HOPE
FAITH IN ACTION
Gill Sherry
The town of Prestwick is known for its close-knit, active community, but not everyone is aware of Hope, the not-for-profit Christian charity based at Monkton & Prestwick North Church.
Hope received its charity status in January 2020 after being established by four forward-thinking, compassionate trustees. Two of those trustees, Elaine Hough and Stacey Morrison, told me more about the charity.
“It was 20 years in the making,” Elaine began. “Stacey and I both started working in the NHS in our early twenties within the mental health services… and it came from seeing a need. The NHS is great in so many ways, but it just can’t meet all the needs that people have. The vision we had was for an accessible service that was free, and that people could access without having to sit on waiting lists for lengthy periods of time.”
Being surrounded by a like-minded group with differing skills and experiences in helping people made it possible for the vision to become a reality and for Hope to offer a service known as Hope Wellbeing which provides mental health and bereavement services for adults in the local community. They also offer a Counselling and Listening service offering 1-1 sessions.
“We offer a drop-in mental health session on a Friday called Creating Hope,” Stacey told me. “It’s bring a hobby/share a hobby where we use activity as a creative medium. We have arts, crafts, games… it’s a place to come if you need that wee bit of support. Some just use it for a short time but for others it’s an important part of their week.”
The sessions take place from 10am until noon, as do the Bereavement drop-in sessions on a Monday.
“We offer a range of support for those that are bereaved,” Elaine explained. “It’s almost like a pathway through the service, from drop-in, to structured group, to support group. We offer bereavement support at any stage in the journey. It doesn’t matter how early or late on the person has been bereaved.”
Elaine told me of one lady who came in for support the day before her husband’s funeral, and others who have still not processed their grief ten years down the line. She also told me of one heart-warming story of hope.
“We had a gentleman and a lady in their 60s/70s that came to our Bereavement Café about three years ago. Both had been tragically bereaved in really difficult situations. Over quite a bit of time they got to know each other, built a friendship, and just last year they got married!”
Of course, stories such as this are only possible because of the volunteers who selflessly give their time to the charity.
“We have around 60 volunteers,” Elaine confirmed. “They’re our greatest asset. They’re a very committed, very loyal and faithful team. Most of them have been with us on our journey since we started.”
Hope is also able to offer placements to counselling students, providing another valuable service within the community. Its priority, though, remains those vulnerable adults seeking mental health and bereavement support, as Stacey explained: “We want to make it as easy as possible for people to access the services. As people of faith, we’re very blessed to have a community around us – friends that consider themselves family. To bring people into that and allow them to experience that is very much the value system that we live by.”
“Our faith is really foundational for all of this,” Elaine continued. “Our faith in action is reaching out into the community and demonstrating the love and compassion of God. That is for everybody.”
As a charity, Hope is always appreciative of monetary donations and if you’d like to donate, you can do so via the website: www.hopeayshire.org.
In the meantime, Elaine concluded as follows:
“There have been some beautiful stories of hope. We’ve watched people… and can see the transformation in them. It’s really encouraging for us when we begin to see real growth and healing in people, because that’s why we do what we do.”
