On 23rd May, the Church Elm Hub celebrated its first anniversary with an event attended by local residents, volunteers and councillors. Alongside time for conversation, enjoying food provided by volunteers, and listening to a special guest performance from a local violinist, primarily this was an opportunity to highlight the impact of the Hub’s first year of operation. Speeches were given to talk through some of the data, which was then brought to life by local residents sharing their own experience of participating in the Hub’s activities.
The Church Elm Hub operates out of Dagenham Library, and is hosted by Dagenham Christians Together, a network of Christians across Dagenham who pray and work together for their local community. On Mondays-Wednesdays, they host wellbeing activities such as cooking clubs, chair Zumba, and candle making, with a Community Food Club available on Thursdays and Fridays for families in need of emergency food parcels. All services are provided free of charge.
During the event, Mick Mednick, leader of Dagenham Christians Together and member of the Faith Leaders Network shared a few impact statistics from the first year of operations.
Between January – April 2023:
- The Church Elm hub gave free food to 1190 families, representing almost 5000 residents in total.
- 190 residents attended a ‘listening ear’ drop-in session.
- 243 residents attended a wellbeing activity class such as an art and craft or candle making workshop, a chair Zumba session, or a cooking workshop.
We wish to join the borough in celebrating the fantastic work being conducted at the Church Elm Hub. Through Dagenham Christians Together’s inclusion in the Faith Leaders Network, we hope opportunities for cross referrals, collaboration and hardship funding will be an asset going into the Hub’s second year and creating opportunities to help others learn from the Hub’s example as it reaches many of those most in need across the borough.
For information regarding The Church Elm Hub at the Dagenham Library contact Jocey: 020 8590 240 / 07577 067373 [email protected]
To enquire about the Faith Leaders Network (Cost of Living), please contact Andrew ([email protected]).