CAMBRIDGE HOMELESS

It's been amazing to receive such a good response to our closing offer of funds for outreach and we are happily dealing with them. I have made an order of rucksacks and boxers for my local homeless group , Caring for Cambridge Homeless ( CCH). Just a few ladies who work tirelessly in the city with their trolley and hot food spot in the market square. They are inspiring and it's a joy to give them these supplies which I know will really be well used.

WHIT CAMP GRANT

We were very happy to arrange a grant for an outreach activity at Whit Camp last week. Thanks to all who contributed with donations and helped to bag up dog food. Here it is being delivered to the local homeless charity.

KEEP IN TOUCH

We may be closing but we'd like to keep a channel open for outreach in our church community. So we will be renaming our current 'COG REPS' face book group and using it as a space for you all to share ideas and let others know what outreach activities you are up to, either as a church or individual.

Admin will keep the group active with regular inspiring posts to motivate you but we hope this will become YOUR space to keep connected and chat with others who love outreach work.

This will be launched in July and an invite will be shared on this page to join. Hope you will!

OUTREACH FUND

Thank you for all your lovely messages following yesterday’s post announcing our wind down.

Now we need to hear from you all! We have funds remaining that we would really love to spend on outreach work. So please apply now for the following to distribute in your local community. Even if you have applied before we would still like to hear from you.

Bags of Love - 20 sleeping bags or rucksacks

Greg’s vouchers

Underwear or socks - state number required

Litter picking kits

The above are all sent out to your address simply by emailing or messaging us your request.

If you’ve been thinking about a project you’d like to launch locally or if you are running a community project and would like some funds, please apply for a grant - we’d love to hear from you. The application form is on our website and if you need help with it we can support you.

The deadline for this offer is the end of July but there are limited funds so the earlier you apply the better please

We will post our last announcement soon!

“Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth; You will not deliver him to the will of his enemies.”

Psalm 4

WIND DOWN

ctionAfter an amazing journey, the COG team have made the decision to wind the project down. Our message has been that outreach is an act of worship, moving out into our communities, understanding who our neighbour really is and how much they need the love of Jesus in their lives and also how much we can learn from them. We believe it is our mission as disciples to touch everybody we meet with unconditional love and reach out our hands and heart to people from every walk of life and especially the poor and unloved, following in the footsteps of Jesus.

Over the eight years we have seen churches make their first steps into understanding the importance of outreach in church life, watched the growth of this exciting work in our community and achieved far more than we ever imagined. We feel that our work is done and the project has been a success. It has been wonderful to work with the many churches who have embraced our message in projects and grants and we are confident that they can carry on the work we have started.

We thank all of you for your support of COG, especially the generous donors who have made it all possible.

Watch this space for two very important announcements we have to make before we go that you will really want to see if you are keen on outreach work! 

The COG team

 

33

Spring newsletter

 

 

YATE OUTREACH

At Yate church we support a local charity called Streetlife. They support the homeless by giving out hot meals and drinks every Saturday night. Last October at Chepstow family day we donated pants alongside food, drinks, clothes, blankets and sweets.

So it was really lovely for Mark a member of Yate to take along the sleeping bags and rucksacks to Richard Townsend who runs Streetlife, so he can distribute them to the people who need them.

A huge thank you to COG for enabling us to help this wonderful charity and be a light in this dark world.

 Cog was formed 8 years ago by 3 sisters in a National Trust café. Our main aim was to get the word ‘outreach’ into our church community and transform people’s spiritual lives by discovering the joy of unconditional giving . I have had the pleasure of watching this charity grow from nothing and flourish but now it is time to hand it on for the next chapter, so COG is searching for somebody to take on my role.  

I can honestly say that the role is a very positive and exciting one without too much hassle. It’s a privilege to be a facilitator for good and use our funds to encourage people to put their faith into action. It’s rewarding to receive reports back and see the difference we are making. For many of our churches they are reaching outside their hall for the first time and it’s wonderful to watch them make links and let others know that Christadelphians do love their neighbours and want to engage in community life outside the church family. Leading the COG team has enriched my spiritual life as I’ve been a part of so much good work being done in our churches and learnt so much more about grace.

We have built up a good group of reps that are keen to work and need COG to support and fund them. If you have the passion inside you and have the vision and enthusiasm to help this small charity grow even more, we would love to hear from you.

If you are interested, please contact us for a copy of the job description.

MAIDENHEAD

Here is a report back from Maidenhead who have got involved with The Big Pants Appeal. If you would like to order underwear please head to our site for the google form.

"We delivered 50 packs of boxer shorts, mouthwash and wet wipes to the homeless drop in centre at the Salvation Army in Maidenhead. Lauren Webb from the Brett Foundation was thrilled to receive them. We look forward to supporting them throughout the colder months."

BIG PANTS UPDATE

Our UK churches are getting busy! It's great to see our community working together on the same project and delivering underwear to their local community. So far these churches have come forward to help:

Ashby

Beaumaris

Tewkesbury

Kettering

Tamworth

Wardley

Bournemouth Winton

Maidenhead

and Julie.

Here's a report from Maz at Tewkesbury:

Today I handed over 50 sets of life’s little essentials to Alan at the Cheltenham YMCA from the Christadelphian Outreach Group. They will be distributed to the vulnerable in Cheltenham.