Dear Fellow Church Leaders,

I speak as the outgoing Chairperson about the immediate action needed by you and the churches you represent to prevent closure of this amazing ministry.

For over 25 years PARCHE – The Church in Care Homes, has been helping to coordinate and equip our Eastbourne churches to minister to the many care homes in our town. Many lives have been blessed and changed by this wonderful work. This charity was set up to coordinate how WE, the church, minister to the elderly in care homes so it is our joint responsibility to support this ministry.

However, unless you take immediate action this important Christian charity will not be able to continue.

In recent years many church teams have had to cease going into care homes to take services, befriending residents and staff because of the age or illness of the team members themselves. BUT the lack of succession planning amongst the churches means there simply are not enough people anymore who are able or willing to take up their precious mantle.

What can we do you may ask?

• Trustees: we need new trustees to take responsibility for leading this valued ministry into the future and to help the existing trustees.
• Administration: We are currently interviewing for our Office Manager role – so prayers into this would be great (our wonderful Office Manager Marylou is leaving to focus on her other  commitments)
• Local coordinator: (our existing coordinator Debbie, who is my wife, and I are moving to Uckfield where I am now stationed) we need someone to coordinate between the care homes and the churches. We currently have many more care homes wanting services than existing teams able to go in.

The hours required to help are variable according to need.

• Finance: PARCHE has always been mainly funded by the local churches but in the past few years that support has decreased dramatically as various demands compete for attention within our church communities. We have also been able, from time to time, to secure other external funding, but we need help to secure further grants.

Please don’t let this valuable Eastbourne ministry die, respond today, let us know now how you can help.
Please reply by return to parcheenquiries@hotmail.co.uk

God Bless you

Andy

Rev Andy Melvin
Chair of Trustees