United Kingdom

Servants Southall Team

The Southall team began in 2008, when the invitation of a local church to start a Servants team in the area coincided with a long-held vision of our first team leader to do exactly that. We’re here to follow Jesus in loving God and loving our neighbours as ourselves. We live near to each other in a variety of households and share our lives together through regular communal rhythms of praying, meeting and eating together. Every team member’s schedule is different, but we each work part-time in paid employment as well as supporting the ministries of nearby churches, volunteering with local organisations and spending time with people in our neighborhood.

Southall is a pocket of Asia tucked into the west corner of London. A focal point for immigration since the 1960s, Southall is home to well-established Punjabi, Pakistani and Sri Lankan communities, with more recent arrivals from Somalia, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe. The single largest faith group is Sikh (31%), followed by Muslim (23%), Hindu (19%) and Christian (18%). From the rich array of fabrics, spices and jewellery available in local shops to the impressive sight of the largest Sikh temple outside India, visitors are often struck by Southall’s vibrant multi-cultural atmosphere.

But the local community faces a series of challenging issues. Almost a third of Southall’s households are designated as overcrowded and the area is well-known for having a hidden population of people without official papers. It’s not unusual to find houses with two or three people living in each room. Outhouses and garages, the ‘sheds with beds’, provide unregulated accommodation in the back gardens of every street. Many people are dependent on the free meals served daily by the Sikh temples or gurdwaras. Recent government statistics show neighbourhoods in Southall are some of the most deprived in the UK, struggling with a combination of high crime rates, low income levels and difficulties in accessing services. Traffic congestion and fly-tipping are commonplace, resulting in a polluted environment and problems with rats and cockroaches.

Team Activities

Here are some of the activities the Southall team was involved in:

  • Hosting a weekly evening for our friends and neighbours with a ‘bring and share’ meal and games, crafts, discussion, a film etc;
  • Running a community garden in partnership with A Rocha;
  • Supporting our friends and neighbours by helping with job applications, hospital appointments, legal issues etc;
  • Volunteering at toddler groups, soup kitchens and shelters for homeless people run by local churches;
  • Leading a Bible study group for people on the edge of church.

Stories from Southall