| Spittlefield Church London |
Thursday 13th September 2018
It was an early start to get to Chatterton Hey House for 7am.
I arrived at the House just at the same time as the mini bus. Everyone was eager to get started on the long journey to London.
The driver of our mini bus had calculated his route trying to avoid the major traffic holdup on the motorways around Manchester. The day brightened as we left the Pennines into Derbyshire, the roads were busy, but we had a pleasant journey stopping only once for a refreshment break at Cambridge. We arrived outside Spittlefield church in London at 1pm.
The Reverend Andy Rider is the Chaplain for Langley House Trust and the celebration was held at his church. The Langley’s Trustees welcomed us into the church, I’ve always found the Trustees when I’ve met them very humble and always welcoming and friendly.
The church was full of people who had arrived from all over the country, many who had been invited through their connections with the projects and were supporters of Langley.
Tracy Wild, CEO welcomed everyone, and shared with us the Charity’s history, “2018 marks our diamond anniversary and is a momentous milestone in our charity’s life which started with a single project in Winchester.
Langley was founded in 1958 by a group of Christian businessmen and women who wanted to put their faith into action by providing housing and support to men coming from prison.
They recognised the need to help men adjust to life after prison, to successfully reintegrate into society and live crime-free.
Team K, as the founders were known, recruited John Dodd, a charismatic and dynamic soldier who himself had been a Prisoner of War in Singapore.
John Dodd was Langley’s first Director General (modern-day CEO) and was instrumental in growing Langley and raising its profile throughout its early years. Under his leadership, many new projects opened, a great deal of which are still in existence today.
60 years on, the vision of our original founders is still as alive today. Working with people of all faiths and none, Langley now supports over 1200 men and women per year.
Langley offers a range of services in the community, including registered care, mental health and addiction support, specialist advice and employ-ability skills.
In addition, Langley operates in prisons across England, providing advice on housing, debt and gambling plus a behaviour change programme called ‘Challenge to Change’ through Kainos Community (one of the charities in the Langley House Trust group).
Tracy Wild, CEO said:
“We are really pleased that Langley has reached 60 years and continues to remain true to its mission of helping people to live crime-free lives.
“Since opening our doors, we have reached thousands of people. We are proud of all the staff who have helped to make bring about change to our clients’ lives as well as the clients themselves, many of whom have worked so hard to start afresh.
“Against the backdrop of austerity, we have been able to grow by 37% which is no mean feat in today’s climate.
“Our aim is to be here for the next 60 years and as long as there is a need to help offenders live crime-free in society.” Extract from the Langley website.
We listened to Sam questioning three people: a client, a support worker, and the Manager of the Elderfield Project. All three shared their story and how they had been blessed by the Christian values of Langley’s staff, volunteers and the ethos of the Project Houses and Community housing.
Tracy spoke of the crossing of the Jordan by the Israelite’s and the twelve stones that were taken from the river where the ark had stood and then were placed on the bank to form a Cairn. These stones would always remind them of the crossing of the Jordan on dry ground, God’s saving grace. Joshua 4: 1-22.
Two representatives from each Project carried a large stone to the platform with the name of their Project written on it, a Cairn was being formed by the stones. This was to remind us of God’s faithfulness and by our faithfulness in serving others, we serve God.
The prayers were said by the Chair of the Trustees, he touched on the blessings of the past and the current issues and needs of today, God answers prayer and with God we can do all things that will bring about changed lives.
Rev Andy Rider spoke on John 20:18 Mary Magdalene proclaimed the good news to Jesus’ disciples saying, ‘I have seen the Lord’ witnessing to the resurrection of Jesus.
Andy emphasised the importance of telling someone that Jesus is alive. He gave the example of an African-American Christian slave Sojourner Truth who received a vision of Jesus holding out his hand to her and as a result led her out of slavery. Paul on the Damascus Road saw Jesus in a vision, and as a result he became a Christian and gave up his opposition against Jesus. John the Apostle imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos described his vision of God in Revelation Chapter 1: 12-20, Andy said, “Jesus is not dead he is alive! and he is able to change people’s lives.”
The Blessing – Andy blessed those who work and volunteer at the projects, those who catch the stones that even today would be thrown at the convicted men and women.
After refreshments we set off in our mini bus for home, it took five hours to reach Chatterton Hey. We had made together a journey of celebration, embracing the gospel in our witness to those who may feel outcasts in our present-day society, telling them that Jesus is alive, and God loves them and Langley shares God’s love and forgiveness with all who call on his name.
Dorothy Newton Volunteer Chaplain at Chatterton Hey House, Edenfield, Ramsbottom, Bury. Lancashire. England. 2018