Stand in Chantry Centre – 2 and 23 December 2022
ACT worked with Good News for Everyone (formerly The Gideons) to have a stand in the Chantry Centre in the run up to Christmas to share the real meaning of Christmas. Members of ACT manned the stand along with members from Good News for Everyone and gave out Bibles, HOPE magazines and Christmas comics for children, along with many foreign language New Testaments and HOPE magazines in Ukrainian. In all over 300 New Testaments and 150 children’s comics.
Blue Monday Project January 2023
‘Blue Monday’ is the last Monday in January and is so called because people had their December pay early for Christmas and January is long month, so by the end finances are very stretched, particularly this year. ACT provided 200 packages containing a £20 supermarket voucher and £15 of basic food items to struggling families. These were distributed through 17 local primary schools as they knew the families most in need and no data protection issues were involved. Over 20 volunteers from ACT churches packed the bags on Thursday 12 January and they were delivered to the schools on Friday morning so parents could collect them at the end of school before the weekend. ACT were supported in this project by Test Valley Borough Council who gave grants totalling £2000 and the Love Your Neighbour charity who gave a grant of £1000. ACT churches donated the remaining £4000.