THE NEED
Government statistics show 4.1 million children are now living in relative poverty with more than half of all children in the UK’s very poorest areas are now growing up in poverty.
There were just under 19 million families in the UK in 2017. Nearly three million of these are single-parent families. 47 per cent of children in single-parent families live in relative poverty, around twice the risk of relative poverty faced by children in couple families.
OUR RESPONSE
We believe that it takes a village to raise a child and that no parent or family should be on its own in raising their children.
Within our church community, there are various ways we support vulnerable and single parent families.
Courses
To help families become the best they can be we offer a variety of courses to equip and empower people within our church to grow themselves in the areas of parenting, finance, relationships and personal development.
Hampers and Gifts
At Christmas, we want to make sure that every family has a great time with their loved ones. We distribute hampers and gifts to the families in our church who otherwise would not be able to afford a Christmas meal or buy gifts for their children. During the Summer holidays, when families cannot rely on school lunches for their children, we provide vulnerable families with food hampers to make sure they have enough for these couple of weeks.
Refuges
We work with local refuges for victims of domestic abuse to pay regular visits and provide friendship, hold pamper sessions and run courses such as our personal development course, Shine.
Role Models
Our aim with Hillsong Kids and our youth ministry is not only to make church a great place for children where they can get to know Jesus, but also provide positive and encouraging role models for every stage of life by having the right people on these teams.
THE IMPACT
As we continue to invest in this area we seek to welcome and support the most vulnerable families in our church
community.
Last Christmas we handed out hampers for a Christmas meal to 224 families. Over 400 girls attended a Shine course in 2017, giving them a sense of value and confidence for the rest of their lives.