Busy parents and the elderly to benefit

Five Wellington churches have joined forces to launch a new outreach initiative in downtown Lower Hutt.

It is called The Anchorage and will include a ‘short time’ creche for children and a place for the elderly to gather.

The crèche is to help parents who have urgent appointments with dentists, lawyers and the like by providing somewhere secure to drop off kids for an hour or two.

Former Hutt City mayor Glen Evans had the original idea, and the churches have run with it.

Richard Lamb, a St James’ Church parishioner who chairs the Heart of the Hutt trust, says it is not intended as a café in competition with other cafes.

“It will not provide a selection of food, but probably only a biscuit with a drink, unless a volunteer brings in home-made muffins.”

He says the churches are keen to be more relevant and make a difference in people’s lives.

“As churches we feel we are not reaching out into the community to show people the love of God in the way that we should be. We tend to do things in our own patch. We need to become ‘incarnational’. God sent Jesus to where people were…The vision of the heart of the Hutt Trust is Christian churches partnering with the community, enriching the heart and soul of Hutt City.”

The Trust, backed by the city’s Anglican, Baptist and Catholic churches, the Hope Centre and Victory Christian Centre, is paying the rent and running costs of the venue.

Mr Lamb adds that the trust has plans to host parenting, budgeting, tough love, legal, marriage enrichment and other life skills courses at the Anchorage.

The initiative has the support of local businesses. The City Council is also helping to support the Trust financially.

By Aaron Ironside