Doing church differently
Serving Together in The Way church in Manchester & Salford
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The Way communities respond to Jesus' call to love our neighbour and make disciples by seeking to engage with those around them.
To introduce them to Jesus, to love them and to serve them, particularly the poor, marginalised, and vulnerable.
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The following initiatives and partnerships are based on the sort of community activities that you might experience in The Way.
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Open Space
In partnership with a local community centre, members of The Way are responsible for an ‘open space’ where families and individuals can come each week to find community and make new friends.
Somewhere to chat over a cup of tea, or get involved in volunteering opportunities, whilst children play and join in organised activities.
It is a welcoming warm space in the winter, and a safe space all year round.
Kids Clubs
Members of The Way help to run regular kids clubs and holiday clubs for local children alongside other volunteers and parents.
These involve arts & crafts, games, cookery, sports activities, other outdoor activities – as well as food and drink.
Local Events
The Way partners with other Community Interest organisations and local volunteers to put on various local events.
These include Christmas events with Santa and gifts, and summer fun days including food and drink stalls, craft activities, community group stands, and kids entertainments such as bouncy castles etc.
Crisis Funds
Crisis funds provide emergency support to families and individuals who suddenly find themselves in difficult financial circumstances.
This can help with essential costs like food, energy and water bills, and other essential items.
The Way crisis funds are supported by members, other individual donors, and local associations.
Wellbeing
The Way is involved in walking schemes, community gardening projects, and other social and creative activities. Some of these are also part of a local social prescribing initiative to improve wellbeing in the local community.
Social prescribing connects people with community groups and services to meet their social, mental and physical needs, usually through referrals from primary healthcare professionals.
For more information about social prescribing or setting up your own scheme, the NHS Green Social Prescribing toolkit is a good place to start:
Partnering
Our communities partner with other organisations and services to serve local people. These include local Community Interest organisations and charities, the local council, housing associations, and others.
Some of those partnerships will be through particular individuals’ involvement in a specific activity, others are more strategic and involve the community as a whole.
Many of our local community activities are supported financially by external funders, as well as by individual donors and members of The Way.