Churches Offering Support

Darcy Vaughan

Fiona Preston receives a donation to MinisTree from Holy Trinity, South East Bendigo.

Many of us are feeling the pressure of the ongoing cost of living crisis. We notice it whenever we shop for groceries, pay the energy bill or make a mortgage repayment. We may also have noticed the impact this crisis is having on those around us. When the cost of necessities is so high, it is the most vulnerable who are hit the worst. While our governments provide assistance and local organisations do what they can, churches around the diocese have begun to question what role they might play in assisting and supporting those in need.

The crisis is perhaps most visible in Bendigo city where many people are sleeping rough. Anglican street chaplains Fiona Preston and Tracey Wolsley continue to make themselves available to those on the streets of Bendigo through the MinisTree initiative. On their regular walks through the streets they are able to really listen to the people they meet, develop relationships and offer prayer and support. Fiona and Tracey are also able to provide some essential items to those they meet such as bottled water, warm clothes and nutritious snacks. “The special thing about being out on the street” Fiona said, “is that we are able to respond to peoples individual needs.”

Also at the centre of Bendigo, St Paul’s Cathedral have established a ‘We Care’ basket at the back of the church, so that parishioners can donate grocery items each week which are then taken to Foodbank for distribution. The Cathedral Mother’s Union are also collecting essential toiletry items for students in need at the university.

At Christmas, the Parish of Christ Church Daylesford commenced an outreach for those in need. Named the ‘Just One’ initiative, parishioners bring ‘just one item’ from their weekly shop and place it in a giving basket. Once a month the items are packaged up and made available from the church’s open but covered porch. The availability of the packages is advertised on Facebook as a gift available to those in need in the local community. The positive response has been immediate and this simple judgment-free outreach will continue for 2025.

A member of Holy Trinity, Maldon wondered if people in the area were feeling the pinch. Knowing that the task of running a community pantry was beyond the small congregation, the church approached the Maldon Neighbourhood Centre with the proposal that they run the initiative out of the church’s hall. The response has been overwhelming from the young and the elderly, families and those living alone, those with their own house and those sleeping locally in tents or vans. Since November 2023 well over 1500 people have benefited from the Maldon Community Panty’s provision of essential items, with a weekly attendance of around thirty people coming for a cuppa, conversation and material assistance.

These are all real and tangible expressions of compassion to those in need across the diocese. As the financial and social pressures on our communities grow it may be increasingly important for churches to consider their role in loving their neighbour and caring for those doing it tough.