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Immanuel Church - In the Community

Being involved in community activities and taking community initiatives is very much part of our understanding of what a church should be. We were in the group of churches that began "The Noise" - an annual week of activities for children and young people, with other activities to help tidy up the areas.

Just before Christmas our "Winterbourne Wonderland" event brought out many of the residents of the Winterbourne Road area to an afternoon and evening with games for the children, mulled wine and hot dogs, a live band and, of course, Father Christmas. Comments from the delighted residents included "Couldn't be better, what a great event and such fun!", "Wonderful, please do it again next year", "Really good to see the community spirit", and "Brilliant fun for the children, well done all".

When we were first invited to use St Michael's Hall as our base, we visited the residents in Winterbourne Road to begin to understand the needs of the area. "Something for youg people" was the most common response, so we began Cafe Blue - a drop-in youth club that meets on Wednesday evenings during term time. We have also run holiday clubs in the summer for local children. In our picture, the Professor conducts another experiment doomed to failure.

Many residents use the Graylingwell grounds as a pleasant place to walk, and we have organised two "tidy-up" days to remove litter and generally clean up the main paths.

We have also arranged several barbeques at St Michael's Hall for residents - usually with a bouncy castle for the children, and sometimes some live music.

And of course many people in Chichester will have met us giving out mince pies, coffee and tea during the late night Christmas shopping in North Street.

As well as being involved in our own direct community activities several of our church members are involved in Options (a crisis pregnancy counselling service), the Chichester Christian Care Association's night refuge and Contact the Elderly.

Being involved in community activities and taking community initiatives is very much part of our understanding of what a church should be. We were in the group of churches that began "The Noise" - an annual week of activities for children and young people, with other activities to help tidy up the areas.
Just before Christmas our "Winterbourne Wonderland" event brought out many of the residents of the Winterbourne Road area to an afternoon and evening with games for the children, mulled wine and hot dogs, a live band and, of course, Father Christmas. Comments from the delighted residents included "Couldn't be better, what a great event and such fun!", "Wonderful, please do it again next year", "Really good to see the community spirit", and "Brilliant fun for the children, well done all".

When we were first invited to use St Michael's Hall as our base, we visited the residents in Winterbourne Road to begin to understand the needs of the area. "Something for youg people" was the most common response, so we began Cafe Blue - a drop-in youth club that meets on Wednesday evenings during term time. We have also run holiday clubs in the summer for local children. In our picture, the Professor conducts another experiment doomed to failure.
	Many residents use the Graylingwell grounds as a pleasant place to walk, and we have organised two "tidy-up" days to remove litter and generally clean up the main paths.
We have also arranged several barbeques at St Michael's Hall for residents - usually with a bouncy castle for the children, and sometimes some live music. And of course many people in Chichester will have met us giving out mince pies, coffee and tea during the late night Christmas shopping in North Street.	As well as being involved in our own direct community activities several of our church members are involved in Options (a crisis pregnancy counselling service), the Chichester Christian Care Association's night refuge and Contact the Elderly.