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News feature
Celebration starts ISS 40th anniversary year
REGENT HALL
AN enthusiastic congregation greeted the International Staff Songsters, who marched into the hall to launch their 40th anniversary year as the International Staff Band played ‘Celebration’, reports Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts. The festival began with the anthem ‘Far Above All’ and ‘O Love’, before a prayer by ISB Executive Officer Major Noel Wright. Lieut-Colonel Norman Bearcroft, the group’s first leader, was not able to attend but featured in a video wishing the group a happy anniversary. The video also showed him at the 25th anniversary in 2005 explaining how they were formed and recalling the first song they had presented at their inaugural festival: ‘Jesus, The Very Thought Of Thee’. The song had begun with soloist Jacqui Proctor, and those moments were relived as a recording of her singing the first verse was played before the current ISS joined in.
Staff Songster Leader Dorothy Nancekievill welcomed everyone and invited ISS alumni to stand and be greeted by the congregation. A special welcome was given to Canadian Staff Songster Leader Major Len Ballantine, a former leader of the ISS, who said: ‘Each leader has given something distinctive and important to the personality and the ministry of the International Staff Songsters.’
After the ISS had sung ‘Choral Symphony No 4 (Symphony Of Life)’ another former leader, Music Editorial Manager Andrew Blyth (THQ), interviewed Len about his time as leader from 1992 to 1998. Andrew acknowledged the other leaders, deputy leaders and pianists, along with everyone else who had given their talents to the group’s ministry through the years.
The ISB contributed a number of pieces, including ‘Variations On Was Lebet’, ‘The Andrew Blyth interviews Major Len Ballantine
Staff Songster Leader Dorothy Nancekievill conducts the ISS
Spirit In Me’ and Len Ballantine’s swing arrangement of ‘Go Down, Moses’, which Staff Bandmaster Stephen Cobb invited him to conduct.
The ISS brought ‘Ubi Caritas’ and a vocal arrangement of the band piece ‘Light-Walk’, which included a flugelhorn solo by Staff Bandsman Richard Woodrow.
A video presented the ISS 40 Virtual Choir in which a number of corps songster brigades, as well as the Melbourne Staff Songsters and the ISS, each sang lines of ‘Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory’ before they all joined together in the final verse.
Andrew led the ISS in ‘Compelled By
’’ Love’, for which he had written the music to Stephen Pearson’s words.
In moments of reflection Len read from John 14, reminding the congregation of Jesus’ promise of peace, and the ISS sang the beautiful ‘Jesus Himself Drew Near’ unaccompanied.
Before the evening’s finale Dorothy referred to the mission of the ISS and expressed her thanks to the songsters who ‘gladly give their time and effort to be part of this group and to sing for the Lord’. The ISS and the alumni were then led by Len in ‘Sing For Joy’ and ‘More Than Wonderful’.
After a prayer from ISS Executive Officer Lieut-Colonel Jayne Roberts, the ISS and alumni sang John Rutter’s ‘The Lord Bless You And Keep You’ accompanied by the ISB. The ISB concluded an evening of celebration with Norman Bearcroft’s march ‘Temple 85’.
Pop-up housing
Captain John Clifton
to bring down rough sleeping
Melita Day-Lewis explores Project Malachi, a new solution to homelessness pioneered by Ilford Corps
‘D EAR Salvation Army, here’s £5 that I got from the tooth fairy. I’m sending it to you so you can build homes for people who are homeless.’
A few years ago a young boy called Malachi sent Ilford Corps a letter along those lines. The corps took him at his word. His gift has since turned into nearly £5 million, which has been invested in an innovative pop-up building to provide housing for rough sleepers.
Called Project Malachi after that faithful young giver, the building is being erected by The Salvation Army in
partnership with Redbridge council and will open its doors to residents soon.
The semi-permanent housing, which is located on a temporary site in the town centre, is cheap and quick to build and will be easy to relocate.
Corps officers Captains John and Naomi Clifton have pioneered this fresh solution for rough sleepers in Redbridge. ‘The project really began with the work we do through our night shelter, which has been running since 2011,’ says John.
‘Over the years, we realised that although the night shelter helps keep people alive in cold weather, it’s not a long-term base where people can improve their situation. Project Malachi will give people a base to do that.’
John had been looking for the right space for a long-term solution for some time when the derelict Gilderson and Sons Funeral Directors building on council-owned land became available. This site, which is a short walk from Ilford Corps, is historically significant for the church. The Salvation Army has been present in the borough for more than 130 years. In 1886, after the Army marched from Stratford to Romford, Lieutenant William Hunter returned to Ilford and rented Gilderson’s upstairs room to begin the Army’s work in the area.
One hundred and thirty-four years later – on that same site – Project Malachi will open its doors.
The corps initially looked at refurbishing the original building, but with the ongoing regeneration of Ilford’s town centre, the council would have eventually demolished it and the money invested lost.
After visiting pop-up housing projects in Ealing and Lewisham, the Ilford corps officers saw the value of a permanent yet mobile and flexible building on a temporary site, where unused land
could be put to use quickly, without needing to find funds to purchase it.
They suggested a similar solution to the local council. The result was Project Malachi, whereby the council would demolish the derelict building, lease the land to The Salvation Army for five years and fund the capital costs of a pop-up building (£2.5 million), while the Army would invest more than £1.9 million in the project. This portion would go towards running costs, support for residents and a staff team comprising support workers, a service manager and night concierge. After five years, the Army would have the option to buy the building for £1 and, if necessary, move it to a different site, or relocate the modular units in smaller clusters.
Project Malachi has galvanised the whole community.
‘Alongside Naomi and I, the project has a sponsoring committee of senior faith leaders in the area, who have standing in the community and a strong interest in addressing homelessness, which is something we all have in common,’ John enthuses.
‘They’ve supported us in many different ways. They’ve provided political and fundraising support and about one hundred people came with us to the planning committee meeting. We had a brass band and the flag, and we marched to the town hall.
‘We’ve also had a lot of financial support from the business community through an initiative called Redbridge Together.’
Even before the building is completed, other corps have shown an interest in the concept: ‘We’ve had a couple of calls from corps leaders who’ve said, “We’ve got an extra car park that we don’t use, what if we put five units on it? That would address street homelessness in our area.” We think it ‘‘ Although the night shelter helps keep people alive in cold weather, it’s not a long-term base where people can improve their situation. Project Malachi will give them that
’’ The project under construction is a model that could be replicated elsewhere.’
The design of the building is simple, with 42 individual modular units and a permanent bicycle workshop downstairs for the corps Recycles initiative. Each unit is a self-contained furnished studio with a kitchenette and a separate toilet and shower.
Twenty-seven units will be for people able to claim housing benefit, which helps towards the project’s funding, and fifteen will be available free of charge. These are for residents who have the right to work but can’t claim any benefits, who need an initial base for two to three months or who are in very serious need, where another few months on the streets would be lifethreatening.
‘Unfortunately, a lot of people are in that situation in the area,’ says John. ‘A number of rough sleepers have died in Ilford over the past couple of years – about one a month.’
Of those who died, many were people with no recourse to public funds, such as refugees whose status is in limbo while they wait for visa applications to be approved, or immigrants trying to get into work. Even with support from organisations such as Ramfel (Refugee and Migrant Forum of Essex and London) the process takes time, and applications are difficult to resolve when people are sleeping on the streets. ‘We are currently working with a cohort of people based on the rough sleeping count in 2017, which was when we started Project Malachi. There were about 65 people on the streets at that time and we’re focusing on housing this group first.
‘Of those, nearly 50 have no recourse to public funds and have been on the streets for more than two years, some of them for as long as ten or twelve, some trafficked here, some with visa issues,’ explains John.
He adds: ‘When Ilford began, the first building was the Hospital Chapel, which was a tiny church set up to look after lepers. Then businesses and residential accommodation grew up around it. That’s how the town started – the church caring for people nobody else cared about.
‘It’s exciting that we’re repeating that story almost 1,000 years later. I believe that the corps and Project Malachi will make a big difference.’
Saha Chief Executive Nigel Hills talks to Lieut-Colonel Jonathan Roberts about the mission of the Army’s housing association
LAST year was a significant one for Nigel Hills. Thirty-five years after joining the Salvation Army Housing Association (Saha) as a finance officer he was appointed its chief executive.
Nigel began his working life in a bank but before long decided on a change of direction. ‘The opportunity came up to work for Saha,’ he remembers. ‘At that time it only had ten
hostels and one housing scheme, so I thought long and hard about it. But the reason for coming into this organisation was about doing something that served a purpose.’
Housing associations are not-for-profit providers of social housing, and Saha,
which is registered to work in England, is one of more than 1,500 associations in the country.
‘The housing association movement consists of many different sorts of organisations,’ explains Nigel. ‘The large ones have taken over the social housing role of councils and provide tens of thousands of family homes. Saha falls into the section known as supported housing providers. We have 4,300 units of accommodation. A unit could be a room in a Lifehouse or it could be a house or flat.’ Supported housing involves more than simply providing accommodation, and what Saha offers reflects its strong connection with The Salvation Army. ‘We’re not totally owned by The Salvation Army, but we are controlled by it, and the synergy between Saha and the Army enables us to do together so much more than we could do on our own,’ says Nigel.
‘Our missions are intertwined: we’re motivated by transforming lives. At our annual general meeting a young woman spoke about her difficult family background and how coming into one of our properties had transformed her life. Transformation can take different guises. For some people, it will be finding a real experience of Christ. That may not be the majority of people, but if that happens it is fabulous.’
The relationship between Saha and the Army is enhanced by the fact that Nigel is a Salvationist and the chairman of the board is former Territorial Commander Commissioner John Matear.
‘I can’t speak highly enough of John,’ enthuses Nigel. ‘He’s been our chair for the past seven years. He devotes so much time to going round all sorts of provision and engaging with tenants. There’s a high level of respect.’
Other board members play an important part as well.
‘We had a board strategy day recently and I was struck by how they all buy into the mission,’ Nigel adds. ‘One of the new members became aware of the Army because her son did some work experience there. She buys into the mission through his experience of working with the Army. They are a very supportive board, fully aligned with the mission.’
Saha was established in 1959 but it wasn’t until 1974, when the Housing Act allowed for generous grants, that the organisation took huge strides forward. Saha was able to refurbish existing Army properties and build new provision with 100 per cent government funding. The funding situation is more Copper Beech Hub and accommodation
challenging today, says Nigel: ‘Grants are only available for 20 per cent of the costs. We now have to look at debt finance from traditional banks, including Reliance Bank. The rent has to cover the debt repayments and it becomes a bit more of a difficult mix.’
Saha’s provision is quite diverse. There are 1,704 bed spaces in accommodation managed by other agencies, which includes 35 Lifehouses run by the Army’s Homelessness Services. It also provides 1,270 general needs homes – houses or flats for families and individuals. Student accommodation is offered in a 159-room property in Waterloo. There are 291 homes for people aged over 55, and 58 bed spaces available in registered care homes. In addition, Saha’s housing management service supports 855 Salvation Army properties, most of which are retired officers’ accommodation. Saha recently expanded its work through the acquisition of a housing association that was in difficulty.
‘The regulator asked us to take over another Christian housing association called Chapter 1,’ explains Nigel. ‘It’s changed the face of the organisation. We used to be an enabler – we’d own a property, we’d refurbish some property, and that would enable support work to be carried out, predominantly by the Army. In former Chapter 1 properties Saha now directly employs staff who are involved in providing care and support packages. ‘We did already have some directly managed supported housing in what we call Foyers. We have three of them – places where accommodation and education opportunities are provided for young people.
‘I was at the Braintree Foyer recently
and sat in on their discovery college, where residents aged from 16 to their early 20s were talking about issues they’d have to face when they go out into the big, wide world – things like trying to pay their bills, budgeting and where to get advice. The staff member who ran the session had been a Foyer resident, then he worked at the Foyer and was also at the Lifehouse nearby. There’s great interaction between the Foyer and the Lifehouse, and with the Braintree corps officer.’
Nigel would like to see Saha and corps working together in an initiative called Bridging the Gap and points to places where this is already working. ‘We have a property close to Harlesden Corps and I know there’s an interaction there. One of our residents is now an adherent member. At St Helens we have a community right on the edge of the corps and Bridging the Gap works well. Sale is another place. We built at the back of the hall and a lot of the residents use the services during the week. This sense of community should be encouraged. We can tell tenants what the Army offers, whether that’s a lunch club, debt counselling, interest groups or a spiritual home.’
Looking back at his reason for joining Saha in 1984, Nigel says it’s the same today: ‘This new role has energised me even more because I’m able to get out and about seeing what we do. Working with The Salvation Army we are making a real impact and transforming lives, which is exciting.’
Breaking new ground
Salvationist highlights the work and mission of The Salvation Army in Burkina Faso, which will be supported by this year’s Self-Denial Appeal
IN 1886 William Booth encouraged Salvationists: ‘Go without something and give what you would have spent to The Salvation Army’s work.’
More than 130 years later Army corps around the world still play their part by giving to the Self-Denial Appeal to support the Army’s global mission. Last year the appeal raised £1.25 million in this territory, more than ever before.
The money given goes to places that need it most, places such as Burkina Faso, where the Army is building from very small beginnings.
Captains André and Nana Togo were appointed in 2015 to begin Salvation Army work in the country. They are from neighbouring Mali and were the first Salvationists enrolled in that country ten years ago. They trained as officers in the Democratic Republic of Congo and served in Zimbabwe before moving to Burkina Faso’s capital, Ouagadougou. ‘It is exciting to see how quickly the work has grown,’ enthuses Nana. ‘When we arrived here we started meetings in our home. We bought land in 2017 and started Ouagadougou Corps when the building was ready.’ The corps, which is based in the Bonheur Ville district, now has 93 adult members and 15 junior soldiers.
Working and living in the city has challenges and earning a liveable wage is hard, particularly for women who, in most cases, are looking after children as well.
In response to this challenge, the corps set up a soap-making project to
Captains André and Nana Togo
train women with income-generating skills.
Bars of soap and traditional soap balls – which are extremely popular – are sold along with other products in the market and local shops. The women work as a collective and pool the income they receive. Once someone is trained, they pass their knowledge on to others. The women also produce shea butter, made from the seeds of the shea tree. Shea butter, which is now fashionable all over the world, has been used in west Africa for many years.
‘It’s good for the skin, even if it’s messy and hard work to make in 30C heat,’ laughs Nana.
Another corps project is a juice production enterprise. Nana explains: ‘We recycle bottles by cleaning and sterilising them. Then we fill them with different juices. We label the bottles here before they are sold in local shops. All the profits go towards school fees for the local children.’
Funding towards the infrastructure that makes such projects possible comes, in part, from the Self-Denial Appeal.
In the short time André and Nana
‘‘ We would like to dig a borehole for water… that will make a big difference for our work and the community
’’
have been in the Bonheur Ville district they have been working hard to connect with the community.
Nana met Mary, a widow, while getting to know people in the neighbourhood. Mary had been struggling to feed and clothe her children since her husband died. She is a highly skilled weaver of cloth and had a loom, but couldn’t afford to buy yarn.
The Salvation Army gave Mary the materials she needed to start a cloth
making business and helped her get orders for her cloth. Now Mary is making a modest income.
‘I thank God for sending the Mother [Nana] to my door. Things are difficult for me but I have joy in my life because God is sustaining me.’
Mary hopes her work will develop to include training some of the ladies who want to learn how to use a loom and make cloth.
One of the corps community outreaches included a pétanque tournament. Burkina Faso was a French colony until the 1960s and it is common to see pétanque, a game similar to boules, played in the streets.
André explains: ‘This is a tournament with the men of the community against ‘‘ We feel so blessed that the Army has grown so much
’’
the men of the corps. It’s a way of building fellowship and bringing people together in the community.’
‘After that outreach some of the local men have started to come along on a Sunday,’ adds Nana.
Five miles south of Ouagadougou is the suburb of Poessin, the capital’s poorest community. The Army began its work here two years ago, building a training centre where practical workshops for women in the community take place.
‘We started running literacy projects with the aim of helping some of the women who missed out on school to read and write,’ says Nana.
Women who have graduated from that programme also learn needlework skills at a sewing workshop. Even though equipment is very basic they have made good quality items of clothing, sometimes with cloth made by women from Bonheur Ville.
Ouagadougou’s population is growing and many people are moving to Poessin, but there is no running water or electricity in this part of the city. Water has to be collected from a standpipe two miles away, a job traditionally done by women.
‘We would like to dig a borehole here,’ says Nana. ‘That will make a big difference for our work and for the whole community.’
There is now an Army outpost in Poessin with eight Salvationists. Lieutenant Canzir, one of three newly trained officers born in Burkina Faso, has been leading the work for about four months.
HOW CAN YOU HELP? O Put a little money in a collection box each day O Give up some little luxury or treat and put aside the money saved O Give the amount you might otherwise have spent on a restaurant or day out O Maybe donate a week’s salary in the service of the Lord. Your corps officer or treasurer can help you find the best ways to do this
‘I help the women to change their lives, first by offering advice and then by teaching sewing,’ she explains. ‘I advise them when they’re in difficult times and I do my best to help them when they lack basic needs.’
Four years ago there were only eight Salvationists in Burkina Faso, but today there are two corps – including one in Bobo-Dioulasso, the second largest city in the country – and three outposts, with a total of 182 soldiers, 73 junior soldiers and 36 local officers.
‘We feel so blessed that the Army has grown so much,’ testifies Nana. ‘We have seen some incredible things. There are plenty of challenges here. Poverty is widespread and The Salvation Army doesn’t have the resources to solve all the problems. But I see that we are making a difference in people’s lives.’
