St. John's Church Blackheath

Social Justice @ St John’s

Here at St John’s we believe a commitment to social justice should be a key part of Church life, just as it was a key part of Jesus’ ministry: the people He helped were often the people at the margins of society and we are hoping to find ways to reach those living at the margins of our parish, so we can give them whatever support they need. Many people within the Church are doing this anyway, helping the vulnerable in society, within their daily life — either through direct pastoral contact or through advocacy and campaigning about various policies which they believe could be improved to help people in need.

Starfish

Starfish Cafe: Drop in for a coffee/tea and cake between 10 and 11.30am every Saturday in the church. Its open to all, any language and any age.
Come for a chat, read a newspaper, play games. Prayer also available.

Forms to fill in?    Worried you might make a mistake?     Starfish is here to help you! Come and have a cup of coffee or tea while we try and help you fill in your forms.

Please be aware, we are not advisory service, but are happy to support you or a friend in the process of filling in forms- for example, Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and immigration forms.

Please phone for an appointment and bring all the information you have with you, so we can make the most of our time together. Tel: 020 8305 0520

So what have we done so far?

Trade Justice

In May 2007 we hosted a Trade Justice Lunch in the Church, where we heard from the World Development Movement about their work challenging systems which prevent producers getting fair payment for their produce.

We also hosted a fair trade stall, so that people could be introduced to new items fairly traded by the organisation Traidcraft. Alongside this we gave our lobbying cards from the Fairtrade Foundation encouraging people to put pressure on their local supermarkets and coffee shops to supply fairly traded products.

Asylum Seekers

In October 2008, we held an event focusing on the needs of asylum seekers in the area. This was prompted by those within the Church who were seeing first-hand how hard it can be for refugees to access health care and social support. Our local MP Nick Raynsford spoke alongside a panel of experts, all put into focus by Marjorie Nshemere, a Ugandan refugee with her own story to tell. Please do listen to this well attended event:

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Helping Young Refugees

Helping refugees has been a focus from the start of our Social Justice group. Over the summer, we set up a cookery project with the help of funding from Save the Children. This enabled us to meet a clear need we had identified: facilitating unaccompanied young asylum seekers to find ways to cook nutritious food on a small budget.

What Now?

Part of our current work is about identifying local needs — both inside and outside the Church. We are in the process of completing a skills audit of the Church to try and identify people who can help meet the needs. Once we have pieced this information together we’ll be a in a better position to identify new ways of moving ahead in our work. In the meantime, please do let us know if you can identify local needs and if you know of groups we should be connecting with that are already involved in similar projects. Our desire is for a joined up approach… both within and without the Church here at St John’s.

For further information

You can contact Naomi Wellings or Simon Turner…