A new community hub which will bring together the work of several Christian organisations in Dereham, was officially opened on June 1.
The Green Pastures Community Hub includes the Green Pastures Christian Bookshop, charity Love Dereham and projects from Dereham Baptist Church.
The hub, at 20 Norwich Street, has been completely renovated to include the bookshop at the front, with space at the back for other activities and a separate unit which will mainly be used for counselling services provided by the Four Cs, which is a group made up of Christian volunteers.
Anita Clarke, community project co-ordinator at Love Dereham, said: “The three different groups have all come together. People can come in and talk to someone which combats loneliness. People often have difficulties with things like accessing their universal credit accounts, so there will be a lot of support for that. “We would like to expand as time goes on. It’s a really great place to be.”
The project will offer a number of services, such as The Listening Post which is a drop-in centre for the town’s young people who are in need of support.
Christians Against Poverty is also involved and can offer debt counselling and budgeting advice for those who need it, while the community fridge has also been moved from the old shop into the new community hub.
Irene Humphrey, lead manager of Green Pastures Bookshop, said: “We were too cramped in our other shop, we just didn’t have the space to do everything. It’s great being here with more space and we wouldn’t be here without our volunteers.”
Love Dereham is an independent charity that works in collaboration with Dereham Baptist Church, other churches in the surrounding area and wider partners within the community. It aims to show love to the people of Dereham through a range of practical, tangible projects and is based on a Christian ethos and principles, but serves people of faith, different faiths or no faith it all.
https://derehambaptist.org/love-dereham/
www.lovedereham.org.uk
Pictured above are Irene Humphrey, Anita Clarke and Dave Ward at Green Pastures Community Hub on Norwich Street in Dereham. Picture courtesy of Green Pastures.
Article extracts from EDP24
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