Saturday 17th June

What a fabulous day!

Not just the weather which was hot and thankfully not too sunny, but our Social Action Day on Saturday 17th June.

Two gardens transformed, one living room and kitchen re-decorated, countless clothes sorted for asylum seekers in York, one person reconnected back with the Belfrey… all thanks to the thirty-nine members of our church family who gave up their time to help the less fortunate in York, practically sharing Jesus’ love for the people of York.

Plus two hampers about to go out to people suggested by Besom.

We were also able to share why we were doing it through the witness of one group praying in the garden before starting, and team members praying with two other recipients.

We have loads of photos, of the teams, and before and after pictures of both gardening and decorating projects - please scroll down to the bottom of the page, and see who you recognise and if you can spot the ice lollies in one of them?  And there’s photos of the hampers made by a Belfrey group for two families just moving into new homes.

Here’s what one of our one of our recipients had to say:

“Thank you for everything.  Saturday was a wonderful/inspiring day and I’m so happy with everything”.

And some thoughts from some of the team volunteers:

Gardening in Acomb: I thought it was really good fun, nice to meet people I probably wouldn't have otherwise met, and it was very rewarding to look at the results and also know that we'd shared the love of God with someone in a practical, non-threatening way" 

Clothes sorting in Huntington:"It was great to join a group recently who were sorting donated clothes for the Refugee Action Centre. I had wanted to do something practical to help refugees and was intending to contact the Action Centre about this. The Belfrey Social Action weekend was the perfect opportunity to start getting involved. We managed to sort a huge amount of clothes and had good fun doing it together. I'm sure that, by doing this, we are showing the love of Jesus in our care and concern for all refugees who come to York."

Gardening in Dringhouses:“Our Belfrey Group, supplemented by two lovely extras, were given the challenge of clearing part of a garden which had become substantially overgrown.  The garden had clearly been the pride and joy of the client and his wife, but sadly his wife had died and the client had lost a lot of mobility, so was no longer able to look after the garden.  We were pleased to help and turned up to a nice welcome by the client, who kept us supplied with drinks through the day.  Besom had supplied a good range of tools, supplemented by some of our own and, working as a group, we uncovered parts of the garden which had clearly not seen the light of day for some time.  It was incredible to see how much progress could be made working collectively and we had a great time, building links as a group, enjoying hacking and chopping, and helping to transform a neglected part of a loved garden.  At the end of the day, we left tired but appreciative we had been able to help in a small way, providing a witness through practical action.  As an added bonus, the two lovely extras now want to join our Belfrey Group!”

Decorating in Bishopthorpe: ”What an amazing opportunity we had, being able to intentionally partner in Besom's vision demonstrating God's generous love through provision, time  hope, practical skills and transformation!! What a day of faith building for all of us involved.
It was such a joy to come together as a group and well as spend time getting to know other individuals who joined us too.
No expertise needed at all, everyone in their own way had a gift they could use through the day.
God really showed us so much more than we could have ever expected as we spent time together!! Giving us so much to reflect on even in just the short space of time that we were there.
A blessed day across York through all the projects that were completed.
I would encourage anyone able to, to take the opportunity if able and get involved where they can. It really is such fun!!!

We’ll be doing it again next year, but if you and your Belfrey group, or a group of friends would like to do some gardening, decorating or cleaning before then, please email claire.treherne@belfrey.org, and I’ll organise it with you.