Social Action Annual Review 2012

Our call has to be rooted in God’s heart for the lost but in particular the poor, those afflicted and those in need. We live to bring those whose lives we touch closer to the kingdom of God, to demonstrate his love and grace, to impact this world with prophetic acts of kindness and service. Jigsaw exists for this purpose.

A Year in the Life of Jigsaw...

Jan: Delivery of

Jigsaw Market Garden parcels continued with families receiving weekly provision of vegetables, meat, groceries and the occasional treat. We were

able to distribute the vegetables from the summer glut which we had stored in the freezer provided by a grant from Derbyshire County Council. Feb: We teamed up with CVS to pilot a Cooking on a Budget class. This was successful so we ran a six week course from Easter. Sadly CVS lost the funding for their Health Trainer post so we were unable to continue these sessions. This was the month when we became formally

involved in supporting parents who had social services involvement in their families. With our support families had six children returned home and four children were able to remain at home with support. This was not the case for all those parents we work with and

sometimes we need to help

them adjust to their new situation. Mar: The first quarterly

Jigsaw Clothes Bank of 2012. These

Open Days are well

attended and

good fun. Cathy has now taken over the day to day running of the clothes bank and she is doing a fantastic job! Apr: We held our Easter Celebration with a full meal and Easter eggs for all. We were approached by Treetops Nursery who made us their Charity of the Year, their support has been fantastic. May: The arrival of the Jigsaw van opened up the possibilities for our household goods ministry. Jigsaw hosted a

confidence building course for DDDC called The Art of

Being Brilliant. Jun: We

were invited

to a small charities

celebration at County Hall. Advice Derbyshire set up a Derbyshire Food Bank Network and we were founder members, this has been really useful in learning how other food banks operate and being able to refer people outside of our area to other

provision. Jul: Wirksworth Junior School invited us to talk at an RE lesson and the children were moved to organize a Summer Cake & Plant Sale to raise money for Jigsaw—it was lovely to see their enthusiasm. Aug: The Jigsaw Café was busy during the school holidays; the impact of not having a free school meal was felt by many families. Our busiest day was in August when we had 32 adult visitors plus children. Dales Housing invited us to participate in a Week of Action on the Hurst Farm Estate. Sep: We were approached by TeamV to support their Youth Homelessness Campaign. Oct: This was the month

of the Newfrontiers Social

Action Conference, it is good to see we are not alone! Nov: Sadly one of our Café regulars died unexpectedly, we were proud to attend her memorial service. We visited Fareshare in Leicester to investigate ways of increasing food provision as God has spoken clearly about doubling the number of households we support during 2013. Dec: The Jigsaw Christmas meal and delivery of the hampers marked the end of another

busy year for Jigsaw.

Support From: Acclaim Housing; Citizens Advice Bureau; Dales Housing; Derbyshire County Council; Derbyshire Dales District Council; Sainsbury’s; Smyllies Grocers; Treetops Nursery, White Peak Farm Butchery; Wirksworth Junior School.

Jigsaw Project I am the Father of the fatherless, the defender of widows,

I am near the broken hearted and save the crushed in spirit.

(Psalm 68:5 and Psalm 34:18)

IT COULD HAPPEN TO ANY OF US...

“The shortest period of time lies between the minute you put some money away for a rainy day and the un-

expected arrival of rain.” Jane Bryant Quinn

Thank you for your sup-port during a very dark time. Know-ing that I will have food coming in each week is a lifesaver.

Being able to walk

through the park and

know that there are peo-

ple who care makes

such a difference. It

helps me lift my head up

when I am feeling down,

I look forward to

Wednesdays.

Thanks for believing in

The Riverside Olde English Rd Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3RR 01629 584783 churchinthepeak.co.uk admin@churchinthepeak.org.uk

Mark Haworth

Memorial Fund

This fund is set up in recognition of Mark’s conviction that showing Jesus to the needy in a practical way means providing a standard we would be happy with ourselves. In addition to the Christmas hamper collection, the fund pays for refurbishment of flats, carpets and large household items. The

Fund integrates closely with Jigsaw and is really the fundraising arm that allows Jigsaw to provide unstinting and unconditional support to those in need.

In 2012 we finally managed to raise the funds needed for a van for Jigsaw and that has released a number of areas of ministry to develop.

Hosting fundraising activities is fun but it is also hard work.

During 2013 there will be 2 formal fundraisers:

The annual Charity Auction on June 15th; and The highly competitive Curry & Quiz Night in October. Both of these events are very popular and provide an ideal opportunity to invite your friends and neighbours. If anyone wants to organise any additional fundraising events then please let Deb know.

What’s Planned for 2013

More and more families are struggling to make their money

stretch to the next pay day. Prioritising a healthy diet can seem a step too far for those who are balancing the need to pay the fuel bill against the need to feed the children. The provision of food is a key part of three areas of our ministry so in 2013 we will be:

Increasing the regular supply of food to Jigsaw: We will be working with other churches in the area to establish the infrastructure for regular donations. Churches interested to date are in Brassington, Darley Dale, South Darley and Wirksworth.

We will be providing “Jigsaw Tin Bins” to local organisations so that they can become collection points. Finally, we will be joining a pilot scheme with Fareshare to establish a Derby Hub. Doubling the provision of the Jigsaw Market Garden: Our aim

is to be regularly supporting 50 households by December 2013. Increasing the availability of crisis food parcels: Crisis parcels are only available at the moment during the times when the Jigsaw Café is open. We will be exploring ways of increasing

access in a crisis.

NUMBERS

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Helen Keller

During 2012: 2011:

Number of rough sleepers* in

Derbyshire Dales on Annual National Count Day (27th No-

vember)

2 3

Families previously needing

Jigsaw Market Garden parcels but now out of crisis

24 8

Average number of people at-

tending Jigsaw Café each week

18 17

Number of families supported

by the Jigsaw Market Garden (as of December)

27 18

Most people at Jigsaw Café on

any week (not counting cele-bration meals)

32 Not

counted

People who attended the Jig-

saw Christmas Meal 34 25

Christmas hampers provided

by the Mark Haworth Memori-al Fund

37 32

Attendees at the Jigsaw East-

er Celebration 42 48

Number of individuals sup-

ported by Jigsaw Market Gar-den (as of December)

63 Not

counted

Households supported by a

delivery of furniture or other household goods

68 0

Individuals reached by the

Jigsaw Cafe 111 Not

counted

Crisis food parcels

distributed to people in need 152 67

Items of clothing provided

from the Jigsaw Clothes Bank Open Days

1200+ 1000+

Miles driven in the Jigsaw van

(since 11th May 2012) 5169 0

* There are strict government rules about

counting rough sleepers, this represents only a subset of the homeless.

Thank you so, so much for the lovely rug for our kids bedroom. We thought we were going to have to live with concrete floors for ever. It was so quick and easy to get the rug and choosing our own colours was amazing.

You really are lovely people, thanks for all the help we’ve had this year.