We're here all year round, says Salvation Army

The Salvation Army has long been part of Christmas with its appeals and brass bands playing carols. But its West Midlands leaders say the season's fundraising and message of love fuel projects all year round as it tries to meet different communities' needs and adapt to a changing world.

The Christian church and charity was founded by William and Catherine Booth in 1865, who took their Methodist faith to the streets of east London, bringing "soup, soap and salvation" to the most vulnerable.

It celebrated its 160th anniversary in the summer, having grown to become an international church working worldwide and running more than 600 community churches and social centres in the UK and Ireland.

It has more than 30 churches in the West Midlands, including in Shrewsbury, Longton and Willenhall.

In Worcester, John Bullock, 48, spent many hours helping the Salvation Army after being furloughed from work during the Covid pandemic.

"I spent a lot of time working alongside the church, helping with the homeless at the time. We were taking meals, actually to the local hotel where they were all being housed," he said.

"And from there, after Covid, the question was asked, 'would you be interested in doing this all the time?'"

He has since been its community manager and city projects include running a hot foot hub with Worcester Street Kitchen; a lunch club for older people and working with the city council, schools and others to provide emergency food parcels.

They also help with furniture and clothing through the Salvation Army (SA) donation centre.

"So quite often we'll have people come to us - whether they are suffering domestic abuse, whether they're being rehoused, whether they're asylum seekers, whatever it may be," he said.

Mr Bullock was born in Worcester and his parents were both in the Salvation Army. He remembers them working in the community most evenings, wearing traditional uniforms.

"My parents brought me to the Salvation Army church in a pushchair," he said.

He found his own Christian faith when "I was probably about 18" and finds it "powerful" to see the charity "put its faith into action".

"And I think, really, it's very rewarding in the sense of the stories we hear, the conversations we have, and actually the result of our work," he said.

Demand has increased, said Mr Bullock, partly through the cost of living crisis, while "a lot more acceptance" of issues like mental health made people more prepared to ask for support.

The feeding station had gone from giving meals and bags of food to 20 to 30 people to "as many as 80 people in an evening".

"We basically try and meet the need wherever that may be," he said.

It includes supporting food banks for students and distributing more than 500 bags of Christmas toys to families in the city following this year's appeal.

Lt Hannah Turnbull and her husband Stuart lead the Worcester church in their first appointment after training to be corps officers.

She said people probably knew the SA more as a charity and often associated her badge with the charity shop, but she explains she is church minister.

It opens up conversations to say "yeah, this is who we are", she said.

"This is what we're about and the charity shops are part of a way that we express our service to our community."

Lt Turnbull also grew up in a Salvation Army family and "found faith very early on as a child".

She added the message and belief was focused around the phrase "love came down at Christmas" with the birth of Jesus.

And it was this love which motivated their work "365 days a year", she said.

"Prominent at Christmas, yes, we get more attention at Christmas, but we're here all year round, and we love what we do, and we just love to be present in our community."

Lt Turnbull particularly enjoys being involved in the 'stay and play' group for under fives and chatting with parents and carers, some who may need reassurance or support.

She found it rewarding, being a parent herself and feeling "a little bit unsure of what to do".

She added their work can be just "having a conversation in a toddler group".

Major Adrian Allman, the SA's divisional commander for the West Midlands, said including children and young people was among its priorities.

Its Birmingham Aston church was "a great example of this", he stated.

"Once a declining, small congregation, Aston is now at heart of its community," he said, adding it was also "engaging effectively with young people who are exposed to violence and crime".

He believes the SA's priorities have "remained consistent" throughout its history and include sharing their faith and wanting "to meet human needs without discrimination".

With fewer people carrying cash, fundraising has changed and includes large donation centres, including new ones in Coventry and Warwick.

Their bands are still going strong, although not in Birmingham's New Street where a busking ban prevented their carol playing for the "first year in our history", said Major Allman, adding they could however still play in shopping centres.

Looking ahead to 2026, as a divisional leader, he believed dealing with a "decreasing number of available leaders" was a priority.

And while the SA does well collaborating with other agencies, he said, it must also make a distinctive contribution and look at areas of need not being met.

It should also explore new initiatives and go beyond "just meeting needs", he explained, and help empower people.

This is happening in Worcester which is among bases for the SA's Employment Plus service, helping with skills such as CV writing and interview techniques.

"It's really an all-encompassing employment-based service, just trying to help people get from where they are into paid employment," said Mr Bullock.

He added it expects to work more closely with the city's job centre, such as through providing work placements for people, in the new year.

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