It will be Christmas Eve with a difference this year for Jonathan Cain, the Assistant Curate at Bolton Priory. While his family sleep in comfort at home he will be ‘pitching his tent’ and sleeping out in the Priory Tower to raise awareness for the Bradford-based charity Inn Churches.
Inn Churches use spaces in Bradford churches to feed and support the homeless during the cold winter months. Volunteers provide a welcoming and warm atmosphere, hot food and a bed. For the rest of the year Inn Churches continue to work with the homeless in partnership with other agencies in the city to provide a permanent and lasting change in the lives of the guests they have hosted. In six years Inn Churches has grown from a month-long pilot to a thriving community project with more than 550 volunteers from 70 churches and the wider community in Bradford. A total of over 5,000 beds have been provided for homeless and vulnerable people in the Bradford area.
The Rector of Bolton Abbey, Canon Simon Cowling said: “Jonathan is embodying the true spirit of Christmas with his sleep out. The Priory community has supported the work of Inn Churches for some years, and we hope that Jonathan’s initiative, on the night when there was no room at the inn for Mary and Joseph, will help to raise awareness of the charity’s life-changing work.”
You can find out more about Inn Churches at www.innchurches.co.uk. Visit www.boltonpriory.org.uk after Christmas Eve to find out how Jonathan got on.