A parish nurse scheme now in its third year is spreading spiritual, emotional and physical wellbeing for a parish in Reading.
The scheme, which was initially funded by a Development Fund grant, works with people of all backgrounds, all faiths and none, to provide support and advocacy, as well as prayer ministry.
Jill Anders began working with Reading Gateway church in 2023 and has seen the service grow to more than 4,000 engagements a year.
Jill said: “We look at a person as a whole, their physical, mental and emotional health and we pray with them. Prayer has been the answer, it gives them that spiritual peace. If you have spiritual peace you can begin to work on the rest. The people who come to us on a Monday, they see this as their church and their prayer time. They feel they belong, so this has become a new worshipping community.”
The Parish Nurse project is designed to complement and not duplicate the services offered by NHS and social care agencies. They work with 150 agencies, such as GPs and social prescribers, to reach people who would benefit from their support.
One example of the kind of support on offer is the Monday seated fitness class which began as an exercise class. Then, seeing people liked to stay and chat, it became a fitness class with a lunch club. Now it has grown into a craft session in the afternoon. New connections have been made and people come with their prayer requests ready, feeling very much part of a community.
The Revd Nick Hill is vicar at Reading Gateway Church. He said: “It is about health and wellbeing. It has revolutionised our pastoral care because we have a lot of deprived people in our parish, there was a lot of mental health needs and a lot of older generation and mums with small children who were isolated. I alone do not have the skills to solve these problems.
“We want to reach out and support the local community, where the need was. We know people are very isolated within the parish and within their own homes.”
The scheme was initially funded by the Development Fund along with contributions from Reading Borough Council’s Better Care Fund, the Benefact Trust and Reading Gateway Church itself.
In the words of one social prescriber: “Why can’t every parish have this service? It’s incredible.”
Find out how the Development Fund could help your parish.