What is a green ‘tau’? Tau τ is the Greek letter similar to the English T. Tau itself developed from the Phoenician letter Tāw X (from which the Hebrew letter Tav ת is also derived). In ancient times, tau was used as a symbol meaning eternal life or resurrection. In Hebrew tav means mark and this was the sign marked on the foreheads of those who lamented their sins (Ezekiel 9:4). For early Christians tau became an apt symbol of the cross on which Jesus was crucified.
Francis of Assisi used the tau as his mark when signing his letters and other writings. The tau cross, often made of wood, is worn by many Franciscans across the world. Francis is widely known as the saint who spoke with the birds, and to the hungry wolf in Gubio – he worked out a deal between the wolf and the people of Gubio such that they could live together in harmony. Francis was the author of the canticle ‘Brother Sun, Sister Moon’ – probably the first piece of literature written in Italian. Francis understood that everything in creation had been made by God and was deserving of equal love and respect and should be treated as brother or sister. In 1979 Pope John Paul II declared St Francis as the patron saint of ecologists, reflecting not only Francis’s love for all creatures, but also his intuitive understanding of the interconnectedness of the whole of creation. I therefore chose a green tau to represent my desire to live sustainably, protecting the earth.
Click here to donate to Glass Door. Click here to find out more about the Dinner Service.
Homeless charity Glass Door usually operates a circuit of homeless night shelters in Richmond & Twickenham, including at St John the Divine and St Matthias, Richmond and Christ Church and All Saints, East Sheen. Due to COVID-19 the communal shelters cannot be operated this year so instead, to offer some form of support and respite, a 7-night a week hot food service will operate from the Vineyard Richmond from Monday 9 November until April. Guests will be able to access a hot meal, somewhere to warm up for a few hours and practical support from the Glass Door case workers.
As the night shelter network stopped back in March, we now need help in spreading the word to those who could benefit from the service. If you see someone regularly sleeping rough in your neighbourhood we’d really appreciate it if you could print and share this leaflet to let them know the service is available. Glass Door is an amazing charity and alongside the emergency services like the food services they have a fantastic record of helping people into long term accommodation.
Click here to read more about Glass Door’s plans for the winter 20/21
Volunteers from St John the Divine, Richmond helping at the Vineyard Centre.
Update from March 2021
In the last 4 months, over 6,750 meals have been served at our community dinner service, run in partnership with local churches. These meals have been served by our lovely volunteers. Thanks to all who have kept this service running during the pandemic!
But it’s not just a case of feeding the hungry. In the last nine months, Glass Door have offered advice and support to over 1,113 people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Click here to read some of the stories.
Thank you from Glass Door – May 2021
It’s been a challenging year for so many of us, but Glass Door has been blessed to continue receiving the generous support of the church communities in the deanery throughout this difficult time. Together, we are making life better for the many individuals we call our guests.
As we begin Lent many of us will take up a discipline to help us to observe a reflective and prayerful time in preparing for Holy Week and Easter. Some of you, I know, will have decided upon a Lenten book and others of you will join a Lent Group through your church or decide to try a different daily prayer routine. Many – those who are a part of our churches and those who are not – will give up something as part of their Lenten discipline. It might be meat or alcohol or sugar or any number of things that you really enjoy. Others, too, might take something up for Lent such as trying to pray more or going for longer walks in order to have some time alone to reflect upon the day. Whatever you do I hope that you will find Lent to be a helpful time in which to reflect upon and grow in your faith.
Each year I invite individuals, churches and schools to join me in offering prayer and donations to my Lent Call projects. Usually the majority of the projects are in other parts of the world but, this year, my brother Bishops and I are so aware of the need here at home too that we have decided that we will feature projects in this Diocese for three weeks of Lent and projects in our Link Dioceses for the other two. We have decided to feature food insecurity because this is a real issue for many here in the Diocese and for people in Zimbabwe and the Diocese of Jerusalem.
The pandemic has changed many people’s lives in the last year as they have lost loved ones and found it harder to support themselves day by day. For some, the loss of income and security caused by the effects of the lockdowns has been the thing that has tipped them over into needing to use food banks and feeding projects both here and overseas.
I hope that you will feel able to support these projects generously in the coming weeks, giving what you can to help others who have less. I know that some will have been spending less as a result of the lockdown and I hope and pray that, if this is the case for you, you will feel able to be generous in giving to the Lent projects. I know that for some this year has been very hard and if you are not able to give to the projects, please do pray for them.
I have recorded this video which talks about the projects that we are featuring:
We have also produced some materials to help you to reflect upon the need for the work of the projects and the narrative of the feeding of the four thousand (Mark 8: 1-8), as well as a prayer. Do please follow the Lent Call material and consider how you can best support the projects featured. Thank you.
Creator God,
we give thanks for all that you have given to us.
We pray for those who are experiencing food insecurity
in the places featured in the Lent Call and elsewhere.
Help us to show compassion for them.
Give us the will to work with others to help to bring about change.
Help us to show our care and concern for those around us who are in need.
Bring justice and fullness of life to all your people.
We ask this through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord.
Amen.
Lent Call 2021 projects
Projects in Zimbabwe
Initiatives supporting food security, water supplies, and infrastructure in our Link Dioceses of Central Zimbabwe, Matabeleland, Masvingo and Manicaland.
The Diocese of Jerusalem
Helping our new Link Diocese in Jerusalem to support up to 50 vulnerable families to feed themselves.
We held an Open Meeting via Zoom with Lucy Abraham from Glass Door on Thursday, 26th November. Lucy spoke about the current situation for rough sleepers locally, Glass Door’s intended response in line with the Covid related restrictions and the support that churches and individuals can give to Glass Door.
During the talk, Lucy mentioned many ways that you can support the work of Glass Door or help a homeless person.
If you are concerned about someone over the age of 18 that you have seen sleeping rough in London, you can use the Streetlink website to send an alert to StreetLink. The details you provide will be reviewed by the StreetLink team who will look at the information you provide and make a judgement as to whether the alert is suitable to be sent to the local street outreach for the area in which you have seen the person, to help them find the individual and connect them to support.
It is important to note that if you think the person you are concerned about is under 18 please do not contact StreetLink but instead call the police.
Please click here to find out how you can help the work of Glass Door this winter.
Click here to find out how to join in this year’s Sleep Out (or In) appeal.
Rev James Hutchings from St Mary, Barnes, writes: “Glass Door do brilliant work, I’m so blessed to have a roof over my head, and I’d like others to have the same chance. So, on 2 October 2020, I will be joining Glass Door Homeless Charity’s Sleep Out to bring shelter and support to men and women affected by homelessness.
I’m raising money for Glass Door because I know they are doing good work to support and shelter those in our community who are at an absolute crisis point. Glass Door welcomes everyone as their guest, giving them some stability before helping them make the necessary steps and move off the streets for good.
While running winter night shelter in a shared space may not be possible, Glass Door is committed to finding ways to ensure that individuals in need can find safe shelter, a hot meal and a warm welcome.”
It’s not too late to take part yourself, either sleeping out at Duke of York Square (still allowed with covid regulations) or in your own garden with a virtual livestream to join in with.
Rev James Hutchings from St Mary’s, Barnes spent the night of 2nd October sleeping on the rectory floor instead of the usual gathering in for the Glassdoor annual sleepout in Duke of York Square. He hoped that even that mild discomfort would sharpen his awareness of of what it must be like to be homeless in London on a night of terrible rain and what it must be to not have a secure place to live.
Rev Canon Dr Ann Nickson from St Mary the Virgin, Mortlake, writes:
At the beginning of lockdown, as our churches were required to close, we were unable to continue to offer accommodation in our buildings as part of Glass Door’s Winter Night Shelter. Thankfully the government stepped in to work with homeless charities to provide accommodation to protect these most vulnerable people and keep them safe as the crisis deepened. Sadly, this government aided assistance came to an end as lockdown began to ease and as you will be aware the numbers of homeless sleeping rough on our streets is increasing by the day.
This desperate situation will only continue to worsen as we move towards the winter and we obviously are eager to continue to support Glass Door in appropriate ways so that both guests and volunteers stay safe. At the moment – and the situation constantly changes – it seems very unlikely that night shelters as we have offered them in our churches over the last three years will be able to open, but there will be opportunities to support the homeless by working with Glass Door in other ways. Our coordinators are keeping in regular contact with the directors at Glass Door so that when the time is right we can step up and offer the help which is needed.
If you would like to know more about Glass Door then please see their website at www.glassdoor.org.uk
GlassDoor is starting to plan night shelters for the 2020-2021 season – they may not be operating rotating shelters as usual in the Borough of Richmond upon Thames, but are working hard to think about alternatives.
The winter night shelters are now open until April 2020. In the Richmond Circuit the following churches will be hosting one night each week:
Sundays at St Marys, Ferry Road,Teddington Mondays at St Elizabeths, The Vineyard, Richmond Tuesdays at Vineyard Life Church, The Vineyard, Richmond Wednesdays at All Saints, East Sheen Avenue, East Sheen Thursdays at St John the Divine, Kew Road, Richmond Fridays at Christ Church, Christ Church Road, East Sheen Saturdays at St Matthias, Friars Stile Road, Richmond
St Michael and All Angels will host one night of the Hammersmith circuit. (A circuit is a group of 7 churches – close together in distance – who open their doors, on the same night every week, from October – April, each year offering the homeless a hot meal and a bed for the night.)
Please prayer for the men and women who will stay at the
shelters and for the the volunteers and caseworkers that will help the guests
to better lives.
If you would like to volunteer, please contact Megan Preston
(megan@glassdoor.org.uk). For
enquiries about donations and anything financial, please contact Ian Foster (ian@glassdoor.org.uk).
If you are concerned about someone over the age of 18 that you have seen sleeping rough, you can send an alert via StreetLink who connect people sleeping rough with the local services that can support them.
The Glass Door team at St John the Divine who opened their doors on 7th November
Our first evening of the new night shelter season with Glass Door. Delicious butternut squash soup, lasagne, red cabbage and peas, lots of donated fresh bread, chocolate crispy cakes made by a local school and cakes made by one of our church families.
We welcomed 20 guests in from the cold, for a hot healthy meal and somewhere safe to sleep. Case workers are on hand to support the guests in their next steps.
Thank you all for showing God’s love in action
All Saints and Christ Church, East Sheen thank Waitrose for their generous contribution towards the costs of the Glass Door night shelters.
On Sunday 2nd February, St Mary Magdalene reported:
After the first 60 days of this Glass Door Homeless Charity season, 422 men and 88 women have been helped with a hot meal and a bed for the night – a 20% increase thanks to a 5th circuit.
Since June 2018 caseworkers have worked with 950 individuals and helped 114 into housing and 38 into employment.
Would you be able to provide any of the following for our Glass Door guests (travel size particularly wanted): deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, face wipes, body wipes, sanitary towels, tampons, lip balm, hand cream, anti-bac gel. Please pop into the baskets at the back of St John’s or St Matthias or them into the Parish Office, Ormond Road. Thank you.
Waitrose have kindly donated oranges which have been made into delicious Marmalade, which went on sale at church this morning with profits going to Glass Door.
Updates from 23 March 2020
Vineyard Community Centre:
We are pleased to say that the government’s initiative to temporarily home rough sleepers in hotels has been initiated in Richmond and that the higher health risk of the Glassdoor winter nightshelter has now closed.
With others, we will continue to support the needs of this group with food and essentials as they now also have the possibility of staying indoors.
Our borough foodbank service continues and is very likely to increase in demand. We are in touch with our local authority to see how vulnerable groups can best be supported.
Glass Door:
Shelter guests now all moved to hotels! (Apart from a few guests in the Kensington and Chelsea circuit) Glass Door shelters shut so all guests and volunteers can safely go into self-isolation.
At our January 2020 Synod we agreed to give £2,000 to Glass Door to support the 2019/20 and 2020/21 seasons of their work in Richmond churches and their letter of thanks is below.
On Friday 4th October more than 320 individuals slept outside at Duke of York Square in Chelsea to raise funds to run the network of local emergency winter shelters for people experiencing homelessness.
They included Rev James Hutchings from St Mary’s, Barnes (right) and our Archdeacon John Kiddle.
The total raised to date has reached over £191,000 – the highest amount raised within a week after the event, which has taken place the first Friday of October every year since 2013. Glass Door is hoping to surpass the £200,000 target before the end of the month
The winter night shelter project in across the deanery in partnership with GlassDoor was hosted by St Matthias and St John the Divine in Richmond and All Saints and Christ Church in East Sheen. The project has now ended and the shelters are empty…..
The work continues throughout the year click here to find out how NextDoor are looking ahead to next winter.
Glass Door Update to Deanery Synod 5th June 2019
We had 158 guests in our shelters – ⅓ from the UK, ⅓ from the EU and ⅓ from the rest of the world . Guests included 58 women, the highest percentage of the four circuits. However some women would just come for the meal and then go..
35 people have been rehoused.
Large numbers have been reconnected with benefits and family.
The Glass Door project was mentioned in a recent council meeting. This year the council have been very supportive of the project unlike three years ago.
Issues arising this year that GlassDoor are addressing for next year:
Need to consider disabled access
Need to make closer links with women’s refuges
Training in mental health issues so issues with guests can be spotted. It was noted the police needed training as well as the volunteers.
The Deanery hosted 4 out of the 7 nights in the Richmond circuit and the level of volunteering has been wonderful.
One
guest was quoted as saying “I had no home and lost my business but GlassDoor
turned my life around”.
As the GlassDoor shelters closed in April, Father Peter Hart asked us to pray…
…for the guests who may have returned to sleeping rough or sofa-surfing.
… for all those who have been rehoused, found work, had
their benefits sorted out, put back in contact with family, had their documents
restored – a blessing for them.
…for the staff and volunteers at the Vineyard Centre,
Richmond as they continue to offer support and practical help throughout the
year.
We should also give thanks….
…for the amazing volunteers who have made the winter night
shelter project in partnership with GlassDoor possible.
…for an amazing community response to the project. Not just
from the Churches but from the wider community and local schools.
…five months of welcome, fine food and good company
praying together, learning together, working together
