The Springfield Centre, Birmingham... where it all began

The Springfield Children's Centre is now well-known as part of the government's new strategy of integrated children's services run by a church (you can read another part of the story).  This is how it all began.

When you look around the Springfield Centre, see the wealth of services it offers and the number of local people it connects with on a daily basis, it’s amazing to think that where it began. It all started in a church member’s front room as an unsuccessful mums and tots group that was about to be shut down. Now the centre offers two outstanding nursery classes, a family support team, out of schools clubs for 8-13 year olds, employment and training advice, English language courses and a range of services for new mums. The Centre is a lifeline to many in the community, a place to socialise as well as access vital services. Most of all, the Springfield Children’s Centre is a place where any member of the local community can come and feel loved, valued and cared for.

Being Jesus' hands and feet

Head of Centre Angie King says the vision behind the centre is simple:
“It’s about bringing the Bible to life and being Jesus’ hands and feet in our community. We want to share God’s love through our actions.”

She also says one of the keys to the Centre’s success has been in involving the local community right from the start. “In 2000 when the passion started to rise in St Christopher’s Church to do something for the local community, research was done to see what the community were asking for. It was clear that there was a real need for family services in the area. This was also evidenced in the fact the mums and tots group had gone from being almost shut down through lack of use, to being overwhelmed with new members. There were also many problems with unemployment, immigration and housing issues, so we knew part of supporting families was about helping them in these areas too.”

From that time the number of services offered and the number of people accessing them grew so a nursery and family support team were put in place. The big change came when the Springfield Centre became a Children’s Centre in 2006 after Birmingham City Council gave them a £2million grant to build the impressive centre they use today. The Centre is run by paid staff as well as volunteers and is strongly linked to St Christopher’s both physically and spiritually.

'Don't think it can't be done'

A clear message that shines through the Springfield Centre story is ‘don’t think it can’t be done’. What began as a small group for local mums has grown beyond what anyone could have imagined. It provides essential services for families and lives up to its aim to transform the community and help people understand that God loves them because God’s people are caring for them. Angie says, “It’s incredibly rewarding for us to see children doing better at school and improving their language; helping a parent get back to work, giving a refugee the confidence to start speaking English or helping women get the right antenatal care and support. One woman tried to kiss my feet after she went on one of our parenting courses because she said it had literally changed her life! It’s fantastic that we can offer people crucial support right when they need it with no referrals or waiting times; no one has to pay for our services so they are open to everyone.”

One of the things the Springfield team are rightfully proud of is the atmosphere created at their Centre. Angie says, “People often comment on how peaceful the centre is despite the chaos of having so many children in one building! It’s not just parents who say it but even the OFSTED team commented on it. They describe it as something tangible, a feeling that the people at Springfield’s really care what happens to you.”

Inspired?

If you’d like to do something similar in your community where do you start? We asked the Springfield Centre for their top tips:

• Pray! Ask God for vision for what he would like your church to do. You might have a million good ideas but you only need one God idea.
• Speak to the local community and find out what they need and would like.
• Look at the skills of the people in your church. Who has got vision? What are their talents and gifts? At St Christopher’s we had a number of teachers, social workers, GPs and the Head of a primary school – together their expertise and experiences made them ideal to start services for families and children.
• Take things one step at a time. If St Christopher’s Church had started with a vision for how the Centre stands today, it would have been too scary and overwhelming to imagine it ever being fulfilled. God is gracious and often gives us what we can manage in stages.
• Be careful you don’t stereotype people. It’s easy to make assumptions about people and people groups, especially ethnic minorities, but each community has so much diversity. Treat everyone as individuals.
• Value relationships between your staff and volunteers. You don’t want to just turn on a smile when you see someone from the community coming through your door.
• Don’t be scared of things like policies, safe-guarding procedures, or OFSTED – they all play their part in making your project the best it can be.
• The one thing virtually guaranteed to get people to come to an event you’re putting on? Food! Make sure you know what is and isn’t culturally appropriate and invite people to bring and share food from their culture – we’ve found there are few things people enjoy more!
• You will make mistakes so you’d better learn to live with that! But God is gracious and helps us through. It won’t all be roses but as long as you’ve got a clear vision from God, that will keep you going if things get tough.
• Keep coming back to God and back to your vision. We take a day out of each term to gather together as a whole team of workers and volunteers to focus again on what God has called us to do. It helps everyone stay focused on the bigger picture even if they only come in to volunteer for an hour a week in one project.

March 2010

For more information on the Springfield Project visit www.springfieldproject.org.uk