St Clements Church in Boscombe is situated in an area of significant poverty. In March last year the community started providing breakfasts each Thursday morning for children on their way to the local primary schools – 18 portions were given out on the first day but now they regularly feed up to 250 children in just under an hour!
What’s more, many families who come along to the breakfasts have returned to the church for other events and services, and the team is witnessing God touching the hearts and lives of those they are serving.
Sophie Pope is the co-ordinator of the church’s outreach projects called ‘Love Your Neighbour’. She said: “It’s been amazing to get to know all the families, to see them coming week on week. It’s so quick and they’re passing by, taking food and going on their way, but actually you get to build such a relationship with them as well. I’ve seen God move in so many ways, big and small, and it’s just incredible. The way he’s using children and families is just so special. We’re seeing kids come to kids’ breakfast, be interested in the church and bring their mums to church. We’re seeing single mums who’ve had really hard lives come to faith and then they bring their friends along. Some of them are coming to Alpha that we’re running at the moment. It’s really amazing and a privilege to work in this church and to see what’s going on and to see what’s happening in the lives of the children.”
The team arrive early to set up tables of croissants, brioche rolls, bagels, yoghurt, fresh fruit and drinks. St Clement’s Church is situated with Bethany CofE Primary on one side and St Clement’s and St John’s School on the other, meaning many families pass through the churchyard on their way to school. The first kid’s breakfast was held in the porch of the church, but it’s grown since then, so now tables in the church are laden with food so the children grab a breakfast before they head into class.
The kid’s breakfasts came out of conversations with the schools about how the church could offer support. Tracey Radvan is a curate at St Clements and Lead for ‘Love Your Neighbour’. She said: “The schools were telling us about having to take children out of classes because they were too hungry to learn. Now they say that the kids breakfast makes a real difference in terms of the atmosphere in the school and engagement in classes. A lot of parents will say that on Thursdays the children really want to come. It’s just beautiful and a real privilege to do it.”
Among the team preparing the food is Ben Torrens: “I grew up in this community and I went to the school here and was lucky enough to have a kids’ breakfast myself back in the day. I wanted to get involved after hearing about the impact that it has on the children and how doing something that feels small can make the children feel really present in the daytime at school. The opportunity for them to get something for free, not just the food but also kindness and a welcome before the day is so important, so they feel like they’re able to take on the day. It’s a wonderful community thing, which is what we really care about here at St Clement’s.”
St Clement’s is part of LoveChurch Bournemouth. The area is in the lowest 5 per cent of the Multiple Deprivation Index and the community has many challenges. The church has asked us not to show photos of the children or give the names of the parents because of the sensitivities faced by many families.
One young mum said, “It’s good for the kids just to be able to grab something to eat. If someone is struggling, they don’t feel left out. My children love coming here. As soon as they know it’s Thursday, they get excited and say “It’s church day!” It’s brilliant because it’s a community coming together. I now come here on a Sunday with the kids. It’s a very welcoming church. You get to know people and the kids are happy and that’s the main thing. More churches should do this.”
Another parent added, “We come to the breakfast each week and to church and it makes a massive difference to us because of the sense of community it brings. They are my family, and they have changed by life. They do ‘Fun and Food’ events in the holidays and send you home with food parcels. There are a lot of children who go without breakfast and at least today they are going to school having had a good breakfast. For my daughter, this is the highlight of her week.”
The church has also developed strong relationships with the local schools, and is part of the Diocesan Growing Faith Foundation learning pilot, partnering strongly with the Diocesan Board of Education. Many families from the kid’s breakfast come to the twice weekly Schools Family Worship. Children from both schools attend which can be more than 500 in total, and up to 250 grown-ups. Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, attended the service and was so encouraged by the ministry and getting to join in praying with the children!
One parent said, “It’s great for building community spirit. My children get breakfast at home but there are families who can’t have breakfast at home, and this is an opportunity for them to eat well. This church is full of love and it makes a big difference. We come to Schools Family Worship and it’s lovely. It’s become a great part of our life and we look forward to it. It’s a church where there is huge compassion and caring.”
Through the many groups, the church has seen children and parents come to faith – amazingly there were 17 baptisms last year! One mum started coming to the Tots Breakfast, which also meets on a Thursday morning, 18 months ago – she is getting baptised this month. She told us…
“One of things I’m going to say at my baptism is that it’s funny where you find God. You don’t expect to find it kneeling on the floor amongst a load of plastic toys! But it’s just been totally embracing for my family. I used to say every week, there’s something different about this group and I genuinely thought it was about the people, but it’s not, it’s about God’s work through them. It’s not just had an impact on me, it’s had an impact on my husband who already had faith but wasn’t attending church and so as a result, myself, my two young sons, and my husband now attend every Sunday. We just feel very blessed and very fortunate that this is on our doorstep. I remember walking into church on the very first Sunday and a woman just said “Welcome home” and that’s how it feels.”
With more than 50% of children eligible for free school meals the church organises ‘Food and Fun’ in the school holidays offering lunch, children’s activities and weekly food parcels as well as courses in low cost cookery, supporting 51 families this year.
Johannes Radvan, curate at St Clement’s, said: “Yes, there’s tough stuff here but God calls us to see this as a city ablaze with light and life and joy and work towards that. I think it’s sowing kingdom seeds and we sow them everywhere we can. I think that it’s not giving money to the poor or giving them a plaster, it’s sitting next to them and binding up wounds, waking with and being together. Jesus was a one-on-one person who did that. When you’re close enough to know the name, when you have a relationship of equals, you can see people beginning to touch God. And that’s not a quick thing. Some of those things are a journey of six months, a year, 18 months. God’s at work already, there is great wisdom and gifting here and the potential is just huge. There are figures that show around 75% to 80% of Christians come to faith before the age of 18, and about 60 to 70% before the age of 14. So, when you look at what you can do to change a country or change a future or break generational poverty, the hope and life and light of Jesus at that age is just tremendous.”
The team have gathered grants from the Love your Neighbours alliance, the BCP Council, the Dorset Community Foundation and donations from the congregation and community.
Tracey Radvan added, “We’ve found Jesus, and he’s made all the difference to our lives and it would be great if more people came to know Jesus, but we don’t do this for that. Yes, people have spiritual needs, but they also have physical needs and emotional needs. We serve kids breakfasts because we want to bless others as God has blessed us. This isn’t transactional. There’s a need, and we can fill it.”
One of the team, Sophie Pope, said, “It’s such a blessing. This is such a disadvantaged area, some of the families have really hard lives and have really difficult situations, and just seeing them come and seeing their joy and seeing how much they enjoy being part of our little family is just amazing. It’s this little church in Boscombe. We’re under-resourced. The building is falling apart a bit, and yet God is moving and he’s here, and it’s like the most easy and natural thing in the world.”
