Love Devizes

Some have been long in the planning, others have partnered with like-minded organisations, and others have developed in stages - or all of the above.

In Devizes, St James' Church has opened a new community centre, and the team is proceeding with the next stage of increasingly well-regarded outreach.

The Revd Keith Brindle says:

“Love Devizes, the child of the Devizes Covid-19 Support Group, was launched on Monday, with the newly opened St James Centre being its new HQ. Love Devizes is providing support for the most vulnerable in our community during this second lockdown, but it has a far greater vision than that.

"Love Devizes plans to evolve into a charity that will:
- Provide easily accessible opportunities for volunteering across the town,
- Enable participants to create their own community projects,
- Support other charities needing volunteers to help do what they do
- Provide charities with suitable volunteering opportunities for the people they support.

"Thanks to our involvement with the initial support group, and our proven ability to respond to the needs of our community, St James is right at the centre of all that is going on with Love Devizes.

"We are currently seeking funding to pay for a Love Devizes Coordinator to champion and hold the vision of the charity. To date, we have received £7,500 from Devizes Area Board and we are hopeful that we will receive grants for the remainder by the start of 2021.

"Through both Love Devizes and St James Centre, we are trying to live out the recommendations made in the recent 'Growing Good' report by Theos and the Church Urban Fund [read it here] to ‘connect people of goodwill to local projects, channelling the untapped reserves of goodwill witnessed during the pandemic and opening up opportunities for new relationships between the church and the wider community.’"