.birminghamcitymission.org.uk/toylink-and-beyond/ – it includes the story of a family which received gifts through our ToyLink project and is also a thank you to all the people who donated and volunteered (including 100+ churches) – which may be of interest.”