20 years is just the start!
Hello friends, back in 2004, a group of far-sighted leaders in Poole saw the need for a charity to support churches that were helping local people who were lonely and struggling. And 20 years on, Faithworks is still here! So, what keeps us going?
…We love telling stories: I get misty-eyed every time I watch our FW20 Film with Joe telling his story of crime and drugs in to a Hope into Action home, safety, community and purpose.
…We love finding new connections: after Prince William’s visit to our Carpentry Workshop last year, local business Sunseeker got in touch to find out how we could work together. In partnership with Bournemouth & Poole College, our first trainee has just been accepted as an employee on to the Sunseeker Apprenticeship Academy.
…We love it when people give up their time for others: Our SMILE lone parents made a cake for a toddler to give to his recently widowed dad on the father’s birthday; families from our Food Banks and the SMILE project now have local “Safe Families” volunteers acting as surrogate aunties and uncles.
…We love it when we do great things together: a room full of leaders from 20+ churches met in June, seeking to inspire each other to make their Monday – Saturday activities even more impactful.
What we don’t love is rough sleeping numbers being the highest for years, and Food Bank demand is up yet again. But thanks to over 330 volunteers and team of indomitable staff, we helped over 7,600 people receive practical help and know that they are not alone.
We will not stop listening, giving hope, practically responding, and inspiring people to find “life in all its fullness” – thank you to all who have “super-charged” that over 20 years – and here is to continuing to be adventurous in our work and faith.
Alistair Doxat-Purser, CEO
8,854
Vouchers redeemed at our Food Banks (15% up on last year)
200
Parents and children at our SMILE Lone Parent Family Fair
2
People moved on from homelessness to the new apprenticeship scheme launched in partnership with Sunseeker
£330K
Reduction in debt due to the CMA Team’s support of those impacted by the cost of living
24
People successfully found a new secure home thanks to our Safebed scheme
335
People volunteering their time to help Faithworks’ projects (14% increase) – thank you!
Projects we support across Dorset
Faithworks works alongside people, practically building hope and resilience.
We run practical projects around food, finance, homelessness and lone parenting in urban Dorset.
We want every single person locally to be within 15 minutes of a place of welcome that radiates life, community and immediate help.
Thank you
Thank you to all the individuals who give time to collect, pack and distribute food, drive vans, help people understand where their money goes, do laundry for people getting off the street, play games with the children of SMILE families, have birthday meals with Hope into Action tenants, cook for community meals, teach carpentry or pray for the homeless each week – you are life- changers.
Thank you to wise and generous funders of all sizes, whether grant making bodies or individual donors (over 430 new donors in the last year), or those who invested in our new 4th Hope into Action home – you transform dreams into practical reality.
Thank you to partners, large and small: it is a privilege to play our part in the local Homelessness and Access to Food partnerships, the “Gather BCP” network of local Christian leaders, and individual churches who co-deliver projects with us – you give us new energy.
In our 20th year, thank you to those who saw the need and took the big step to start up Faithworks – your faithfulness has impacted thousands. With them we thank God our Father who continues to say “Be strong and courageous…. for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”.
We commit ourselves to take as much time as needed to help an individual get to a place of resilience – it may take over a year to help someone get free from the huge burden of debt.
We won’t stand still – we try new things and look for better ways to do what we do: we have opened a new venue for our Homelessness work; and started new training courses.
We will stay true to our values of being Welcoming, Alongside, Trusted, Practical and Empowering. And we’ll keep trusting God every step of the way.
We need your support. We are looking for individual donors to commit to giving £20 per month for 20 months to help write the next chapter of the Faithworks story. Will you join us by setting up a standing order?
Regular donations help us to plan for long-term growth
Regular giving can be set up using our bank details
Bank: CAF bank
Sort Code: 40-52-40
Account number: 00015300
Alternatively follow the link below.
Gift Aid: if you are a tax payer, you can increase your donation by 25% at no extra cost to yourself.
