Southwark and Peckham Citizens
Just over ten years ago Brandon Baptist Church joined London Citizens , part of Citizens UK, and were founding members of Southwark and Peckham Citizens. This organisation helps us to learn to listen to local people and their stories and then seeks to support people in bringing about change in their local area. Some previous and ongoing projects are around encouraging employers to pay a Living Wage and the establishment of Safe Spaces for young people in local shops.
Several members are part of the Brandon Citizens group, and then one or two representatives join the Southwark and Peckham meetings with representatives from other organisations. This then feeds into the items we focus on to seek changes in a wider form with our local councillors. In this way an issue which impacts on lots of people in separate spaces can be spoken about by a group who have collated real experiences and try to enable change to occur.
Our last local Assembly in 2022 we had over 250 people attending to ask for promises on several areas. Many of these are already becoming positive changes.
For many of us, this is a significant expression of our faith in action.
Similarly, Unlock is an organisation long associated with Brandon Baptist Church.
Unlock are a non-denominational Christian charity which was founded in 1972. The organisation supports urban churches of any denomination to respond to opportunities in their locality. You can read more about the Unlock organisation and the work they do on their website.
Every year Unlock organise a London Walk as part of their fundraising programme. This is a pre-planned route through an inner urban setting with information on the area and on the churches you can visit. Volunteers are available in most of the churches where walkers can pause, share refreshments and rest for a while. While many adults join the walk, children join in too and there is a flexible approach of where you begin and complete your journey. Many walkers try to ensure they collect all of the stamps to show they are worthy of their sponsorship money!
While not everyone can join us on the walk, many of the community at Brandon are regular sponsors of those who join the day and always hear about the adventures of the walkers at a later service.
Brandon Baptist Church, Camberwell 