Southport

First of all, welcome!  We’re glad that you’ve found us.

On this web page you'll find out a little bit more about what's going on at Southport Salvation Army.

If you'd like to join our Sunday Worship, either online or in person, you'll find information on how and when you can do that.  We're also offering the opportunity to learn more about prayer and the Bible, and you'll find more details about both The Prayer Course and The Bible Course.

If you're not a Christian and you'd like to find out more, then The Alpha Course will be perfect for you.

You might be interested in joining our wonderful team of volunteers who help us to serve our community, or in connecting with our midweek programme of activities.

Perhaps you'd like to observe from a distance for a while - we've also got a link to our Facebook page, where we share a bit more information about the life of this church.

Maybe, though, you'd like to get in touch in person.  You might want to introduce yourself, ask a question, or even offer some of your time as a volunteer.  If so, you can call us on 01704 547805, and you can email us at southport@salvationarmy.org.uk.

We really hope that you'll feel the warmth of the welcome at Southport Salvation Army.  As the sign in a friend's house says, "When you're here, you're family!"

SUNDAY GATHERING - 10:30am

Church is about more than an hour on Sunday morning.  It's not a building.  It's a group of people living out their faith in the everyday.  But we still place value on gathering as people who want to learn to live more like Jesus wherever we find ourselves during the week.

Our Sunday gathering is for people of all ages and for people whose faith in Jesus is strong, half-hearted or even non-existent.  Every week we try to make sense of the Bible and to understand why and how it is 'Good News' for the 21st century.

There is time for prayer, for music and for reflection.  There is also a talk which will  help you to make sense of life and faith in the everyday, from Monday to Saturday as well as on Sunday.  We try to make everything easy to understand and we focus on the possibility of having a meaningful relationship with God.

On the first Sunday of the month, we hold a special 'First Sunday' service (first prize for the original name!).  This is a relaxed service for all ages with tea and coffee available throughout.  It's aimed at people of all ages and it's particularly accessible to people who might not be used to a more formal church setting.  Sometimes our First Sunday takes the form of 'Brunch Church', where we go all out and lay on sausage and bacon barms and pastries.  It's not to be missed!  Check out our Facebook page (see the link) for more details.

On the remaining Sundays of the month we provide separate activities for the children (up to the age of 12/13), who leave us halfway through our service.

Our youth also meet every Sunday from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.

When and where does it happen?

Just come along on Sunday in time for a 10:30am start at our building in Shakespeare Street. There's no need to let us know, but if you are new you are welcome to drop us an email so that we can look out for you.  Contact details are as follows:

Phone: (01704) 547805

Email: southport@salvationarmy.org.uk

If you prefer to join us online, just visit our YouTube channel or our Facebook page.

You can join us live on Sunday at 10:30am or at any time after that.

Our Café and Shop are at the heart of what we are all about.  They are places of community, where people come together to eat, drink, meet, and build relationships.  We like to think of them as a 'Hub' of the Shakespeare Street community.  Why not pop in, grab a coffee, snap up a bargain, and say hello?

SHOP OPENING HOURS

Monday to Saturday 10:00am - 4:00pm

CAFÉ OPENING HOURS

Monday to Friday 11:00am - 3:00pm

Click here for more information about our Charity Shop

The Alpha Course

Have you ever wondered what life's all about and whether there's a meaning and purpose to it all?  If so, the Alpha Course is ideal for you.  The course combines top quality videos with time for food and discussion.  Alpha is open to everyone, no question is too crazy and you don't have to be 'religious' to take part.

Who is Alpha for? Anyone can attend.  But it's particularly suitable if you are not a Christian, but you want to find out more.

What's the format?  We'll share some food together.  We'll watch a video, lasting around 25 minutes.  Then we'll chat about what we've seen.

When's the next Alpha Course?  We haven't decided yet, but watch this space!

How do I register my interest?  If you would like to be part of a future Alpha Course, please get in touch:

email: southport@salvationarmy.org.uk

phone: (01704) 547805

Have you ever thought that the Bible might be living, active and useful for anything other than propping the door open?  Well, we find those descriptions of the Bible in the Bible!

If you're interested in exploring the big story of the Bible and seeing what difference it might make to your daily life, we recommend this book - "Whole Life, Whole Bible".

Click here to find out more.

Exploring Together

If you'd like to explore the Bible with others, we have a group that meets on Tuesday evenings in our building on Shakespeare Street.  You'd be very welcome to come along.  We run the group in 'mini-blocks' of 4-5 weeks at a time. Please contact us on the number below to check when the group is running.

We also run The Bible Course at different times during the year.  This is an eight-week course that helps you to get to grips with the big story of The Bible.  If you'd like to get a taste of what the course is all about, just click here.

If you would like to take part when we run it again, please email us: southport@salvationarmy.org.uk, or phone us on 01704 547805.

Prayer - what's that all about?  Good question.  Someone once said, "When I pray, it sometimes feels like I'm sending emails to a non-existent inbox".  Is anyone listening?  Then again, lots of other people are convinced that God really is there, he really does want to hear from us, and he really is listening!

If you're interested in exploring prayer, we run 'The Prayer Course' on a regular basis.  It's described as 'A simple guide to prayer for normal people'.  No previous knowledge is required and all are welcome.

To get more of an idea about the course, click here.

And if you'd like to know when the next course is running, email us ASAP: southport@salvationarmy.org.uk, or phone us on 01704 547805.

Life at Southport Salvation Army covers all the generations and everyone's welcome.

For the very young we have 'Messy Tots', which runs on a Tuesday afternoon for parents/carers and their small children.  We also have 'Dance Fit Tots' on Thursday mornings.  Please get in touch if you are interested in becoming part of these fantastic groups.

For children aged between 7 and 11 we have a weekly programme called Brass Roots.  (See below for more details).

Do you have a child in your family who is aged 7 to 11? Would they like the opportunity to learn a brass instrument?  If so, Brass Roots is for them! 

For just £1 per week they can benefit from expert tuition from members of our brass band.

Brass Roots runs every Tuesday during term-time.  We can't wait to see you!

Our Kids Choir is for children of school age, with a bit of help from a few older members.  If your child would like to come along for a sing, they would be more than welcome.

The Kids Choir rehearsal is from 5:30pm to 6:30pm on Wednesdays during school term-time.  The children also meet for a free cooked tea at 5:00pm.

For youth from year 7 upwards, we have 'ReConnect', a time for worship, chat and food.  They meet every Sunday from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.

Contact us on (01704) 547805 and we'd love to tell you more about these activities, as well as ways in which we are helping families in the community.

None of us is getting any younger, but we can still be teenagers at heart and make the most of life!

'Connect' is our weekly programme for Older People (but all are welcome), and we'd love it if you could  join us.

Connect runs on a rolling four-week cycle, with something different every week of the month.

• Connect Cafe - a filling and flavoursome meal served up for you by our catering team.
• Connect Together - a relaxed time of fellowship, often with a special guest.
• Connect Choir - a chance to have a good old sing, led by Brian.
• Connect with God - a short time of reflection and song, with a thought from the Bible to set you up for the coming week.

We also enjoy the occasional social event.  For example, earlier this year we watched Summer Holiday at the Southport Bijou Cinema.

Would you like to give back to your community?  If so, we'd love to hear from you.  We have a variety of volunteering opportunities at Southport Salvation Army.  We're keen to have more volunteers in our charity shop, where you might be sorting clothes, rotating stock or working at the till.

We also need help in our coffee shop, where you'll get to be the friendly face of The Salvation Army as you prepare and serve simple refreshments, clear up and wash up.  Why not get in touch?

You can contact us by phone on (01704) 547805, by email - southport@salvationarmy.org.uk - or simply call by our building in Shakespeare Street and come to reception for a chat.

We'd love it if you could stand alongside us as we reach out into the community.

One very practical way to help is by making a financial donation.

If you can help in this way, please click on the link below and you'll be taken directly to our JustGiving webpage.

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/southportsalvationarmy

Thanks in advance!

Our services aren't just about the things on offer, they're also about the people who come in; people in real life situations, facing tragedies, difficulties, struggling to triumph over adversity.  But we are fuelled by the good news stories of people who have been through a tough time, but who have overcome their difficulties and are in a better place now.

The Salvation Army has a long history of offering support to people who are vulnerable or in need.  We don't judge or condemn.  We just help.

We know that things are getting hard for people - especially since COVID-19 happened - and we are finding that more families, people experiencing homelessness, students and older people are coming to us for support.  Our focus is on giving people a hand up, not a handout.

Working with other local agencies, we signpost appropriate services for assistance and advice; housing support, food parcels, drug and alcohol misuse, or any other issues.  On a more basic level, we offer a provision of clothing to individuals in need and have a small amount of blankets that we can hand out when needed.  We will provide goods to families or individuals referred by local agencies.

Clothing

We will happily assist those who need clothing, offering a reasonable amount of clothes from our shop stock to anyone in need.  This includes people coming out of prison, those returning home from hospital, families in poverty, and the homeless.  People are regularly referred to us by The Soup Kitchen, Southport Foodbank and the NHS.

Furniture

Thanks to the generosity of general public, we are able to provide a range of furniture to those in need, free of charge.  However, there are occasions when we are unable to help due to insufficient stock - this includes, but is not limited to, white goods (e.g. washing machines, refrigerators) which are very rarely donated in working order.  People are regularly referred to us by Social Services and other related agencies.

Fuel Grants

Our Community Fund allows us to offer emergency fuel grants.  Many people live with a pre-pay meter for gas and electricity which is loaded by a key or card and in a crisis people often have to make a choice between food or fuel; this is where we are able to help.  We will top-up a person's key and/or card upon receipt of a referral (we CANNOT give out cash).  People are regularly referred to us by Southport Foodbank, Parenting 2000 and Social Services.

Referrals

We accept referrals from many different services across Sefton: it gives us peace of mind to know the person seeking help is in receipt of advice or support from other professionals.

To refer someone for fuel or clothing, please send them with a letter of referral (and their fuel card/key as necessary) to The Salvation Army.

To refer someone for furniture, please send a letter of referral to southport@salvationarmy.org.uk, detailing:

client's name, address and telephone number;

furniture required (in order of necessity);

contact details of referee.

We will contact the client directly in order to arrange delivery of goods.  If the client is moving into a new property, please give us an indication of the expected moving date.

We run a Baby and Toddler Bank from our building in Shakespeare Street , supported by Compassion Acts.  Our aim is that we support families experiencing financial hardship.  Families are referred to us by third party agencies.

We can offer support in terms of clothing, nappies, formula, baby food, toiletries, and larger items such as prams/pushchairs, cots, highchairs, and nursery furniture.  Each parcel is packed with love and is given in the same spirit.

We are always happy to receive donations of excellent quality pre-loved clothes from new-born to 4-5 years; as well as prams/pushchairs, cots, highchairs, and nursery furniture.

The Southport Foodbank operates at various locations around Southport on different days during the week.  We are open every Thursday between 3:30pm and 5:30pm.

If you have a voucher, come on down and collect your food parcel.  If you don't, you can chat to the advisor who is at every session.  We also have an advisor from Employment Plus at every session, who can help you with your employment questions.