Abundant Life, Bradford

Cathy Ward is the founder of the Abundant Life Church Community Action Team in Bradford, responsible for families. She explains how the work began.

We started the work effectively as a parent and toddler drop-in centre in one room within our church building. It wasn’t long before we realised that we needed to bus people in from other estates around the city, as we do with other ministries that we’re involved in. So we started to rent a building nearer our core clientele.

We now have a dedicated team of 21 fantastic volunteers presently supporting over 65 families - that’s over 225 men, women and children.

A couple of years ago we decided to change our name to Bradford Family Support Network, and become a separate charity from the church. This gives us the opportunity to stand on our own two feet, and should any funding become available will put us in an excellent place to apply.

Our Family Centre runs every Wednesday, providing a relaxed, safe, homely environment where everyone can have fun. It offers parenting classes, learning through play, development of social and communication skills, and development of cookery skills. A baby clinic is run in partnership with the NHS – this means health visitors are able to access ‘difficult to reach’ families.

We started to visit people in their homes. At times this was traumatic for the visitors, at others for those being visited; some of our situations are desperately needy. But it means we develop a closer relationship with families, and it enables them to gain confidence in building relationships through trust. It also gives them the opportunity to address personal issues, which could not be discussed in a group setting.

What next?

We are looking to develop micro-enterprises that will enable us to raise funds for the network, independent of the church and the local authorities. This is something we feel we need to do. So we have started a virtual scrap yard which is running well, and we’re working towards starting an E-bay shop; a badge-making company - and even buying some ice cream vans.

The idea is if we could get 10 such initiatives off the ground and each earns a profit after paying people’s wages, then we can support our continuing and growing work. At the same time we can offer work to some of our asylum seekers, who have been given the right to stay in England but struggle for work because they have no work experience in this country; and to English people who have never held down a job and would be classed as unemployable. If they were to work for us for a year, we can give them a reference and help them into full-time employment.

Any church can take their parent and toddler group and make it into what we are seeking to do. It’s not rocket science – it’s simply taking little steps to meet the presenting needs of those families with whom you are building a relationship.

We have also recognised that in getting involved in people’s lives, things become very messy. But that’s OK, and slowly, with support, God leads people out into a more stable place.

Read these ten tips on starting a successful family support work.

Last Updated 03 December 2010