Time Out stands out in Devon 

A Baptist church's seaside community hub staffed by volunteers is thriving, thanks partly to a grant from Baptist Insurance

Time Out is Roselands Community Church’s Mission in Christ – a café-turned-hub that’s helping to defeat loneliness and isolation on the Roselands housing estate, a suburb of Paignton on the Devon coast.

The café ran successfully from 2011, but the pandemic lockdowns rendered it unviable.

In 2022, the management team broadened the scope of the building, to attract a wider, more diverse range of users – but they needed funding to extend opening hours and to develop and expand the services on offer.

Part of the money came from donations and the church itself, but a Baptist Insurance grant of £4,320 helped to drive the project forwards.

‘Roselands has a lot of elderly people, young families, and transient renters,’ said management team member Yvonne Saunders.

‘Loneliness is a real issue, particularly for the elderly, and we also wanted to bring families together and give the children a good start in life.

'There are no facilities in the area, so – as the only church on the estate – we’re well-placed to provide a community hub in a Christian setting.’

In its first year of operation the number of users more than doubled, and the usage continues to increase. On any given day you might find an arts-and-crafts session, a genealogy group meeting, or a knit-and-natter club working diligently on blankets for the homeless, or tiny jumpers for children.

‘Silver surfers drop by to use the computers,’ said Yvonne. ‘We hold lots of prayer meetings, and we’ve developed links with the Citizens Advice Bureau, the Roselands Primary School – where we hold our church services – local and national businesses, and Torbay Council.

'This has all helped us to enhance the range of provision we can offer, through initiatives like Warm Spaces, and advice sessions. We’ve even held 70th birthday parties.

‘We deliver our Christian message gently, but we’ve seen an increase in church attendances, and I can think of three ladies who have either come to faith or returned to it via the hub. We’re very grateful to Baptist Insurance for helping us on our way and we look forward to building on this great start.’

‘It’s wonderful to see the success of Time Out, and especially that it’s bringing people together and helping them to find God,’ said Anne Bishop, Chair of the BIC Grants Committee.

‘It’s a great example of what hard work, inspiration, and a small amount of money can achieve.’ 
 

This article originally appeared on the Baptist Insurance website, and is republished with permission