St Matthew’s is involved in a wide variety of ways with its local community – click on the links below to find out more.
You can also see some of the local, national and international groups and organisations that St. Matthew’s supports through our financial giving on our mission partners page.
Community Activities
- St Matthew’s School
- Top-Up Shop
- Little Treasures – Baby and Toddler group
- Town Pastors (in Ipswich & at Latitude)
- Support for the homeless in Ipswich
- FIND (Families in Need)
- CMS
St Matthew’s School
The school is a large, multicultural school in the heart of Ipswich. “We have close links with St Matthew’s church which is just next door and our Christian ethos underpins everything that we do. ” Click here for more information.
Little Treasures Baby and Toddler Group
We know that having a baby is an amazing experience. We also know it can be exhausting, confusing, frustrating, lonely. Looking after a little one is tough. We get it. While we can’t crack the mysteries of sleepless nights or potty training for you, we can lend a sympathetic ear, make you a cup of coffee and feed you toast. Oh, and we have loads of toys for your little ones to play with. We organise craft activities and sometimes these get messy. There’s singing and story-time. Best of all, lots of other mums, dads, grans and carers are here too, so there’s always someone to chat with, swap stories with and have a laugh with.
Little Treasures is the place to come on a Friday morning. We’d love to meet you. Here we are at a summer party a few years ago.
- Little Treasures Baby and Toddler Group
- Friday mornings in term time, 9:00-11am
- St Matthew’s Church, Portman Road, Ipswich, IP1 2BP
- Baby changing, bottle warming, buggy park
- Refreshments
- Suitable from birth to pre-school
- £1 per child, to cover costs
Town Pastors
Town Pastors are Christian volunteers from local churches, including St Matthews, who are out in town centres on Friday and/or Saturday nights, being a positive influence on the streets and providing help and support to vulnerable people. In addition to our street patrols we are supported while out on the streets by a Prayer Team, some who pray at our bases in town while others pray from home. For more information click here.
Support for the homeless in Ipswich
Ipswich Winter Night Shelter
Many of us have experienced a cold wet night under canvass on a miserable camping trip, few of us have had to endure the winter months on the streets, how much worse must that be? Ipswich has numerous rough sleepers and quite a few more beggars, Jesus showed great concern for the homeless and destitute and that inspired Christians across the town to work together to set-up the Ipswich Winter Night Shelter about 10 years ago with people from St Matthews volunteering from the start. In modern Britain the reasons for homelessness are many and complex, but by working with other organisations across government and charity sectors under the banner of Help Our Homeless individuals on the street are known and supported in a coordinated manner throughout the year, so the night shelter might provide immediate support to avert a crisis, but the homeless are channelled towards the full range of support available to help them off the street permanently.
Hope Into Action
Once people are off the street, helping them integrate back into society is the work of Hope Into Action by not only providing homes and a support worker, but through local churches enabling the once-homeless to develop positive supportive friendships. If this type of community action interests you, get in touch with Jon through the church office.
FIND (Families In Need)
For nearly 30 years, Families in Need (FIND) Ipswich has offered a lifeline to people in Ipswich and the surrounding areas who are experiencing poverty and despair. For more information click here.
CMS – Michael Green
An arabic speaker, Michael works among the muslim communities in Ipswich to share the love of Jesus.
