One of the most exciting areas of my work with the West London Mission has been the development of our Chaplaincy over the last year. Our Chaplain, Ruth, does a great job across our services, offering spiritual support and care to our residents and users whose lives are so affected by homelessness, offending and addictions.… Continue reading Honest to God – a Psalm written by homeless people
Category: Homelessness
Please support me and Tom sleeping out to help homeless people!
I will be sleeping out, along with my son Tom, on Friday 18th October to raise money for the great work of the West London Day Centre (WLDC). The centre is one of the projects run by the West London Mission where I work. For over 40 years the WLDC has been at the cutting edge… Continue reading Please support me and Tom sleeping out to help homeless people!
‘Hope in Challenging Times’
I love working for the West London Mission. We have just published our Annual Report which summarises what we have achieved in the past year. Its a great opportunity to celebrate and give thanks for the transformation we have seen in the lives of homeless and vulnerable people. This is what I wrote in my introduction: A… Continue reading ‘Hope in Challenging Times’
Lost and Found: Faith and spirituality in the lives of homeless people – by Carwyn Gravell [review]
This article was originally published under the title 'Spirituality is part of caring' in The Church Times, 21st June 2013 In the day centre for homeless people that the West London Mission runs in Marylebone, the chaplain helps to facilitate a spirituality group, where rough-sleepers reflect and discuss the “deep things” of life. What I… Continue reading Lost and Found: Faith and spirituality in the lives of homeless people – by Carwyn Gravell [review]
Rise in rough sleeping reveals human cost of austerity Britain
The latest figures released from CHAIN, the official online database which records the numbers of rough sleepers were released on Thursday. They were not good news. They showed a rise of 13% this year in the numbers of those sleeping rough. This means that rough sleeping has increased 62% over the last 2 years and… Continue reading Rise in rough sleeping reveals human cost of austerity Britain
A pilgrimage: On the Road and On the Street – by Alastair Murray
This summer I am taking a sabbatical from my work with the Christian homelessness charity Housing Justice. In July and August I’ll be doing something that has been on my heart for a while: a personal pilgrimage around this country. I’ll be walking and hitch hiking, visiting places that have significance for me, like Whitby… Continue reading A pilgrimage: On the Road and On the Street – by Alastair Murray
‘Stories from the Street: A Theology of Homelessness’ by David Nixon [Review]
As a Christian who has been working with homeless people over the last 20 years, I was very excited to see the publication of this book. Christians working and volunteering in this field need a strong theology to inform, guide and nourish their activism. Despite the fact that the majority of homelessness organisations and projects… Continue reading ‘Stories from the Street: A Theology of Homelessness’ by David Nixon [Review]
Homelessness: how the Church still offers hospitality and hope
Two major events happening in November show why the Church continues has such an important role in addressing homelessness. Firstly, on November 8th there is the Annual Service of Commemoration for homeless people who have died in the past year which is held every year at St Martins-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square. This is always a… Continue reading Homelessness: how the Church still offers hospitality and hope
‘There is nothing we can do to make God love us more & nothing we can do to make God love us less’
At the Spirituality discussion group at the centre for homeless people that the West London Mission runs in Marylebone, I led a reflection on Jesus' Parable of the Lost Son from Luke 15. To help us we used Rembrandt's famous painting The Return of the Prodigal Son which I took off my office wall and leaned… Continue reading ‘There is nothing we can do to make God love us more & nothing we can do to make God love us less’
New job at WLM: Homelessness, Addictions, Offending – what’s faith got to do with it?
Lots of things about my work at the West London Mission excite me but I am particularly excited about this new post of Chaplain that we are currently advertising. We are looking for someone who can offer prayer and spiritual support to users and residents of our services. Although we are a fairly small organisation, we operate… Continue reading New job at WLM: Homelessness, Addictions, Offending – what’s faith got to do with it?
Grace + Truth 