Georgina Micklewright, from Guildford Boiler Room, shares the following about Love:Guildford, a recent week of activities there:

“Over the last few months we have wanted to scrape beneath the surface of Guildford. If the seemingly affluent, pretty and comfortable surroundings that are commonly associated with our Surrey town were stripped away, what would be revealed?

We decided to host a series of events during one week in August, to try to get to know our town better, for the town to get to know us, and to see what God wanted to show us about what perhaps we don’t ‘see’ in Guildford. We are so blessed to have use of Allen House Pavilion and grounds (an converted bowls pavilion based right in the centre of the town, run in conjunction with The Matrix Trust and the local council) that we based ourselves and our events in and around there. We called the week ‘Love:Guildford’ as we wanted to show love to our town, and attempt to reflect the love that God has for it. We also hoped to engage people in reflecting what ‘loving’ the place where you live could look like.

During the week we ran a free cafe from everyday 11am-2pm providing teas, coffees and homemade cakes (made by our fabulous community!) alongside a place for people to sit and relax, and a safe place for children to run around. Within the café and the gardens we had an art installation with images of Guildford alongside truths such as ‘love’, ‘faithfulness’ and ‘beauty’, and a mobile art wall where people could write what they loved about Guildford. Throughout the week we also had a number of specific events, including a family Teddy Bear’s Picnic, a Treasure Hunt, an ‘Open Mic’ night, and rounded off the week with a free BBQ and Gig. We also hosted a discussion evening on Prayer in Christianity and Islam, as well as having a 24-7 Prayer Space available for anyone to access during all the events.

We were pleasantly surprised by numbers for the week, nearly all the events were well attended and all were well received. However as much as it’s nice to have lots of people enjoying what you’re doing, for us it was what was exposed that was most important. We met and chatted to such a range of people: families and single parents struggling to find activities to do locally with their kids that didn’t cost money; families who’d moved to the UK from abroad feeling isolated and not finding a community they feel a part of; young people in sheltered housing, unemployed or recently out of prison with nothing to do during the day. There were also workers in their lunch hours, couples on day trips, and families coming to the specifically advertised events – we even started having ‘regulars’ coming into the café everyday and enjoying what we were providing. But what we felt that God had revealed to us during the week, was that Guildford has as much loneliness, hopelessness, financial struggle and lack of community as the next town. I would even be as so bold to suggest that even my Guildford stereotype of the affluent family with 2.4 children, a 4×4 car and a golden Labrador, is not immune to those challenges we were confronted with during our Love:Guildford week.

It was also during this week, that whilst we were trying to Love Guildford, the London riots had increased and then spread across the UK. Whilst we were listening and getting to know the residents of out town, others were actively destroying theirs. It was yet another reminder to us of the importance of Jesus’ commandment, ‘love your neighbour as yourself’, and our desire to love the communities we’re part of, with the same love that Christ has for us.”