Re-Store Hope Hub/Hub Church
& Love Westhill

Michelle (above centre) is a community minister at St Marks Westhill and Christ Church Bridlington. After completing Stepping Up she heard God say ‘you've got a gift from life’, and now is ‘ working with broken people, where [she] can really talk into people's lives, you know from God […]’. Michelle is now part of the Hope Hub at Christ Church and works at St Mark’s Westhill on Tuesday running bible discovery (in eight weeks blocks) and at their community breakfast on Thursday.

The Re-Store Hope Hub/Hub Church caters to around 70 people a week. It is a space where deeper relationships can be built with many beginning to hear and believe that they have a hope and a future. Hub Church has seen a growing and maturing in those that attend with gatherings reaching 35-55 people each time. The Hub also facilitates partnership with organisations such as ‘Mind’ and ‘Emmaus’ and other agencies such as ‘Oral Health', ‘Hep C Testing’ and ‘Heath Inclusion Bus’. Prayer is offered to many people throughout the week and there is a real ease at inviting people to The Hub Church.

• ‘J came to Bridlington and was homeless. We were able to work with J, securing a shelter for him and linking him to all the services in the town. We told him he needed a scaffolding around him whilst his life was being rebuilt, and we could be that to him. J is now part of the Re-Store community and is on team. He has found belonging and home.’

The Love Westhill breakfast also provides space for deep connection. The original vision for the breakfast was to create home around the person of Jesus and the team have seen an increased sense of belonging and an increase in people receiving prayer over the last year. Some of the attendees have also begun to join in with other activities or even become volunteers themselves.

• ‘J was someone both Emma and I kept on bumping into at the gym and at Morrisons. We would engage with conversations about Jesus and his love for J, knowing that she was suffering horrendous grief. Having lost her mother 4 years prior and her daughter within the year she was desperate and had no one to turn to. Over the course of the last year J has found a place of safety and belonging at Love Westhill. She has been a part of our Tuesday study group and loved it, keeping everything neat in her folder each week. She volunteers on team and stays for prayer afterwards. She came with us to New Wine and was overwhelmed in a beautiful way. J gave up smoking tobacco and weed 4 weeks ago. She is one of the people on the Lenten journey with us and came once again prepared with her folder. She knows God is changing her life.’

Both areas of mission are spaces where prayer is offered and normalised. Together they have organised wider community events throughout the year including Summer and Easter fun days, Christmas Parties and a ‘Carols around the Campfire’ event providing homemade soup and a roll which saw around 40 people attend including local PCSO’s. The team have also been running 8-week patterns of Bible Discovery and Discipleship. The group (from both Love Westhill and Restore) meets on Tuesday mornings with most of the people attending being reasonably new to faith.

Michelle says ‘what’s beautiful is people are finding friendships and, and we pray for people’.