## **Christians Together in Dover** ## **(CTID)** _Charity Number 296621_ _Registered Address: Windy Ridge, Dover Road, Guston, Dover, KENT, CT15 5EH_ ## **Trustees Annual Report 2023** ## **Objectives / Vision** The objects of CTID are to promote the Christian faith, in particular to advance knowledge about all aspects of Christianity and to seek greater understanding and unity in the fellowship of Christ's Church. ## **Area of Operation** - Dover & District in the county of Kent. ## **Benefit to the public** CTID promotes community cohesion by demonstrating Christian unity and outreach in practical service and witness to the people of the Dover area, especially through the Dover Foodbank, Baby Basics and Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Dover Money Course providing vital help to those in need. ## **Structure & Governance** CTiD is governed by a Constitution adopted 13[th] May 1983 and amended 9[th] February 1987, 14[th] February 1994, 29[th] May 2004, 3[rd] March 2016, 19[th] September 2019 and 3[rd] July 2023. Trustees and Officers are selected from the congregations and clergy of member churches and are elected or re-elected annually at the AGM. ## **Trustees serving during the year** |Canon David Slater|Chair|| |---|---|---| |Mrs Hazel Groves|Secretary|| |Mr Alan Boxall|Treasurer|| |Rev Andy Bawtree|Trustee|| |Rev Dr Barry Barton|Trustee|| |Mrs Carol Boxall|Trustee|| |Mrs. Marissa Clarke|Trustee|| |Rev. Catherine Tucker|Trustee|| |Rev. Catherine Wagstaff|Trustee|| |Mr Peter Wallace|Trustee|| |Mrs Hannah Hills|Trustee|Appointed 29th March 2023| |Mrs Geraldine Mills|Trustee|Retired 16th January 2023| ## **Bankers** NatWestBank, address – Dover Branch, 25 Market Square, Dover CT16 1NG ## **Volunteers** |Dover Foodbank|30| |---|---| |Dover MoneyCourse|3| |Port Chaplains|8| |Childrens / Youth|25| |**TOTAL**|**66**| Page 1 of 15 ## **Policy Reviews** The Trustees regularly review and update the policies of the charity. The next review is scheduled for 2024. ## **Risk Management** The Executive Committee is responsible for the review of all risks on an ongoing basis. The principle areas of risk are Financial, Loss of Critical Volunteers and Reputational Damage. ## **Summary of Activities** The most significant change in 2023 was the transfer of Dover Foodbank to Dover Outreach Centre (DoC Charity 1168737). Having started in 2013 as a short-term emergency volunteer activity Foodbank had grown dramatically, needing additional premises and employing staff. Financially it was swamping all other activities and had governance demands beyond a non-incorporated group of volunteers. Following legal advice the constitution was amended to clarify “The prevention and relief of poverty” as a specific objective whereas before we had relied on that being an explicit feature of the Christian faith, as encompassed by “To promote the Christian faith, in particular to advance knowledge about all aspects of Christianity and to seek greater understanding and unity in the fellowship of Christ’s Church.” This change enabled the transfer of assets to DoC which is not explicitly a Christian Charity, albeit with a strong Christian ethos. The Dover Money Course had problems recovering after the Covid pandemic. Some volunteers did not return, Christians Against Poverty revamped their training for all Money Coaches and it proved difficult to recruit potential clients. We worked closely with other Christian Charities including the Dover Street Pastor Initiative and Dover Outreach Centre including the Dover Winter Night Shelter. Our Ecumenical Children’s ministry ran a successful holiday club but it is proving difficult to match the facilities volunteer organisers can manage with the full day events that parents would prefer in order to arrange their childcare. Easter Joint services were successful with good attendance from the placing of Crosses at St Mary’s on Palm Sunday, the Passion Monologues performed in the Walk of Witness through the town on Good Friday to the Sunrise Celebration at dawn on Easter morning. Open meetings resumed with a variety of speakers, but the number of volunteers have yet to rebuild to pre-Covid levels. CTiD & related Christian groups provided 7 stalls for Dover Regatta publicising our work and outreach. Prior to transferring the Foodbank continued to grow, in terms of need, funding. The Fuel Bank initiative has been successful at meeting the needs of many in fuel poverty and the generous funding from Dover District Council continued, especially for the Household Support Fund. Our largest activity is now Baby Basics which has seen a great increase in demand. Storage space provided rent-free by the Port of Dover, was being used for Foodbank but is now being re-purposed to store items for Mothers and Babies Our churches have cooperated in arranging and publicizing ‘Warm Hubs’ in the both 2022/3 and 2023/4 winter periods. Page 2 of 15 ## **Achievements** Dover Foodbank fed 20% more people than 2022 CAP Dover Money Course, 3 coaches running in a new format. Baby Basics - Distributed 101 bundles. ## **Plans for the Future** To continue to re-establish activities in a post-Covid world. To establish a sustainable strategy for Dover Money Course. To investigate opportunities for our churches to work together supporting the community. To work on recruiting more volunteers. ## **Statement of Trustees Responsibilities** The trustees are responsible for preparing the trustees' report and the financial statements in accordance with the United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice) and applicable law and regulations. The law applicable to charities requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources of the charity for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to: - select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently; - observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP; - make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; - state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements; and - prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in business. The trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charities Act 2011, the applicable Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations, and the provisions of the constitution. The trustees are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities. ## **The three pages of accounts that follow are an integral part of the report.** Signed on its behalf the trustees of the charity by : Chairman David Slater Date 4[th] March 2024 Page 3 of 15 Finance Summa FIMAMCE SUMIAARY- 2023 A*￿ts 1" J*nu Exp•ndlturn Auets 31• t>*¢•mb•r Donatk•ns General £a.306.79 £1.045.￿ / .É2.431.f)4 / £1,9ZI.64 £8iUa £767.70 / 1.346.4 b / £JJ).08 £99,sn.30 £7JA¥.OJ £0.￿ , £73.01933 £3UXffj. .£105,089.43 £o.o) / £24.96 £O.th) / lo.￿ £24.96 . £4ai.53 / £0.￿ / -1438.t3 1 £O.qKI £353&72 £3.162.10 / -£4.758.2 1 / £1.94￿55 / £477.63 £￿(￿) / 4116.CQ / £361.63, 2135 1.561.47 / £159.18 P¢•rtChaptskncy £174A6 £1750 / 99.78 / £9111 RNU £1750 .£17.50 4 £0.￿¥ / Total Z023 £￿.860.90 / £108.01&71/ 4286,478.69/ £SAOO.92 / T¢)tal 2022 £87.817JZ £￿9.183.63 -£103.140.55 £18U6thyJ/ -Certh. 03.07.23 a are no longer part_ol the Christians Togets*71 Page4of15 **Independent Examiner’s Report on CTID General Account for 2023 Accounts** Page 5 of 15 ## **Independent Examiner’s Report on CTID - Foodbank for 2023 Accounts** Page 6 of 15 ## **Activity Reports** ## **Secretaries Report** Hazel Groves During 2023 there have been 4 Executive meetings, as well as the 4 Open meetings, including the AGM with an EAGM in respect of matters concerning the transfer of Dover Foodbank to DOC. The email list currently stands at 165. The Facebook group is active with an increase of members to 294. ## - **CTiD Website** http://www.christianstogetherindover.org.uk/ Marianne Slater Activity on the website has continued this year with events being posted as quickly as possible following receipt of information. If you have or know of an event, please send the information with a poster to catch people’s attention. My plea as always is to be to let Hazel know of any event taking place, then between us we can circulate the information to as wide a range of people as possible. We can never have too much information. Please also remember that the CTiD website has links to all your churches and outreach activities so please keep your own websites up to date and inform me if your web address changes. If anyone spots something I have missed please let me know. ## **Christians Against Poverty (CAP) Money Coaching** ## Deacon Michelle Legumi We currently have x3 active Money coaches: Deacon Michelle Legumi, Liz Bird and Wendy Hopper. In 2023 CAP changed their approach to supporting people with their budget, including changing all the resources. This meant that all current Money Coaches needed to update their training in order to continue as Coaches. All 3 coaches undertook the CAP transition course before the required end of October 2023. We are very grateful to CTID for purchasing the updated resources and materials to run the courses In November/December we were invited by the Dover Asylum and Resettlement Team to lead sessions for some of the families placed here in Dover. These sessions were very much appreciated by the men, well received, and a great support to some of the families, some of whom had only been in the UK for a couple of weeks. We are waiting to hear about a follow up session. The team hopes to run more sessions this year in Dover, to support people with their budgeting. Do let us know if you would like us to come and lead the course. There is flexibility on how it is delivered. It can be anything between 2 and 4 sessions, week days or weekends (subject to coaches’ availability), and to fit in with those who need it. Thank you Page 7 of 15 ## **Baby Basics Dover & Deal** ## Hannah Hills It has been another busy year for us but with no emergency resettlement schemes we have seen our numbers dip slightly on last year. The thing we have noticed is a drop in our donations and we are having to work harder to keep our stock topped up and also purchase more new cots and buggies as less of these are being donated by our community who need to sell them for themselves due to the cost-of-living crisis. Completed Requests 101 -10% Moses Basket Starter Packs 58 -3% Baby Bath Starter Packs 14 -33% Buggies 6 -25% Cots 12 +50% Feeding Bundles 6 -25% Nappy/Toiletry Bundles 16 +100% Other (sling/s’gate/h’chair) 23 Not recorded in 2022 As you can see from the above numbers, generally the demand for our service has dropped but we have seen a substantial increase in families needing support once their babies are older with cots, highchairs, stairgates and larger sized nappies which we provide along with a toiletries bundle for the whole family. We are once again grateful to Morrisons, Dover for all they do to support our service and also Common Good for providing such a great platform for people to donate to us. This year has also seen me taken on the extra role of the Hub Lead for the BB centres in the South East of England. This is a paid role and I am very much enjoying supporting the centres closest to us in Kent and Sussex. I have also become a trustee this year for Christians Together in Dover and very much enjoy networking with church leaders in Dover as well as giving back to my community in another way. Thank you to each and every person who has supported us this year. Your generous and ongoing giving continues to humble me. ## **Dover Foodbank** Laura Ashman - Project Manager In January 2023, we had seen a slight increase in service users compared to 2022, this quickly escalated to over a 20% increase for the remainder of the year. Donations however, continued to drop by around 60% for the first half of 2023 but slowly picked up towards the middle of 2023. The majority of the first half of 2023 was planning and preparation for our move into the new premises we had been successful in gaining funding for. The move was vital to support our ever-expanding food bank requirements and the vast array of needs of our service users. The plan was to allow service users more time with our advisors so we could really work out what they needed help with and provide the dignity of shopping for themselves. The move had its ups and downs, and we took a while to find the right location with enough space for storage. We had planned to use the new space to create a café/shop and together with adequate storage for all our products. However, we could not secure a location big enough for everything, so we decided to open a shop that had enough storage to hold just our ‘fast’ moving products. On September the 5th Dover foodbank successfully opened a shop located on the high street in Dover. The location allowed for easy access to the foodbank being on a main bus route and an increase in ‘walk in’ donations has been observed. Since opening the store Dover foodbank has had around a 35% increase in service users and donations have also started to increase. We have had great feedback from service Page 8 of 15 users and visitors on our layout and unique way we work. The store gives a more ‘human’ feel and gives people back their independence which is crucial to our mission. On the 4th of July 2023, Dover foodbank moved from CTID trustees to Dover outreach trustees this was a welcome change from both CTID and Dover Outreach as Dover foodbank as a charity had grown so much over the last few years and both CTID and Dover Outreach agreed this would be what was best for the good of the Foodbank. Unfortunately, our assistant manager Hannah decided to move on to new endeavours towards the end of 2023 within the charity sector. And we are pleased to say we had found a replacement relatively quickly and welcomed Josie Bothamley to our team at the beginning of November 2023 and Josie has fitted in with the team immediately. During the end of 2023 we had applied for a grant to allow us to Hire a CAB advisor who is fully trained in benefits, money and housing. We are pleased to say that we hired our CAB advisor this January and so far, this has been very successful with engaging our service users. I would like to thank CTID for all the support that was given since 2013 without all that was involved Dover foodbank would not be where it is today. I would also like to thank the Dover Outreach centre for taking us on and helping us to expand further so we can reach our entire community and support whoever may need it. And to the Rotary club for all their support with our move and collections for donation they do multiple times a year you have done such an amazing job at supporting us. I would also like to thank anyone who has supported us since we opened in 2013, we would not have been able to help so many people had it not been the support from each and every one of you. Thank you. Laura and the entire team at Dover Foodbank. ## **Dover Outreach Centre** Judith Shilling, Chair of Trustees The aim of Dover Outreach Centre is to support people on their journey to a better life. We believe in giving people in need a hand up rather than a hand out, and we offer this in a number of ways.Drop in centreThe centre is open five days a week and has a range of facilities for anyone who visits. These range from showers and a laundry service, to access to computers and phones, as well as several health services. We have recently engaged a resettlement support worker who helps foreign nationals return to their country. Winter night shelter. The night shelter operates from December to March in a 10 bedroomed property in Dover, and meals are prepared and delivered by teams of volunteers. Most residents are found somewhere to live before they leave. Outside the night shelter months, the rooms are used by DDC for emergency accommodation. Accommodation We lease 3 properties in addition to the one running the night shelter, which offer a total of 44 beds. Victory House and Roman Quay are for those with high support needs, and Oban House are for those with medium/low support needs. We are actively looking to find properties that our residents can move on to where they can thrive, living independently with minimal support being the goal. Sunrise Café The Cafe has been open since 2022, and operates a “pay what you can afford” approach. It is open to all, and we have a good number of loyal customers as well as those who have no way of paying for food. Foodbank We’ve recently brought the Dover Foodbank under our umbrella. It continues to provide food for those in an emergency, and last year it moved into permanent premises at the Charlton Centre. The Bridge On Sunday afternoons, this group meets at Victory House to share faith stories and discuss Christianity. They are currently running an Alpha Course. Personnel We have 19 employees (FTE 15) across the organization, and governance is offered by 7 trustees along with our Chief Executive Officer. Page 9 of 15 **Port of Dover Chaplaincy** Canon David Slater, Lead Chaplain Regular Chaplaincy visits to offices and ships have continued this year, but many individuals are still working from home, many areas have down-sized, and enhanced fire regulations have meant logging in and out of some offices to avoid limits being exceeded. Traffic levels have recovered but travelers are tending to stay in their cars, reducing interactions. The good news has been the appointment in July of Major Richard Oliver by the Salvation Army to spend half his time running their congregation in Folkestone, but the other 50% as chaplain in Dover and Folkestone with a view to developing new opportunities with Kent Workplace Mission in East Kent. Richard’s appointment is taking a lot of pressure off me personally. Support to the crews of cargo ships has been very ably managed by Rev John Fogarty and Mike Fitzpatrick working with the Roman Catholic Stella Maris Mission. Unfortunately, John has been transferred by his bishop t be a prison chaplain but hopefully there will be a replacement in the spring of 2024. The team is currently down to 7, a mixture of Anglicans, Catholics and Salvation Army. We would welcome any new volunteers, especially from other denominations, and particularly with a maritime background to be ship visitors. The port is still getting trainee ordinands whose courses require exposure to non-church settings, as we are one of the few opportunities that isn’t a hospital or prison. Dover’s reputation for tours to show church leaders frontline chaplaincy continues with visits including the Archdeacon of Canterbury, a Past Moderator of the URC and the Chair of the Methodist South East District. We provided the usual round of Services such as Herald of Free Enterprise memorial (reduced, but still reading the roll of those lost), Sea Sunday, Merchant Navy Day and the Port Remembrance Service. Preparations are in had for some of these in 2024, including a Royal British Legion parade remembering the 80[th] anniversary of D-Day. These events are for large numbers, but large numbers of individuals with their own stories, I had a long chat with a Belgian diver who had been on the wreck of the Herald – he still comes to Dover for the anniversary. Although the proposed additional EU controls were not introduced in 2023 they are still expected next autumn (after the Paris Olympics) which is likely to result in long delays, passengers stuck in jams and staff highly stressed. The decision of Eurotunnel to reduce their capacity for coaches pushed many to Dover and caused us some stressful periods. The strike by Eurotunnel staff in France just before Christmas also caused big tailbacks, hurting passengers and staff. Migrants are still a problem and the RNLI are still getting many calls. Although chaplains and other faith groups are excluded from Border Force areas directly I was asked to contribute to a series of sessions trying to get a prayer space set up at Manston. Links with Workplace Mission UK, the South East Port Welfare Committee of the Merchant Navy Welfare Board (MNWB), Kent Voluntary Sector Emergency Group and Kent Workplace Mission continue, many of the more distant ones by Zoom. We still hope to get a retail chaplaincy going, but getting key people together has proved difficult. No doubt, with the Lord’s timing, it will come to fruition in due course. In November I was appointed a Lay Canon of Canterbury Cathedral, citing my chaplaincy work at Dover and Eurotunnel. I regard this very much as recognition for the team, who are there to take the church and Christ to the travelers and workers in the Port. Page 10 of 15 ## **CMM (Christian Music Ministries)** Susan Randall, Group leader It was a delight to welcome a good number from local churches to our very exciting and inspirational weekend last February when Roger & Mary Jones & Sarah Moreton (of CMM, Birmingham) visited River Methodist Church, holding a workshop on the Saturday and leading two services on the Sunday. As a group our CMM Singers presented our “Review of Three Musicals” in two churches in 2023 & then “Saints Alive!” at the Baptist Church in Dover, Cade Road in Ashford and Larkfield in Maidstone in May, June & August 2023. We are now rehearsing “Wildfire” the story of Stephen, the first Christian martyr ready for presenting it this year. The music is beautiful, dramatic and inspirational. We rehearse on one Saturday per month at River Methodist as well as having one Thursday evening per month at Gordon & Elaine Newton’s home. Our group comprises Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Methodist & members of One Church, as well as some Methodists from Folkestone – we number 15-20 on a good day but would love more altos and male voices! Sight reading is **not** a priority, but enthusiasm and willingness to “sing & share our faith” is! We would also welcome instrumentalists who may wish to give us a “trial”. Our main accompanist is Gordon Newton, whose support is an absolute Godsend! CMM and Roger & Mary are now planned to do a repeat visit to us in March 2024 helping River Methodist to celebrate their anniversary. Current plans are for a Cream Tea and concert on the Saturday evening, inviting family and friends from Dover & the locality as well as having a special Service on Sunday morning and Circuit Service on Sunday evening. ## **Children’s Activities** ## Carol Boxall CRAZY SCIENCE PARTY EVENT - 18th February 2023 This was an event for all the family led by Duggie Dug Dug. It proved to be a much enjoyed afternoon for around 150 children and adults with lots of science fun, activity songs and learning about God’s love for us all. The event was rounded off with drinks and food. There was an atmosphere of expectation and the afternoon proved exciting and engaging. One child’s quote was “I’ve had the best time ever”. The Party was an outreach event and as such the publicity and invitations went out to schools, groups, churches and individual children who had attended other CTID Children’s Events. Local schools were very open to putting the invitation out to parents and this was reflected in the number of schools represented at the event. It was a pleasure to have Doug and one of his team with us and our team was able to talk, share and enjoy lunch with him. My thanks to Zetta from DBC for planning the lunch. It would be great to offer another Duggie event to families in the future. Inevitably, it does cost, so fund raising could be an option to engage and involve more churches in the planning. THE RESTORATION STATION HOLIDAY CLUB - July 2023 The Restoration Station was packed with creative ideas, games and fun. It was based on Jesus the Restorer through John’s Gospel. The main focus over the three mornings was about connecting and exploring with children the hope of restoration and growth in knowing Jesus. AIM of Club: To help the children know that Jesus meets them where they are. That Jesus can forgive all the ‘stuff’ that needs sorting out in their lives. That Jesus can restore us to wholeness. Page 11 of 15 The character of Chips headed the club up taking the children through the morning, introducing Daisy and Dan, our animated friends for the club and linking the bible base with the craft, games and the aims of the club. The Club was set in a Work Shed with the children based in workbench teams, with areas designed around a skill or craft e.g stonemasons, potters, wood turners, blacksmiths and sculptures. Each workbench had their own jingle verse which proved to be a highlight everyday. The Snack Shack Team provided our famous Holiday Club Cocktails including Mud Rock, Spanner Hammer, Chisel Blast and Ruby Satin. Although numbers were fairly low compared to previous years it was enjoyed by children and the adult team alike. God blessed our time together and to see children worshipping in song and in prayer was a privilege and so special. Tidal Wave, a Duggie Song, was our theme song and as always the children picked it up really quickly, along with all the actions. This year we decided to have share lunch on the last day with the children and their families rather than an afternoon party. This proved very successful and finished the Club on a high!! I would like to thank the CTID Executive and some very generous individual donations for funding the above events. Also, my thanks to all the team for their hard work in the preparation and during both events. ## THE FUTURE The Children’s Team did meet in early autumn to discuss options around our events moving forward. Sadly, due to limits on capacity and circumstances the Light Party was one event that didn’t take place this year. Our discussions at the meeting were frank and there was and is much to consider and pray about if this work is to continue. There is a real need for more churches to become actively involved, rather than the few, and to ensure succession planning is considered if CTID Children’s Events are going to continue. Nevertheless, God has blessed what we have able to offer to him as we have reached out with God’s love to the young lives in our church and town communities ## **Fair Trade** Pam Brivio, Dover Fairtrade Town Network DFT has continued to meet regularly during 2023 and have attended a number of local community events in the town to promote Dover as a Fairtrade Town. These have included the multi-cultural festival, the Regatta, the Big local Urban Fete, THF community fun Day, Big local urban Fete, Charlton Christmas Fair. At these events we provide free samples of Fairtrade goods and highlight where Fairtrade products can be purchased. Our updated FAIRDO magazine provides information/explanation what Fairtrade is about and the benefits buying Fairtrade brings. And how people can get involved with our local group. Fairtrade fortnight in 2023 was held from 27 February to 12 March 2023 and we had our usual stalls again at local stores but also a reception at the Town Councill offices which was well attended. At the reception we had presentation about what it means to be a “Fairtrade Community” . a quiz, a raffle and there were free samples of tea/coffee etc courtesy of Kingdom coffee company “(coffee with a conscience”) . Reception was also attended by students of the DGSG (a fairtrade school) who told us about their activities to promote Fairtrade at the school. Fairtrade Fortnight will be held later in 2024 (from 9 September to 22 September) the change is because it will coincide with 30th anniversary of the first Fairtrade Town, Garstang Here in Dover we have had our status as a Fairtrade Town renewed until 2027 . Page 12 of 15 We are working with DDC with a view to the District becoming a Fairtrade Community – as Deal also has Fairtrade status and Sandwich has passed the necessary resolution to become Fairtrade, this does seem achievable DDC in the past has renewed its commitment to Fairtrade, it has representatives on both existing Fairtrade Groups (Deal and Dover) Our plans to resume visits to local schools, has not made the progress we had hoped so this is a priority for 2024. As I have said before if anyone has contacts with local schools we would be pleased to hear from them . Our next event will involve the café at Kearsney Park; it has been established that they can be accredited as fairtrade, as use the requisite number of products at the Café. The aim is for the Mayor of Dover (a founder member of the Dover group who obtained the original Fairtrade status in 2009 )to visit the café to award signage to acknowledge this, An issue that would like to follow up with the churches is that of continuing to recognise the churches as fairtrade. Can I please hear from you if you do continue to use Fairtrade products at any events run at your respective churches. I Would like to end with the following statement There are many ways to be involved not just locally but nationally, (see Fairtrade Foundations website fairtrade.org.uk) But the following is a statement on reflecting on why you choose Fairtrade “You already know choosing Fairtrade is best for people and the planet. But do you know communities use Fairtrade to drive positive change? Income from Fairtrade sales has meant tea growers in India investing in organic methods (1) it’s meant solar panels generating electricity for farmers in Cote d’Ivoire (2) Fairtrade banana growers in Columbia have used their income to buy medical equipment for their community during the global pandemic (3) Fairtrade general committees support women on Fairtrade Flower farms to assert their rights and tackle abuse and discrimination (4). Thank you for your continued support ## **Dover Street Pastors Report for 2023 Carol Boxall (DSPI Secretary)** Our teams continue to patrol the streets of Dover on Friday and Saturday nights, as well as some afternoons, to listen, care and help. The initiative continues to work with our Urban Trinity partners the District Council and Police, and strong links have developed with other agencies & others are being developed. Stuart Walker joined us as Coordinator in January 2023 and has since become a Street Pastor. Recruitment of both Street and Prayer Pastors was part of our vision in 2023 and this will continue into 2024 as Stuart meets with church leaders and presents to church based groups in the first instance about all we do as Street Pastors, how to support and become a member. During 2023 DSPI has increased from 5 to 6 teams and each team is named after a patrolled area of Dover e.g Castle, Maison Dieu, Pencester. We have patrolled 66 times in 2023 up from 52 in 2022. In December 2023 we had 23 Street Pastors, 10 Prayer Pastors, 5 Home Prayer Pastors and 3 Event volunteers. We had the great pleasure of commissioning both Street and Prayer Pastors at our Commissioning Service in September and a number of new recruits are undertaking the training programme, which requires considerable commitment over 12-18 months. Our Chair is visionary and God continues to lead by saying ‘More of the Same’. Therefore, 2024 looks to be another exciting year. Page 13 of 15 Dover Street Pastors 2023 Year End Report ASCÈNSION PASTORS Oover In 2023 Dover Street Pastors were out for 1,779 volunteer hours & had conversations with: 408 Women 893 Men We gave out: 166 Hot drinks 26 Bottles of Water 198 Snacks 196 Lollies 6 pairs of Flip Flops 8 Foil Blankets 34 Items of Clothing 6 Sunrise vouchers We disposed of: 159 Bottles / Glass Page 14of15 **The Passion Monologues** Jonny Boxall On Good Friday (7[th] April), as part of the walk of witness in Dover, we did The Passion Monologues. These were a collection of 5 monologues from individuals that would have been present during the death of Jesus and are now presenting their version and thoughts of the event. The individuals included Peter, a servant girl from the high priest's court, Pilate, Mary Magdeleine and Mary mother of Jesus. This event took place through Dover town and up to the Dover Castle. The event was well attended with approximately 200 people in attendance. The original idea was to produce a full reenactment of the Passion play, but after offering two opportunities for auditions and trying to get into contact with local operatic societies, we didn't have enough actors to run what was originally intended. This meant we had to go back and adapt it to the monologues. Over the months of January to April we had several rehearsals, which greatly help to polish the final performances. Many people who attended praised the event and mentioned how powerful and moving they found it. There were some who mentioned they missed the worship aspect and singing inbetween each stop, whereas other praised the opportunity to talk to others and opportunities to evangelise between each stop. Some felt the event would be better positioned in the afternoon when the town would be busier and more non-churched people would be present. Lastly, many wanted the event to be repeated again with potentially more/different monologues or even a potentially full reenactment of the events of Good Friday. I would like to say a final thank you to all the actors involved, Olive for designing and creating the costumes, Ashley and Phil for the sound, David for his mentoring, guidance and support and for all those that supported on the day including the Street Pastors. Page 15 of 15