As Christmas draws near, Bishop Sarah spent one of her final engagements as Bishop of London visiting St Nicholas Church in Perivale, where the parish was hosting the Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter.
She spent time chatting to guests at the shelter, as well as meeting volunteers involved in the Night Shelter’s longstanding work with people experiencing homelessness in Ealing.
Safety, Warmth & Connection
The visit offered a moment of quiet reflection at a busy and demanding time of year for night shelters. With cold weather increasing risks for those without secure accommodation, twenty churches across the Ealing Deanery, including St Nicholas, work together to provide a rotating overnight shelter during the winter months.
These church-hosted shelters offer safety, warmth and food, alongside conversation, care and dignity. They are mostly staffed by committed volunteers from the church and wider local community.
A common feature of each evening is a nutritious, homecooked hot meal, shared around a table where guests and volunteers can chat together. After this, guests can bed down in the safety of a church or church hall, knowing they can have a warm night’s sleep. A night in the church means they are free from fear of abuse, theft or violence — experiences that are sadly common for people sleeping on the streets. For many guests, it is a place of trusted human connection at a time when isolation can be as acute as material need.
During her visit, Bishop Sarah spent time listening to the experiences of guests staying at the shelter and thanking volunteers for their commitment and compassion. She also met members of the parish, who described the practical and emotional realities of running a night shelter, particularly during the winter months.
Bishop Sarah was invited to pray a blessing over the meal before guests and volunteers shared food and fellowship.
Speaking during the visit, Bishop Sarah said:
As the nights grow colder, places like this winter night shelter stand as a powerful expression of compassion in action. They remind us that dignity, welcome and practical care can and must go hand in hand.
I am deeply grateful to the staff and volunteers of Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter who offer warmth, safety and hope to those who might otherwise be left out in the cold, and I encourage all of us to play our part in building a society where no one is forgotten.
Churches responding to the rise in homelessness
The Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter is one of a network of faith-based night shelter projects across London offering seasonal shelter and support to people facing homelessness. Over 32 such schemes operate across the capital, providing beds last winter for nearly 2,000 people who found themselves street-homeless. The schemes are co-ordinated by Christian charity Housing Justice, who also provide support and training for night shelter volunteers.
The visit comes at a time when many churches are reflecting on how best to respond to growing levels of hardship in their communities: rising living costs, housing insecurity, increasing pressure on public services, and the removal of accommodation for those granted refugee status.
Hope demonstrated as well as proclaimed
The visit also offered an opportunity to reflect on the wider meaning of Christmas.
As churches across the Diocese prepare to welcome people to services and community events, Bishop Sarah emphasised that the story of Christmas continues to speak into contemporary realities of poverty, displacement and insecurity. Bishop Sarah reflected:
Christmas tells us that God is not distant from human suffering. God comes to us in the midst of it. When the Church opens its doors in places like this, it is bearing witness to that truth in a very real and practical way.
Bishop Sarah’s visit to the Ealing Churches Winter Night Shelter served as a reminder that the Church’s presence is often most powerful when it is quiet, local and rooted in relationships — especially at Christmas, when hope is demonstrated as well as proclaimed.