We're thrilled to announce that Debbie O'Brien has been honoured with a Mayfair & St James's Community Award. Debbie has won in the 'Putting Something Back' category which looks to those who have benefitted the local community through their actions.
For the past ten years, Debbie has coordinated the Winter Shelter at St James's, working with a team of volunteers from the congregation and beyond to offer hospitality to our guests experiencing homelessness. She has accepted the award on behalf of all in our community who have given their time and talents, and she writes:
'Being part of a community means receiving and giving. It has been a huge joy and privilege to be placed here in this community (and in my case at St James’s Church) and for the past decade to create a space where volunteers and guests, experiencing homelessness, have been able to give and receive hospitality: hot meals, shelter and creativity – of all sorts!
Its been a space of opportunity where I have met so many people, and businesses, who are local who wanted to join in giving back – with time, goods, money, their own passion. A space without borders – bringing together a community of people, whether resident, working, being a tourist, or invisible, sleeping on the streets. Each year I use my favourite quote which I think is also exactly what the Community Awards remind us of, and capture the essence of what it means to be in community – something more important now than ever, and not to be lost. ‘It is in the shelter of each other that the people live’
The Revd Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's writes:
In London, as all over the world, we have learned over the last 12 months how important it is to build community in good times and in bad. In central London, our neighbours are not only the people who live near us but the people we work with, the people who visit and the people who sleep on the streets. The Community Awards are a great way of recognising and remembering that it’s so important to build community wherever we are, and whatever our own creed, background, experience or identity.
The Community Awards of Mayfair & St James’s celebrate the sense of community in these twin districts by recognising the people and businesses that help create and maintain the spirit and ethos of the area.
For the past ten years, Debbie has coordinated the Winter Shelter at St James's, working with a team of volunteers from the congregation and beyond to offer hospitality to our guests experiencing homelessness. She has accepted the award on behalf of all in our community who have given their time and talents, and she writes:
'Being part of a community means receiving and giving. It has been a huge joy and privilege to be placed here in this community (and in my case at St James’s Church) and for the past decade to create a space where volunteers and guests, experiencing homelessness, have been able to give and receive hospitality: hot meals, shelter and creativity – of all sorts!
Its been a space of opportunity where I have met so many people, and businesses, who are local who wanted to join in giving back – with time, goods, money, their own passion. A space without borders – bringing together a community of people, whether resident, working, being a tourist, or invisible, sleeping on the streets. Each year I use my favourite quote which I think is also exactly what the Community Awards remind us of, and capture the essence of what it means to be in community – something more important now than ever, and not to be lost. ‘It is in the shelter of each other that the people live’
The Revd Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's writes:
In London, as all over the world, we have learned over the last 12 months how important it is to build community in good times and in bad. In central London, our neighbours are not only the people who live near us but the people we work with, the people who visit and the people who sleep on the streets. The Community Awards are a great way of recognising and remembering that it’s so important to build community wherever we are, and whatever our own creed, background, experience or identity.
The Community Awards of Mayfair & St James’s celebrate the sense of community in these twin districts by recognising the people and businesses that help create and maintain the spirit and ethos of the area.
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