Our story.
“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat”
Matthew 25:35
"Do not despise these small beginnings for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin" - Zechariah 4:10
Sometimes just a prompting to start something small and seemingly insignificant can lead to a longer and bigger journey than you ever thought possible. This is Hope4’s testimony too.
In 2005, a small group from local churches formed a focus group looking at homelessness in Rugby. Over the Christmas period that year Hope4U provided free refreshments for homeless people in the Rugby Crackerteria cafe. This led to a three evening a week Hope4U ‘soup kitchen’ in St Andrew’s church porch manned by volunteers from local churches – soup, tea and a chat – simple beginnings. Eventually, in 2008, the charity, Hope4 (Rugby) Ltd, was formally set up and continued operating a soup kitchen, while the trustees looked for a Day Centre facility.
The first Hope Centre opened in February 2010 above a shop in Church Street. The Centre was soon open seven days a week and volunteers were joined by a part-time member of staff. A warm welcome from staff and volunteers along with food, showers, clothing, help with benefits and accommodation have always been at the Centre’s heart. Our path widened when, in 2011, the then Chair woke up one night with the Lord asking him a simple question:
"Where are they sleeping tonight Michael?"
Challenged to answer this practically, he motivated seven Rugby churches to work with him to open Rugby’s first Winter Shelter. Bed, breakfast and an evening meal for Hope4’s clients is still provided each winter by seven churches and hundreds of volunteers.
The charity continued to expand as the economic downturn provoked the town’s church leaders to ask if Rugby need a food bank too. The overwhelming consensus led the churches to ask Hope4 to broaden its remit to include those in food poverty and in March 2012, Rugby foodbank opened and is now one of more than 1300 food banks in the Trussell Trust network. It continues to provide emergency food for local people in crisis, distributing tonnes of food every month.
As the number of clients grew each month, the trustees looked and prayed for a suitable building to purchase and in 2015 a premises was purchased and renovated, opening as the new Hope Centre in 2016. Phase one of the redevelopment of the once Working Men’s Club provided a bigger kitchen and better facilities to allow the charity to work with more clients and to expand its staff and volunteer base.
In April 2018, we received a 3-year Big Lottery Fund grant which brought some financial underpinning and allowed further development of services and recruitment of a full time Centre Manager. Clients work closely with their Key Workers to secure accommodation and the Centre also provides food, showers, laundry, clothing and computer access. We also provide basic health care at the Centre and assist with immigration, residency, employment and training applications.
Our story continues as we form greater partnerships across the town. Collaboration with Rugby Borough Council throughout the pandemic has ensured that clients were housed via the ‘everyone in’ strategy. This has been largely successful and resulted in a number of clients moving into more permanent accommodation. The Centre was closed in the first lockdown with staff working from home and keeping in close contact with clients. However, Covid secure measures were introduced and the Centre reopened in July 2020 on an appointment basis, Monday to Fridays. Most services were still being offered to clients. In subsequent lockdowns the opening hours were reduced.
To find out more about how the Hope Centre operates now, click here.
Our mission verse: Matthew 25:35:
‘I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.’
Might Jesus also say…"I was sleeping rough...and you opened a night shelter...I couldn’t put food on the table and feed my kids... and you opened a food bank…" We think he just might!