Baby steps making big impact for community

God is using Braintree Elim’s drop-in centre, playgroup and baby bank to care for vulnerable families when they need it most. The team behind them told Chris Rolfe about their work

Braintree Elim’s community work started with Braintree Bridge – its weekly Monday drop-in, explains Sheryl Pradella

Sheryl

Braintree Bridge was born out of our church’s heart to create a welcoming drop-in space in our town centre. It provides a safe and friendly place where people can talk, have refreshments and get practical support like form-filling and English lessons. We have strong partnerships with different organisations and the local council, so it’s become a trusted hub for people facing loneliness, hardship or financial difficulties.

A highlight is our “Cook well on a budget” project which enables families – especially mums – to learn essential cooking skills. We teach them to cook healthy meals and give them ingredients so they can prepare meals at home too.

People come to The Bridge from our other activities too – mums who are here for Home Start or our toddler group – so it’s all connected, like cross-fertilisation.

We also support these families with “bags of love” filled with treats at Easter and Christmas.

STAY’N PLAY

Braintree Elim’s popular toddler group offers a welcoming place for parents, grandparents, carers and kids to find friendship, say church pastor Andy Knight and his wife Gleisi

Gleisi

Many toddler groups around us are struggling but we’ve had to cap numbers here. That’s because our sessions are more than activities – they’re times of connection, encouragement and community.

We have crafts, singing, lunch and offer good coffee and proper cakes. It’s been a real joy to see friendships forming and people supporting each other. We charge £1 per child and use the money to run parties at Christmas, Easter and in the summer.

Every family should have the chance to celebrate and feel included.

Andy

We celebrate children’s birthdays too and provide decent food for lunch – we’ve had spaghetti bolognese and jacket potatoes with cheese and beans.

One of our volunteers, Paula, told us about a lady who came for the first time and poured her heart out to her. We have several stories like that. That’s credit to what God is doing here and to the environment we’ve created.

We always pray before we start and everyone feels the love.

Braintree baby bank

From a single rail of clothes, a weekly baby bank was born – a true community effort supporting families in and around Braintree, say Gleisi and Rosemarie Ruszkiewicz

Gleisi

As a foster carer, I keep children’s clothing at home ready for emergency placements. Then I felt led to bring a clothing rail to the church toddler group and create a swap corner – inviting families to take what they needed or pass on clothes their kids had outgrown.

Families shared generously, giving and receiving with dignity and kindness. It felt like a true reflection of God’s love in action. Then, when our Sunday services got too big and we moved out into a school we suddenly had space available for the baby bank.

Rosemarie

We sensed God was leading us into something more. What began as a single rail grew into a bigger vision – a baby bank that could support families beyond our toddler group and into the wider community.

We stepped forward in faith, creating a dedicated space filled with good-quality clothing and essential equipment. In January, I posted on Facebook asking for donations. The response was overwhelming. So many people gave generously and within a short time we had filled two rooms.

It’s a true community effort. We have a group of ladies who are unable to help run things here but are passionate about being involved. We drop donations to their homes, and they sort through the clothing and put it in size order.

We have lots of connections beyond church too. We work with other baby banks and food banks. The Salvation Army has a collection box for us and Tesco donate supplies. Nurses and health visitors make referrals or bring people to shop with us. We even get people from the baby bank volunteering when we’re busy.

Through it, God has opened doors we could never have opened ourselves.

Baby bags

The Baby Bank helps needy families out in the community and provides a loving start for babies entering foster care, explains Rebecca

When I heard about the baby bank I knew I had to be involved. I had a link to new mothers and people we could serve in the community.

A colleague and I discussed how we could give bags to babies who didn’t have anything – those going into foster care or from families that were struggling.

I shared this vision with Gleisi and Rosemarie and our church responded with willing hands and hearts. Through baby bank donations we’ve created ready-to-go bags for baby boys and girls with blankets, toys, clothes and other essentials.

We’ve also prepared baskets for newborns to help new or expectant mums get started. Receiving one is more than practical support; it’s a sign they are seen, valued and loved.

Bonding squares

When the ladies in Braintree Elim’s 3Cs knitting club were asked to help premature babies they leapt into action, say Gleisi and club leader Paula O’Halloran

Gleisi

Our daughter was born early at just 27 weeks and began life in an incubator. It was a difficult time. When Rebecca heard my story she suggested we could make bonding squares for mums in that situation.

These are pairs of tiny, knitted blankets, one to place on the baby when you aren’t able to hold them, and one for the mum to put in her bra. You swap them when you visit your baby, so they have your smell with them in the incubator, and you have theirs with you, which also helps you produce milk.

Paula

Rebecca asked if our group could knit bonding squares. I prayed and contacted two family members, Sam and David Watts, who run 3Cs with me. They agreed we should take this on as a project.

However, the Lord wasn’t finished! I also prayed about how to knit enough squares. “You have a whole church family to share the project with and the wonderful lady in the material shop will tell others about it so they’ll knit too,” he told me.

So we opened 3C’s project to those the Lord guided me to, and the church family has really responded. The lady in the material shop asks people if they would like to knit squares and my neighbours are busy knitting beautiful blankets and bonding squares too.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.