SPOTLIGHT ON…
Neath A hub of hope DEVOTED TO MAKING A DIFFERENCE I’ve been at this fresh expression and core recovery centre for more than a year, but the centre has been running since November 2021. Prior to this, I was stationed at Carmarthen for 11 years and spent a further year at Llanelli. All my ministry has been in Wales. The Haven is three-pronged in its outreach: we have our community café and drop-in downstairs, multi-agency hub and training suite upstairs, and the core recovery work and spiritual journeying at the centre is the third part. Our approach and provision are very client-led.
IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH LEARNING We are authorised to provide Agored Cymru-accredited courses for adult learners who face homelessness or are in temporary accommodation. Subjects include budgeting, managing stress, managing anxiety, cooking skills, settling in and maintaining a tenancy, confidence building, independent living and office administration – which we’ve put in place mainly for our volunteers who input data or work on the reception. We recently held an awards ceremony where 33 certificates were presented to
FAST FACTS DIVISION: Wales FRESH EXPRESSION LEADER: Major Neil Duquemin FIND US ONLINE: salvationarmy.org.uk/neath
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Salvationist 6 January 2024
The Haven Volunteers
learners for different courses they’ve undertaken. Those who are working towards an accredited course were given an engagement certificate to recognise their journey and encourage them to keep going. That’s important.
Major Neil Duquemin
SUPPORTED TO SERVE We are blessed with a wonderful team of volunteers and employed staff including our programme development manager, Christina, and our café supervisor, Rachel. We are supported by the territory’s Core Recovery Development Officer Major Lynden Gibbs and Assistant Core Recovery Officer Major Nicky Watson. We also keep close links with Skewen, which is just a mile away. One of our centre volunteers is a soldier at Skewen and sells the Army papers in the town here, which is well received and provides that valuable witness for the Army as a church and not just a charity. We work closely with the council, which funds our provision of educational courses, and with other Welsh agencies, including Platfform – a charity that specialises in mental health and social change – and homelessness charity The Wallich. We often open our hub to local agencies to raise awareness of their services in the community. Our building is a central place for people to work on all aspects of their health – mental, physical and spiritual. We plan to develop the core recovery aspect of our programme, now that we are established, with discussion groups and more intentional mission opportunities. This follows a consultation with our clients that revealed many are open to exploring matters of faith.
TRANSPARENCY IN TRANSITION We believe in being open and honest with our service users; we provide only what they each individually need and, although we are still in a period of learning and growing at the centre, God is richly blessing what we do. Please pray for the outreach work at Neath and that God will continue to direct our path, so that we can continue to bring hope in Christ to our community.
In 2024 The Salvation Army in Wales celebrates 150 years of mission and outreach. Find out more about the anniversary at salvationist.org.uk/ events/dyma-gariad-24.