Big breakfast

Big Breakfast 2

A free breakfast, with a short talk about what we believe as Christians. We particularly welcome anyone who is homeless and vulnerable.

We know that there are many people in the city of Southampton who find themselves without anywhere to live. Many others find themselves in difficult situations and don’t know where to turn.

Where to come

Every Thursday morning, 10–11am, in the Above Bar Church building, a group of volunteers in the church cooks a breakfast for anyone who comes along. We also pray with each other, listen, and talk about God.

If you would like to come along for a breakfast, contact the church office. (We’re also looking for people to help out, so get in touch if that’s you!)

What it’s about

We talk to Andy about how the group began and has grown, and what it has meant to him.

At first Andy was invited to church, but he only knew a few people. It wasn’t the kind of thing that he would ever have decided to do on his own, but now he says, ‘It was the best thing I ever did! I love it.’

Since Andy was introduced to church, he’s discovered new life in God. ‘Jesus has helped me, and I know this is the beginning of a journey’, he says. ‘My life changed very quickly. I was secure, with a job, but it all changed and I was living on the streets, eating out of bins. Now my life is more in control.’

The breakfast group began shortly after Andy’s first contact with church, and soon drew in more people. Word spread about what was on offer, and soon more people began coming to the breakfast. As well as eating, they share their lives with each other, their struggles and their joys.

‘We’re a group of friends who meet to support each other’, says Andy. It’s a refuge. In the winter it’s warm and dry, when it becomes colder and wetter outside. And it’s a place where people don’t feel threatened. It’s a generous cooked breakfast, but it’s more. Andy and others have been helped to get their lives back on track, turning around desperate situations into hopeful ones. Serving breakfast like this, and showing friendship, is a simple but profound way to show the love of Jesus to people who knew little about him before.