Supporting the elderly at Sinfin Moor, Derby

An elderly man was out on a walk and saw the doors of Sinfin Moor church in Derby open and welcoming people in. He went in and sat on his own and did this for the first couple of weeks he went along. With table-top activity going on in the church, he joined in the group activity and has now become a regular guest at the Warm Welcome Space.

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This is just one example of how Sinfin Moor Church supports elderly people in its community, with between 45 and 70 people attending each week and new faces often coming along.

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It’s a thriving community space, with some corporate relationships. One with Rolls Royce supports the space by providing four volunteers. A second relationship will see National Grid join the guests for monthly shared sessions in the early part of this year.

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The work at Sinfin Moor, as in so many Warm Welcome Spaces, started as a response to the cost-of-living crisis. It has since developed into a core pillar of welfare support within the local community. From January 2023 the space has served hot drinks and refreshments every week on a Monday with a hot 2 course meal during the winter months.

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This has now evolved to being open for refreshments and activities every week, with a free hot meal and dessert served on the last Monday of the month.

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The main challenge the space tackles is helping combat feelings of loneliness for its guests and, to a lesser extent, the cost-of-living crisis. Increasingly the space is handing out emergency food parcels. During 2024, it also developed larger volunteer teams drawn from the local community and other local churches.

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Activities have included table talk: a card activity encouraging conversation around different themes; as well as an art class, energy advice, debt and welfare advice, games, adult learning services, sessions with local councillors, film nights and a special get-together to watch the King’s Coronation. There has also been a walk of wonder around a local nature reserve.

At Christmas, 96 people attended a Christmas meal with carols from children at the local primary school.

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The team of volunteers was also treated to a Christmas meal at the nearby Cherry Tree Farm, thanks to Greene King and its generous support for the Warm Welcome Campaign.

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An Asian men’s group, which uses the building daily, attended the Christmas meal and some plan to continue attending the weekly warm space sessions while an Asian women’s group is joining the Monday Connect and Community meals using a newly refurbished room.

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The Monday sessions are particularly valued by people who have been recently widowed and who face a series of ‘firsts’ on their own.

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The space is largely grant-funded and is supported by the YMCA (with meal provision), the local council, local businesses including Asda, the Local Nature Reserve Friends, Community Action Derby and Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance, Places for People and the Derby Methodist Circuit.

Sinfin Moor Church is one of thousands of community spaces supporting people in its local area, particularly the elderly. This Warm Welcome Week we’re delighted to shine a spotlight on this warm, welcoming and free space.

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