On Wednesday 9th October 2024, over 70 Hope into Action church partners, staff, F&S groups and supporters met online to give thanks for the work and celebrate the achievements of our incredible church partners over the last year. Church Partners are the 'secret sauce' that makes up Hope into Action. Through the friendship, support and compassion shown to tenants who have experienced homelessness, Church Partners and F&S volunteers help to restore identity to tenants and provide a community and a sense of belonging. We are incredibly grateful to all our partners who give their time and resources to support others. Thank you for everything you do. 

Below, you will find a selection of videos from the thanksgiving evening. We hope these provide hope and excitement for the achievements and lives changed over the past year. 

Watch our celebration video below.

This years service fell the day before World Homeless Day and World Mental Health Day. Mental health is a global crisis. We wanted to focus closely on this topic for our service, particularly as it effects our tenants directly during their recovery from homelessness.

Our guest speaker for the service was Corin Pilling, Director at Sanctuary UK, a charity set up to equip the Church to support mental health and wellbeing. Sanctuary provide resources that meaningfully engage the topics of faith and mental health. Sanctuary UK's content is developed in collaboration with theologians, mental health professionals, and people with lived experience of mental health challenges. These resources prepare communities of faith around the world to raise awareness, reduce stigma, support mental health, and promote mental wellbeing. 

Below is Corin's talk during the service. 

We would like to thank everyone for attending and we hope you enjoyed celebrating our Church Partners and the work they have done over the past year. Our Church Thanksgiving Service will be taking place next year in October so keep an eye on our events page for further information and for all upcoming events including our Annual Conference 2025!