Tell us a bit about Jacob’s Well Care Centre:
My parents set up Jacob’s Well Care Centre in the 1990s as they realised there was a real need for support in our local area. They went on a trip to Romania to provide support to people there but came home and realised there was also huge need on their doorstep. Jacob’s Well was set up in their front room, so that they could start to provide low-cost furniture and clothing to those in Gosport. We’ve just kept growing since then!
We now have a furniture store, provide free school uniforms, run two foodbanks through the week, and provide storage facilities for those who have lost their homes or are survivors of domestic abuse. In the summer holidays we provide free packed lunches to local children, and regularly provide meals for the elderly, including the occasional cream tea.
We have lots of staff, many of whom struggled to get work before coming here. Most of them started as volunteers but are now employed by us which is great to see. We’ve also done work with those on probation a lot over the years. Basically, if we see a need, we try to meet it, which means we provide a wide variety of services.
It’s been so clear to see that God has been at work, and He has always provided what we have needed. When my parents first started this work, they were worried about money, and really living day to day. They gave up their jobs to run the charity, but very much had a sense of relying on God to provide. That’s really stuck with us, and we can still so clearly see God providing the things we need to keep going.
How have you been able partner with people in your community since setting up the charity?
We run the services I’ve mentioned to try and meet people’s needs, and this can be all sorts of different things. People in our area know that if they need something they can contact us, and we will try and help. It makes a real difference for our community knowing that there is someone there who wants to help them.
We have always been very open about our faith and will offer to pray with people if they would like us to. Those we serve know that God is a central part of everything we do, and so we have the freedom to bring Him into conversations. It’s clear to people that we do what we can because of all that God has provided and done for us.
Why did you suddenly need to buy a building?
We had a lovely landlady who passed away, which meant the building we use was going to be sold. We were told at fairly short notice, with a year left on our contract. We looked everywhere to see if we could afford to buy the building, and tried all sorts of places and banks, but we quickly realised people didn’t want to help us. We became resigned to the fact that it wouldn’t be possible and began to try and plan what to do next. We just felt that people weren’t willing to trust us and invest in us, which is always a struggle when you’re a charity. We spoke to MPs, councilors, anyone we could, but no one seemed able to help.
We knew that without a building we were going to need to start to make the charity much smaller, as there was nowhere nearby that had the space we needed for a price we could afford. This meant having to scale back, resulting in staff losing their jobs, and dramatically restricting the way which we could serve our community. But then my husband mentioned that he had heard of a Christian bank, who could maybe be a last option to explore, and that’s when we started to speak to Kingdom Bank.
How were Kingdom Bank able to guide and help in this?
We got in touch with Kingdom Bank, and Andrew looked through all of our finances. He was able to guide us through the process, helping us to see where we needed to manage expenses to make a mortgage affordable. The Bank were able to provide us with a mortgage which meant we could buy the building we had been using, which we never thought would have been possible. Without Kingdom Bank’s help, we wouldn’t have had a choice but to make the charity smaller, serving less people.
Owning this building provides us with security and stability. Already we can see so many projects which we couldn’t do under the limitations of renting, but now we can start to expand and start new initiatives which will help more people. The mortgage helps provide security and freedom; it really has been such a blessing. My parents are still involved with Jacob’s Well, and they never envisioned we would ever get to this point when they started the charity. God has had his hand on all of it, and we can so clearly see how he has provided!
If your ministry is considering a property project, we would love to see if we could help! You can find out more here, or please do get in touch to discuss whether a Kingdom Bank mortgage could be right for you.
Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.
