Most of us would like to feel that, somehow or other,  ‘we belong' to our local community. Quite what ‘belonging means' will probably be different for each of us.  It may be just knowing some of the people in the street we live in.  For others it may be being able to get together once a week with local friends and acquaintances at a lunch club or play some sort of organised team sport on a regular basis.  In many ways an exact definition of ‘belonging' doesn't matter.  What matters is that there are opportunities for all of us to ‘belong' if that's what we want.

This is a crucial time for West Ealing.  We have a once in a generation opportunity to make significant changes to not only to the physical look of West Ealing but also to the our community - to help with that sense of ‘belonging'. The redevelopment of the Green Man Lane Estate offers us a fantastic chance to make West Ealing somewhere where we all want to live and enjoy.  How do we do it and what do we need to do to make it happen?  

We think a sensible way to start is to find out who is already active in our local community?  If we can draw up a picture of what's happening then we can begin to see how WEN can play its part in creating a strong and vibrant local community.  So, over the next months we will begin to do our research and write up who is doing what to make our community a better place.  We start with one of the projects run by St John's Church in Mattock Lane which is their work with homeless people and, in particular, their weekly soup kitchen. 

Working with homeless people

Most of us probably aren't aware of homeless people in our community.  Some may have drink or drug problems and we'll see them in Dean Gardens, by the library or on the streets, but others live quietly, sleeping out in secluded spots in church gardens and doorways and go unnoticed. However, working hard beneath the surface of everyday life are a number of charities and organisations that offer practical help to these homeless people.   

Daphne Edwards is the Worker With Homeless People at St John's Church in Mattock Lane.  Her part-time post is funded by a consortium of 12 local churches and the West Ealing Trust.  Her role is to work alongside Ealing Soup Kitchen, which operates from St John's, in order to care for the practical and spiritual needs of its users.

The Soup Kitchen which is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 3.30 to 5pm has been operating for some 30 years.  Each of the 8 churches takes its turn in running the kitchen. The number of homeless people using the soup kitchen fluctuates.  Currently it's about 60 or 70 but not so long ago, with the expansion of the European Union and the resulting arrival of many East Europeans, the numbers were higher. The Soup Kitchen is part of a west London wide network of organisations which, between them, offer food every day of the week to homeless people.  

Daphne works closely with other local agencies in order to try to ensure people who need help with housing, drug or alcohol problems are able to access the help they need.  So, for example, she works closely with St Mungo's, the charity that runs Ealing's Drug and Alcohol Unit.  These working relationships are crucial and can be very effective in giving homeless people help when most needed and giving them the opportunity to get their lives back under control.

One of the concerns Daphne has is the pressure on very limited hostel beds.  The need for these beds outstrips supply and this is a major concern for the local churches.

David Highton

2^nd July 2008