Holy Trinity Jesmond

As part of the national Hope ‘08 ‘Million Hours of Kindness’ initiative, Holy Trinity, Jesmond teamed up with Heaton Baptist Church to bless their local communities in a variety of ways.

Here’s a flavour of what took place one Saturday in May:

• Two mobile teams of about six people each gave away 500 doughnuts (and napkins) to people on the streets of Heaton and Jesmond, including in Jesmond Dene;
• Shopworkers on Heaton Road, Chillingham Road and at the Cradlewell shops were given small presents and thank you cards to recognise their service to the local community. With prior agreement, windows were cleaned and shop fronts tidied at some shops;
• Small bouquets of flowers were given to female residents of two local care homes, as well as to some female passers-by on the streets;
• A team from Heaton Baptist teamed up with members of Chillingham Road Primary School to tidy the school grounds and gardens and plant some vegetation (Heaton Baptist Church is currently holding morning services in the school whilst the church’s building project takes place);
• Holy Trinity obtained permission from Newcastle City Council to hold a free lunchtime Bar-B-Q on the open space immediately opposite the church building. 200 burgers and 200 hot dogs were given away. Free drinks, cakes and biscuits were also provided from within the church building – effectively, a free coffee morning - with donations given to Christian Aid Week;
• A free car wash, washing both the Community Minibus and the cars of people at the Bar-B-Q, was also provided.

Aims and Outcomes

From Holy Trinity’s perspective, it is fair to say that we had never attempted anything remotely like this before and had no idea what to expect. Our aim was simply to work with our Baptist brothers and sisters to bless some members of our local communities and show something of God’s love. In the event God blessed not only several hundred local residents and shopworkers but also the two churches themselves.

In God’s grace, prayerful preparation and the first hot weekend of the year enabled a quality and quantity of contact with members of the local community way beyond anything we’d imagined. This generally meant very positive responses from local residents and shopworkers receiving a free doughnut , flowers or thank you gift, hot dog, burger or car wash. Sometimes our initiative brought unexpected results. For example, as well as putting flyers through doors inviting all members of the parish to the free Bar-B-Q, coffee morning and car wash, Holy Trinity visited the neighbourhood food outlets in advance to explain that the Bar-B-Q was a one-off and not set up in competition with them. Impressed by the initiative, Gez Davidson, a local café owner and chef, offered to order high-quality burgers and sausages for the Bar-B-Q and then cook them on the day – definitely an act of kindness!

Reflecting on the Bar-B-Q, Gez commented “I was more than happy to be involved in such a worthwhile event. When I looked up from the cooking, it was great to see so many people of different ages enjoying themselves and mixing together. I especially remember some of the students, who loved the free food but kept on waiting for the catch – there wasn’t one of course!”

Pete Criddle from Heaton Baptist was primarily involved on the day with the gardening and tidying of the grounds at Chillingham Road Primary School. He reported that “it was fantastic to be able to bless Chillingham Road Primary School, and to do it alongside families from the school made it extra special.”

Costs and Conclusions 

The total financial cost to the two churches ended up at under £250 each: mainly to pay for food for the Bar-B-Q, the doughnuts, flowers and small gifts for the shopworkers. Of course, it would be possible to do something similar but smaller for only a few pounds – perhaps giving away a small amount of doughnuts, chocolates or flowers to a small number of people. In addition, we encouraged members of the church to engage in everyday acts of kindness in their own lives following the community activities e.g. buying lunch for a work or school colleague or neighbour. Holy Trinity and Heaton Baptist Churches will be prayerfully considering further ‘community kindness’ initiatives from the Autumn.

Mark Wroe, vicar of Holy Trinity, summarised the experience by saying "It was great to work with our Baptist friends to make this really positive contribution in our local area. The day surpassed all expectation, and proved that engaging with the community around us sometimes just needs simple acts of grace and kindness.''