Community Hub

In ministering to the community around us in the widest sense we need to start with God’s loving heart for people and especially the vulnerable.

This is most clearly stated in the Bible e.g. the book of Isaiah chapter 58 and verse 10 – “if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.” Another key passage is in the book of Ezekiel chapter 47 which shares a vision of a river flowing out from a place where God is worshipped to the community around.

The area around Burlington was given to the town by the Alexander family in 1800s as they wanted to create an area which would do people good and enable them to flourish. The family was concerned about social and spiritual welfare and transformation. They supported the anti-slavery movement, hence the local street names. Burlington Road named after Burlington New Jersey – which itself was named after a person who was anti-slavery. The local Churches were deliberately built larger than the expected initial congregation – related to the dream of more social transformation.

Put simply - “Our desire is to create a beating heart for this community and the beat of the heart is Jesus.”

Why are we considering developing a Community Hub to fulfil this desire?
The current local Gipping Ward lacks the true community interactions which enable people to realise their potential. We want to see this Ward and wider truly transformed and people restored to health – spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically. We desire to see lives changed for the better, people able to interact more effectively and live move meaningfully. This would restore the intention for which the land was given to create this community in the first place.

What is the end goal or vision?
We want to create a collaborative shared welcoming space where people can become all they were designed to be and find community, beauty, hope, and joy.

How is the goal to be achieved?
In many small steps! A wide range of activities are envisaged, created in conjunction with the community directly or those already working closely with the community e.g. GP Practice, Councillors. Some of these will be social enterprises routed in the community and giving opportunities to the most marginalised to grow and develop e.g. Oak and Berry Coffee Shop.
In simple terms there will be 7 P’s - many Possibilities explored, People engaged, Partnerships formed, Pounds spent and Property refurbished – all with regard to God’s Providence and listening to Him via Prayer.

Our values for this endeavour will include:

- being co-creators with the community (via partnerships with organisations e.g. Karibu and other churches e.g. Ipswich International Church),

- being prepared to be vulnerable and authentic,

- relational (creating sense of belonging),

- seeking wholeness of spirit, mind and body.

The foundation of these values is our love for Jesus. We need to keep listening to Jesus in prayer to make sure what is done in relation to the Community Hub is what He desires.

Please take a look at this information leaflet to see more details including sources of research to back up our perception of the local area and its needs, activities which are already underway and the initial focus of activities to be planned or developed. For additional background to the West Ipswich area please see these Place Based Needs Assessment statistics.

After a favourable Ipswich Borough Council pre planning application assessment on plans to remodel existing Church Hall we are next looking to move to a full planning application.

However, in parallel we will continue to develop suitable new or enhanced needs driven activities using existing facilities, some with support from grant funding sources. These will continue to inform the detailed design considerations for the Church Hall remodelling.

To find out more please contact:
Simon Harris via [javascript protected email address]
Katie Faux via [javascript protected email address]