Barton Salvation Army LEAF club sows seeds of friendship

A Salvation Army social club is sowing the seeds of creativity and friendship in Barton-upon-Humber. 

The LEAFS group, which stands for Learning, Enjoyment and Friendship Social Club, meet every Monday afternoon at the church and charity in Tofts Road.

Open to all, the group will take part in a guided craft activity or games session, share in conversation and worship - with the aim being to help tackle isolation in the community. 

Recent sessions have seen them make cards, Easter decorations, jewellery and take part in flower arranging, crochet and tie dying. 

Major Joy Beckett-Brown, church leader at Barton-upon-Humber Salvation Army, who runs the sessions with volunteer Melissa, said: “LEAFS is a social club that offers a variety of activities including craft projects, worship, and conversations, with the goal of providing learning, enjoyment, and friendship opportunities for its members. 

“The sessions are creative, focused, easy to follow and designed to be inclusive and accessible. The materials are provided so you get a try of something new that if you were at home you might think ‘I can’t afford to do that’.

“You don’t have to be a crafty person to be involved in it but one of the joys is that you present an idea or instruction to every person and the results are different because their own individuality comes out. 

“One of the big things for us in this community is that there are a lot of elderly people and people who live by themselves, so there’s some loneliness. This group, as well as the luncheon club we hold before it, gives people the chance to escape looking at the same four walls and have a conversation with somebody that they wouldn’t have had if they had stayed at home.” 

Continuing to inspire the group is Hazel Bushel who was the group leader before she passed away a year ago. 

Joy continued: “Hazel was a very crafty lady. All of the material provided to the group was Hazel’s, which was passed onto us by her family and means we won’t have to buy anything for years to come. All the greetings cards that we sell are made from stock we got from Hazel so she’s still, after her passing, making money that is being put back into the community. That’s Hazel’s legacy and her influence lives on.”

Sarah joined the group after coming to church one Sunday and finding The Salvation Army was the right fit for her. 

Sarah said: “I knew The Salvation Army was a church that helped people so the first Sunday I came to worship, I thought ‘yes this is my place’ and I’ve been coming ever since. 

“I joined LEAFS because I wanted to get to know people. I don’t go very far away from home because I’m a carer for my husband, so this group gives me a bit of a break and a chance to be more than a carer and a wife. I’m not very crafty and arty but it gets me out, I enjoy it and I have met some nice ladies.”

Participant Jean added: “I like the conversations we have and the sense of friendship.” 

Another member, Nora, said: “I live alone so it is just nice to see somebody.” 

Nora soon realised she had something in common with another member, Brenda, a former Salvation Army officer, after they got chatting in the group. They both grew up in Sheffield and discovered that their families had lived close to each other and that Brenda’s brother had worked at the same company as Nora’s father. 

Brenda said: “We learned all that just from being in this group. It’s a small world.” 

Barton-upon-Humber Salvation Army also runs parent and toddler groups, two drop-in cafes, two food bank days, has a band and choir (songsters), Sunday worship and also hires out the hall to a dementia café. For more information visit their website or follow them on Facebook.