CREST Waltham Forest

Unit 1, The Mews
2a Truro Road
Walthamstow
London E17 7BY

ORIGINS

The origins of CREST Waltham Forest lie in much hard work and thought that took place in the church and wider community in the late 1960s. By the year 1971, CREST's parent body, the Waltham Forest Social Responsibility Council, was in the position to be able to establish a second project to stand alongside the already established Voluntary Work Centre which was based at Peterhouse in Forest Rise in Walthamstow. Based at Marsh Street and Trinity Church in Orford Road, Walthamstow: "… the vision was that CREST should become a centre which would help the churches of all denominations in their outreach in serving the community in the borough, and in work in the sphere of education. We recognised that foremost among the needs of Christians is that we should ourselves experience renewal in our faith and worship (hence Christian Renewal for Education and Social Tasks). But as well as an ethos of Christian service, CREST also from its earliest days embraced the need to challenge injustices and participate in creating a better society: "… part of the work of CREST is to examine society and see where the structures are pinching and creating casualties. It has always been part of the Christian tradition that we not only educate our children for the society in which they will live, but that we also educate the society so that it is better fitted to receive its children."

THE 1970'S

Much of Crest's early work was in the sphere of education, organising conferences and seminars. Residential conferences for girls and boys at Senior Schools were a regular feature throughout the decade, and seminars with titles such as "The Just Society" and "Planning and Human Need" were organised. A Housing Aid Centre was set up at Greenleaf Road Baptist Church on Saturday mornings and CREST sponsored the Cambridge House Language Scheme, which was an early venture into the field of English for speakers of other languages. Regular Supper Clubs were organised with talks on such topics as "The Needs of Homosexuals", "The Aftercare of ex-Prisoners" and "The Problems Faced by Battered Wives". These regular meetings were attended by many and were a fertile ground for social concern in the borough. As well as social concern, CREST was active in exploring the spiritual dimension of community life. Revealing its early desire to promote inter-faith dialogue, Religion Ins were organised to give the opportunity to understand the different religions represented in the borough. In addition, several Quiet Weekends and Ecumenical Retreats were organised - at least one of them attended by Desmond Tutu and Canon ffrench-Beytagh. In 1974, CREST established in collaboration with Adult Education a two-hour Social and Discussion Group for Older People with a Disability, focussed on supporting the most isolated members of the community. In its first year over forty people enrolled. Following its success, at the request of the local authority, a second such Group was set up in Leytonstone at the end of the decade. These two Groups, alongside their younger sibling, exist to this day. Hairdressing and Dressmaking Classes were established to enable families on low income to save money and CREST was also involved in arranging a Child Minders' Course. By the end of the decade a regular newsletter was in production and CREST was providing a secretariat to the newly formed Waltham Forest Council of Churches.

THE 1980'S

Concern about race issues and the corrosive effects of racism was a major feature of Crest's evolution during this decade. Spawned by ground-breaking work done in the East End of London the Waltham Forest Zebra Group was formed in 1980. Its work involved talks on topics such as "How Do We Define Racism?", "Racism in Children's Books" and "Death, Dying and Bereavement in Black Families". Joint community educational projects were arranged between Christians from both black-led and white-led churches, In 1984, an ITV Open Door documentary programme focussed on the work of the Zebra Group Field Worker and a programme of racism awareness training primarily for church members was organised. Death and bereavement also featured highly in the concerns of CREST during this period. Following a number of courses and talks, several initiatives including The Circle Bereavement Support Service were set up in the early part of the decade. The two Social and Discussion Groups were joined by a third in Chingford in 1982. By the middle of the decade 150 people weekly were being served at these three venues. In 1982 also the first CREST Adult Holiday for older people with a disability was organised to Hengrave Hall. Concern for local people's spirituality continued to have a high priority. Julian Contemplative Prayer Meetings were instigated and the tradition of arranging Quiet Days was continued, to be joined towards the end of the decade by the weekly Oasis, Prayer Days, a Pilgrim Group and Prayer Cells. The Hairdressing and Dressmaking Classes continued to function throughout the decade. August 1984 saw the first CREST Summer Play Schemes, organised at four centres to provide an educational and recreational scheme in each area of the borough from pre-school age to school leavers. These were to become an annual feature of CREST life. At this time also, the CREST Volunteer Thank You, Annual Service and the annual fundraising CREST Fayre were instigated. CREST began to provide a secretariat to the Waltham Forest Borough Deans Group, something it continues to provide to this day and produced the first ever edition of the Directory of Churches and Church Life in Waltham Forest. With its registration with the Charity Commissioners in 1985, CREST finally severed its links with the old Waltham Forest Social Responsibility Council. In that year also CREST moved its office base to the heart of the borough at Truro Road Community Centre, just off Walthamstow High Street. Towards the end of the decade Crest's concern for the mental health of the borough became more evident. CREST took a prominent role in the organisation of the monthly Mental Health Forum which looked at such topics as "Black Mental Health Under Oppression", Compulsory Treatment in the Community" and "Access to Mental Health Care for the Homeless" . In 1989 CREST assisted with the setting up of a local branch of the Association for the Pastoral Care of the Mentally ill. During 1989, north-east London experienced an influx of refugees from the war zone in south-east Turkey. CREST arranged for eight churches across the borough to be left open for a week to act as reception centres for unwanted bedding and clothing and delivered 150 sacks to a church in Stamford Hill accommodating 200 refugees.

THE 1990'S

After extensive consultation, Crest's work in the field of racism awareness evolved into a programme of Multicultural Development with workshops with such titles as "Partnership in Mission", "Worship in Black-led and White-led Churches" and "Multiracial Churches" being arranged alongside multicultural social evenings and gospel concerts. Several multicultural videos were produced. Crest's Summer Play-schemes continued throughout the decade and, in 1985, were joined by Crest's first After-school Club set up on Avenue Estate in Leytonstone. By the end of the decade, the number of after-school clubs had expanded to three. The Social and Discussion Groups continued alongside the Annual Holiday, and CREST assisted with the establishment of the East London Churches Housing and Homelessness Alliance. Crest's Pastoral Programme of prayer activities continued apace as did the bereavement support work. A monthly Moving On Group was instituted in 1995 providing a supportive social environment for those who had lost a partner and who were looking to build new friendships. A second edition of the Directory of Churches and Church Life was produced. Following a devastating burglary in 1992, Crest's office base moved from Truro Road Community Centre six doors up Truro Road to self-contained offices. In 1996, CREST celebrated its first 25 years. In the early part of this decade, an emphasis developed on Celtic Spirituality with several Journeys to Iona arranged for local people. Crest's Pastoral Worker also arranged several day workshops looking at Disability and the Church. In 1995 CREST took responsibility for the Waltham Forest Mental Health Befriending Service, a new development which grew out of an initiative developed by the Chaplaincy team at Claybury Hospital, a local psychiatric hospital. Within the first four months of its commencement, 31 users had benefited from it. In 1995 CREST entered into the Charity Shop market with, over the next few years, several shops entered into on a free or cheap-let basis before taking on a commercial lease on no 55 Walthamstow High Street. During the latter part of the decade, CREST benefited enormously from Community Teamwork's, a volunteering initiative of City finance house, Goldman Sachs. Volunteers painted the CREST offices as well as arranging parties for both the after- school clubs and older people's groups. Also at the end of the decade, CREST produced its first three-year Business Plan and was selected by The Shaftesbury Society to develop Truro Road Community Centre in central Walthamstow as a multicultural family centre.