‘To host His presence - to be His dwelling place’ Shaftesbury Centre When I walked into the Shinewater Shaftesbury Centre, located in a parade of shops on the Shinewater housing area in Eastbourne, I was met by a modern, welcoming drop-in centre. The environment is a deliberate expression of their ethos. As Corinne, the project’s Community Development Manager, commented “we want to show our clients that they are valued, they are worthy of being listened to and that we are professional.”    This attitude of “going the extra mile” is clear within the work this centre is doing. The 6 volunteers and the part time employed manager offer debt advice, counseling, help with benefit claims, bills and consumer issues. They even accompany clients to tribunals or other hearings if required. Each day that the drop-in is open the staff never know what advice may be required.  “We deal with whatever people come in with that needs to be dealt with….we are totally client led.” Corinne explains. “It may be causing sleepless nights, maybe they are not very well and things have got on top of them”. Quite regularly clients come in with one issue, but as the advisor listens they realise there are other problems that are adding to their worries. The process of listening is always the important factor for the volunteers since it is through this that the clients feel valued. “These people have often been trampled on by big companies, but here they are listened to and we are advocates for them.” The work began around 12 years ago when Shinewater Community Church requested to build a small “Chat shop” centre attached to the local doctors surgery. This was to be a place for the community to visit if they wanted advice or someone to talk to on specific issues. Once the work began it soon became apparent that the staff did not have all the skills to carry out this work effectively. At this point the, then Shaftesbury Society (now Liveability) was approached and they came on board, funding a Community Development Worker. This funding continued until around 2½ years ago, although Liveability still supports the work in a more consultative role and is able to continue offering some financial assistance. Once the manager was in place they followed a process of listening to the needs of the community and networked with other organisations for around 6 months before any work began. The founding church was passionate that this should be an ecumenical project, so other churches were consulted and subsequently joined the project. In 2006 the centre was handed back to Shinewater Community Church to manage, employing their own Community Development Manager, they transformed the building internally to give it a 21st Century feel and continued building on the good foundations that had been put in place. The centre has been visited by a wide range of people. 200 new clients have come through the door in 2008 alone. One man suffering from cancer in his face came to the centre having fallen behind with his water bill. This added worry had been causing him to lie awake at night and it had all got on top of him. The centre was able to put a case together for him to present to the water company to try and overcome his situation. With this gentleman and others “we often don’t know the outcome of situations” however the centre always makes it clear that if one method is not successful, the client should come back and they will try something else. Others show their gratitude by coming to share the end of their story or express their gratitude as one recent letter shows: “thank you for the kind and compassionate way you listened and spoke to me last week.” Emergency situations often bring new clients. One lady came to the centre following her husband being rushed to hospital needing heart surgery. She had become worried by all the bills that had been arriving - something her husband had always dealt with previously. The staff were able to go through the bills with her and arrange payments. They also advised her of the benefits she was entitled to while her husband was unwell. In this specific situation the staff member felt it was right to offer to pray for the lady’s husband and in time he came out of the coma and made a good recovery. The team are very sensitive as to when it is right to offer prayer support. “We are there to love and care, not to preach but He opens doorways”. Their Christian identity means that prayer is an extremely important part of what they do. A weekly prayer meeting is held for staff and people who feel called to pray for the project and a prayer network has been set up via email to ensure requests can be shared quickly and easily. Corinne hopes to develop a more regular update for supporters and the local churches who are involved in the work since she believes it will help in meeting needs and also engaging more people with the work. “If they don’t know the need they can’t meet it.” From the advice centre other projects have been developed. Currently a lunch club and afternoon of activities for the elderly is held once a week. A local church hall is used to house the work and the club is staffed entirely by volunteers. A weekly coffee morning is also held in the centre. A breakfast club and after school club was set up in September 2007 and is run in the primary school close by. The school was finding that some children were coming to school not having eaten breakfast. This was having a detrimental impact on their behaviour and ability to learn. One morning a family arrived at the breakfast club with an emergency situation to deal with and asked if their 3 children could attend as a one off. The staff accepted them, with the parents commenting on how accommodating they were and that no fuss was made. That day the teachers relayed to the children’s father how his children had come into school so calmly as a result of attending the breakfast club and it had had a positive impact on their behaviour. Following this the family saw so much benefit in the breakfast club that they booked their children into the club every morning. Since the club’s launch staff have realised that it is difficult to reach those in most need since they cannot afford the small fee to attend the club. The team are currently thinking of ways to overcome this issue with the possibility of introducing a “Sponsor a kid for a quid” scheme. So much is run through the Shinewater Shaftesbury Centre and it was achieved in the last year on a budget of just £22,000. This was covered through donations from local churches, individuals and organisations that hire rooms at the centre (no fixed rental is charged). And when the accounts were completed last year the project was within budget by £23, “I was so thankful to God”, Corinne said. As it was their first year of self funding it was unknown as to how the budget would work out. For the centre at Shinewater there are plans to extend to opening times to cover 5 days a week, to set up a pastoral care group to meet more needs of the attendees of the lunch club and possibly in time to set up a Christians Against Poverty (CAP) centre. Corinne says “God is so gracious – my vision is so big but His vision is bigger.” Corinne truly believes every area could benefit from drop-in centres such as theirs, “I’d like to see satellite projects across the town and even across the country”. To find out more about the Shinewater Shaftesbury Centre or if you are interested in setting up a similar project in your area, contact Corinne Ayers at info@shinewatershaftesburycentre.co.uk