Social Issues and Initiatives

Eco-Church...Leighton Linslade Homeless Service...Community Foodbank...Leighton Linslade Helpers...JPIT

 

Eco Church

 

EcoChurch SilverWe have been making a particular effort  to be "Green" at Trinity for more than 12 years now, at first as part of the EcoCongregation initiative and more recently as part of Eco Church promoted by A-Rocha. This video, which was produced for the LL Churches Eco Conference in October 2020, shows some of the things we did to achieve the Eco Congregation Gold Award. In June 2023 we achieved the Silver Eco Church Award. 

 
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Leighton Linslade Homeless Service and the Community Foodbank 

 
Leighton Linslade Homeless Service (LLHS) has been an important presence in the town for many years and in 2013 we at Trinity began to work in partnership with them, by providing a hot meal and fellowship at a Drop-In on one night a week on church premises.
 
Up until the beginning of the first Lock-down in March 2020, LLHS were running a Night Shelter for Rough Sleepers at Black Horse House (BHH) in North Street. But when it was necessary for numbers of guests there to be limited and for them to live on the premises in order to meet Government Guidelines, the Shelter converted to a hostel, focussing on helping a small number of residents to re-build their lives. At the same time the Trinity Drop-In had to be suspended, along with other activities on the premises.
 
A government-funded Covid initiative has meant that accommodation is currently made available for all rough sleepers by local authorities and LLHS has been able to close-down BHH Hostel, temporarily at least. The position will be reviewed when the government funding ends in 2022. 

LLHS has run a Community Foodbank since 2012 and is continuing to do so, working from the basement of BHH with additional storage elsewhere.  Volunteers from several local churches, including Trinity, help by collecting donations from supermarkets, making up food bags and delivering to needy people. Some of the bags go direct to local households, others are distributed via schools and social services but all are supplied in response to a referral from one of the organisations that engage with and support the recipients.

For information relating to the Foodbank call BHH on 07842 122429 or 01525 373628. 
 

PLEASE NOTE: TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH IS NOT A COLLECTION POINT OR DISTRIBUTOR FOR THE FOODBANK. 

 

Rough Sleepers and other Homeless People

Information about the work going on at BHH is available on their web site; http://www.llhsblackhorse.org.uk  but this is not a point of contact for services for homeless people or rough sleepers.

In response to the Covid 19 crisis Central Beds Council (CBC) expanded and developed their services to include a Rough Sleeper Outreach Service provided by NOAH Enterprise. Anyone sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough should be referred to CBC on 0300 300 4370 or direct to NOAH Enterprise at centralbeds.outreach@noahenterprise.org

 

Leighton Linslade Helpers

Leighton Linslade Helpers provide a range of services, from food parcels, prescription deliveries, welfare checks, counselling and listening, free-cycling, personal shopping, to many other ways of supporting families, the elderly and the isolated. Set up during the covid pandemic Leighton Linslade Helpers has now become a permanent fixture and helps out people in Leighton Linslade and the surround areas.
If you need help there is no need to go through other agencies as there is a self-referral form which you can complete, for yourself, a family member, friend or if you have a neighbour in need.


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