Good Shepherd Ministry
For well over a decade now, the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd Ministry in Wolverhampton have been feeding, assisting and caring for the homeless and others in need from all over the city. Their mission is simple: they provide a compassionate, supportive and caring service to assist the poor, homeless and socially isolated men, women and children in the community.
Three times a week volunteers from all over the city cook and serve a hot meal from the base at Darlington Street Methodist Church on School Street, and on other days of the week there are sandwiches available to takeaway.
On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays the room is often full to capacity when the hungry and needy not only arrive for food but also for a compassionate ear. This not only includes people from Wolverhampton, but also individuals and families from all over the world – including Poland, Bulgaria, Ghana and Sudan.
The homeless and the poor continue to seek their assistance in large numbers. In the last six months, an average of 280 were given food assistance each day via their hot meal and food distribution service. There have been a total of 426 registered families since April 1st 2015 and in October this year alone they served a total of 8083.
Behind the statistics are many individual stories of difficulty and struggle – young men in the grip of addiction to alcohol and drugs, Romanian families for whom the streets of England were not paved with gold, people surviving on benefits, men and women suffering from mental illnesses, elderly people looking for company and those just needing support and kindness.
Over the last four months, they have set up a pilot project at the centre offering volunteering opportunities to a small number of clients whilst working with them on various issues and basic goal settings. This new project is showing very positive signs from their clients who are embracing both the structure and the programme which is being offered, and one of their clients has now found employment. They are going to continue to engage with their clients on the programme as they feel confident that positive changes can be made whilst they still focus on their work on the marginalised in society.
As a business, we thrive to help local charities as we believe it is a beneficial part of helping the individuals who seek the charities support. It has been therefore agreed that Tile Choice will make a monthly donation of £500 that will be starting in January – this is ahead of last month’s £2000 donation.
The Good Shepherds supporters come from all sectors of society which include other companies, schools and religious bodies. Their financial needs are also met due to an annual grant from Wolverhampton City Council. Wolverhampton Wanderers have previously donated a fridge and a brand new washing machine to the soup kitchen, and players visited to lend a hand in welcoming and serving food to the users.
On Thursday 8th December we had the opportunity to go down to the soup kitchen and see for ourselves the work that’s involved and meet some of the people they serve. It was hard to see that there is such a large amount of people that struggle but it was on the other hand great to see all the hard work the volunteers put in. Despite the difficult circumstances surrounding so many in the room there was happiness, there was laughter and along with carol singers in attendance, at times there was also dancing.
Can you help? Regular financial donations enable the Good Shepherd Ministry to confidently offer their service to the growing number of people who need them. Knowing that they have a reliable income each month help them to plan more support for those they care for.
Help and donations come can come in many guises, all equally important and will be gratefully received – for example, time, food, toiletries, clothes and furniture. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/LittleBrothersOfTheGoodShepherdSoupKitchen, www.gsmwolverhampton.org.uk or email admin@gsmwolverhampton.org.uk.
