On Wednesday 25th October, eight employees from TT Club volunteered with the Lighthouse Project, facilitated by SAINT, a diverse, dynamic and fast-growing church formed of multiple East London parishes. This makes use of the Thomas Miller global Volunteering Scheme, which allows all employees up to three days paid leave per year to undertake civic duties and community projects.
SAINT aims to bring hope to the people of East London, commissioned as a resource church to serve young people, train diverse leaders and plant churches in partnership with a network of friends.
Lighthouse is the avenue through which SAINT serves people in need in the East London communities. They provide practical and relational support, running gardening sessions, hygiene and clothing pop-ups, food pantry, money matters advice, digital inclusion workshops and CV support, and provide community meals amongst a number of wider signposting services.
The Volunteer Day
The team spent the day with the charity, getting involved in an array of activities, learning what goes into making Lighthouse happen. Based at the Homerton location, the day involved the following:
- Light gardening at the Walled Garden to maintain the community gardens
- Organising and sorting hygiene stock, clothing and food donations
- Setting up the room with tables, chairs and tea and coffee equipment
- Helping the team to run the dedicated ‘Lighthouse Lunch’, which provides those visiting the church a hot nutritious meal and community space
The team found the day enlightening, and really enjoyed helping to serve the local community and those most in need. They all agreed that the passion the Lighthouse Project lead has for their work and the community was admirable.
You can learn more about how to support the work of Lighthouse here.
