Part of an aerial picture of the floods showing the church

                           Folks visiting the Pop -In

   Some of the clothes and toys which were kindly donated

25^th June 2007 is a day we will never forget – the day of the floods. The Church was in the middle of the flooded area and was seriously affected.

When the water subsided and we managed to get into the church, assess the damage and start the big clean-up, we realised that hundreds of homes around the church had the same problems but unlike us they did not have dry clean homes to go back to after they had done some cleaning.

Members of the church decided that we wanted to do something to help – to show the love of God to those who were having a really hard time. 

So it was decided to open the church hall each weekday afternoon for tea and coffee for a few weeks to give people somewhere to go which was away from their wet and damp homes. 

We also started getting donations of money and goods which we could give to people in need from churches and individuals both in the area but also from Churches across the country. We are very grateful to everyone who helped us in so many ways.

In the first six months we were able to help nearly 250 families, heard many distressing stories, but most of all have made a lot of new friends. We are still opening on Wednesdays and Fridays during school term time.

We know that many people are still living in caravans and in the upstairs rooms of their homes, nine months after the flooding took place. Arranging for the Church to be repaired and reinstated is taking a similar time, so we have some idea of the frustration which this causes. 

Many people had a really tough Christmas, especially for those with children. We organised some special events over the Christmas period to help – a Christmas meal for 24 adults at the Priory Inn, Ten-Pin Bowling for 52 people, and a cinema trip for a further 52. We know that this is only a small contribution and wish that we could offer a lot of things to everyone, but we want to do what we can. Our thoughts and prayers continue to reach out to those going through very difficult times. Please come and see us if you want to talk or just want company.

Doreen March 2008