Record numbers at drop-in for 5live

A church was delighted with the involvement of BBC Radio 5live when it featured the work of its drop-in centre and broadcast a programme from its premises.

Last Thursday and Friday saw members of 5live’s breakfast team visit Pier Avenue Baptist Church in Clacton. The programme was based around a report by the Centre for Social Justice, which highlighted deprivation in coastal towns.

On Thursday the crew spent time at the church’s Enfold Project, which serves some of the area’s most vulnerable people with food, shower facilities and access to services and agencies.

They spent around an hour and a half there, talking to the church’s own volunteers (including the kitchen staff), the supporting groups and many of those coming in for the breakfast. A number of interviews were carried out, which were broadcast the following day when host Nicky Campbell broadcast from the church.

Between 9 and 10am there was a live phone-in on the issue. The panel featured minister the Revd Sean Fountain.

Church elder Duncan Wood said the experience had been a positive one. ‘We were very impressed by the whole set up and the depth of research before they came.

‘The whole crew, including Nicky, seemed genuinely compassionate and occasionally one felt that tears were not far from their eyes.’

He added, ‘Oddly, we had our biggest numbers ever that day - we fed 65 people in all, and even that was with a number of regulars missing!'