London: Archbishop of Canterbury to broadcast New Year message from Redemptorist centre

Archbishop Welby

The Archbishop of Canterbury will deliver his New Year’s Message on the BBC, this year, from a homelessness charity founded by the Redemptorists in Clapham, south London,

Archbishop Justin Welby spent a day last week filming at the Ace of Clubs in Clapham where he met members of the community and took part in a music workshop. Ace of Clubs Director David Logan said: “It was absolutely fantastic to have the Archbishop of Canterbury here at the Ace of Clubs. He was very generous with his time, spending all day meeting members and even getting involved in a music workshop where he even played the drums!”.

Archbishop Justin Welby was introduced to the Ace of Clubs by the Church Urban Fund of which he is President. The Church Urban Fund helps finance the Ace of Club’s outreach work, escorting vulnerable men and women to appointments in the community.

The Ace of Clubs was founded members of the Redemptorist Monastic community in Clapham Common and opened in July 1995. They saw the need to develop a service helping homeless people with food, shelter and other basic needs such as showers and laundry.

Centre Manager Sarah Miles sad: “It is so important to offer a hand of friendship, a smile and a kind word – these simple gestures go such a long way to showing our clients that there are people out there who care about them.”

The ‘Ace of Clubs’ got its name from idea that many affluent Clapham residents belonged to exclusive membership clubs. The charity was founded as a “club for poor people”, to give them a sense of membership and belonging. Among the activities provided today are friendship, clothing, laundry, showers, accommodation advice, welfare advice, Job Centre Plus links, health care, an optician, education and training, a winter night shelter. There are also a variety of activity groups such as art, pottery, photography, music and a service run by trained homeless volunteers to fix bikes for the local community.

To find out more go to www.aceofclubs.org.uk