Coventry Jesus Centre

Compassion in Action
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Your Future
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Your Weight
You're A Poet

 

                             Drop-in

 
The Bridge meets basic needs of hundreds of homeless and disadvantaged people every week. This includes food, clothing, shower, laundry, phone, information. The most important thing is friendship and support, and we major on those. We also have support workers who give one to one help, and run the Bridge Bond Scheme that enables vulnerable people to get into rented accommodation.
In six years the Bridge has had over 105,000 visits by about 4,500 different people. Over half of these had no home of their own. 

 

 Celebrating our 6th birthday in the Bridge on April 30th 2008

 

The Bridge gathers people from many races who enjoy friendship together

Mark's story

“I’d been living in Coventry for about five years and I was going nowhere. A mate told me about the centre, so I went to visit. I used the Bridge for breakfasts and went along to the Solid Rock Café. I felt welcomed. Since then, I’ve gone to Your Future courses. The Confidence Building course gave more self-esteemand I did some of the Making Music course too. I now volunteer with cleaning, fixing chairs,making up food parcels, working in the kitchen and sorting clothes. I’ve been baptised into the church and I’ve found a lot of friendship here.”

 

 

Bridge Opening Times

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and 

  Saturday - 9am to 12 noon

Sunday - 9am to 10.30am

Mondays - shut

(Reception is open 10am to 1pm)

Fridays - shut

(Your Future courses running)

 

The Bridge drop-in opened in 2002. A typical morning's session now has 60 visitors, with new faces arriving most days. Over half our visitors have no home of their own, and their needs include mental health issues, addictions, family breakdown or a failed asylum  claim. We meet basic needs including  food, hot drinks, free clothing and shower  and hygiene facilities. We also issue food  parcels to those in need - up to 70 a week in 2008.

 

The importance of our work was

brought home after we heard about a visitor who died alone at 43. His mum said that he loved the Jesus Centre and we had 'done more for him than anyone else ever had.'

 

Each week in the Bridge we provide:

120 subsidised cooked breakfasts

40 showers and washes

50 lots of clothing

35 free phone calls.

 

 

   Love is the bridge

 

   Lonely and broken, twisted and

    hurting

   He came on the off chance

   Of breakfast and a brew

   A sad and distant look in his eyes

   All hope lost

   ‘This world is a hard place’ he said

   Rueing missed opportunities

   Of what could have been

   It didn’t take long to thaw out

  

   (Written by a drop-in volunteer)



Pete's Story

Pete was 27 when his life was changed forever

As a child he always did his best to endeavour

At 18 working as an apprentice and making a life

By the age of 21 he brought a house, got married had a child and wife

Holidays abroad twice a year a good husband and a proud dad

He enjoyed a drink but it never got in the way of his job or the love he had for his wife and his lad

But… the drinking turned to a craving then to an addiction and Pete was caught in it’s grasp

He’d make all the promises to stop drinking but he would always relapse

Then came the excuses at work, missing days turned to weeks then job lost

Then the bills and debts mounting his wife and son left him he’s paid a high cost

And now he walks the streets drinking cheap cider and meths

It won’t be long now Pete you’ll be another statistic on the list of the down and out deaths.

(By Stan Bridge)

 

WHY ARE PEOPLE HOMELESS?

Click on the link below to see a summary of issues surrounding rough sleeping and people lacking accommodation:

 

/Documents/Rough sleeping issues by Ann.doc


http://www.thepavement.org.uk/.

The Pavement is the FREE monthly magazine for homeless readers. It is handed out at key day centres, drop-ins and hostels and currently has a circulation of 4000+ in London and 2000+ in Scotland.