Activities ‘open the door to improving people’s lives’
ACTIVITIES to reduce social isolation are at the heart of Huddersfield Methodist Mission’s aims.
And they’re doing amazing work to tackle loneliness and boost people’s confidence and self-esteem.
It’s in addition to providing immediate support services to people who are homeless or in need.
Paul Bridges, the Mission’s manager, said: “All our activities are about helping people to combat social isolation or to boost their skills.
“Nearly all are designed for anybody, we want to make it as easy as possible to access them.
“One of the key aims of the Mission is that while we must always address immediate need, we also want to address any underlying issues people may face, from lifeskills to confidence issues.
“All of our work is based on a relationship of trust, for some people there are good reasons it takes time to build trust.
“So these activities encourage them to come in and we can build a relationship and work with them in a meaningful way.
“They open the door to us being able to do so much more to improve people’s lives.”
And it is making a difference, as Pail explained: “One member of an activity class came but it was some time before they spoke.
“One week the person said ‘thank you, I enjoyed that’ and it began the process of us being able to understand and assist them.”
How to support the Mission’s Winter Appeal to raise £50,000:
It is possible for people to donate £1, £2, £3, £4, £5 or £10 via the text donate. As an example, to donate £5, you would text 70070: Book05 £5
can be donated Monday to Friday at Huddersfield Mission on Street from 9am – 7pm. made payable to Huddersfield Mission can ben sent to the Mission at 3-13 Lord Street, Huddersfield, HD1 1QA. Work by the art group can be seen on the walls of the Mission cafe.
Twice weekly sessions. Paul explained: “We can help with things like registering for benefits, which have moved online. Some people don’t have an email address, so it’s a huge barrier. Volunteers can show people the basics of how to use computers and help if they get stuck.”
It has just produced its third CD, now for sale at the Mission. People don’t need to be musical to take part and it’s open to all.
Classes are used to improve basic life skills.
A weekly class which includes gentle, physical exercise, from board games to indoor curling and ping pong. Paul said: “It’s all about getting people to be a bit more active.”
Paul explained: “That’s aimed at addressing an immediate need to provide a warm place during winter and a hot meal to people who need it.
“It can be very busy, but we wanted it to be more than just a meal. So we run a quiz night once a week, an open mic night once a month plus, something that’s become very popular – Lego nights – people love it. Whatever the reason people come to us, we try to help them.”