Helping Hands through Social Action
Rosslyn Hill Chapel has a long history of supporting people in need across Hampstead and Camden. Many of our projects are practical, hands-on, and open to anyone who wants to help - you do not need to be a Chapel member or attend services. If you want to make a difference locally, we'd love to hear from you.
We support local, national and international charities through fundraising, raising awareness and active involvement in community projects.
Below are some of our ongoing social action projects:
we also have vacancies for volunteers with our Community projects: please visit the Our Community page to find out more.
Social Action Project: Cold Weather Shelter
Since the early 1990s we have run a weekly night shelter for homeless people throughout the winter in our Hall. During the pandemic, we continued to organise volunteers to help run the shelter in another location. We collect non-perishable food for a local Food Bank and our weekly collection plate is usually divided between the work of the chapel and a monthly good cause.
Social Action Project: Celebrating Black Lives
We believe that Black Lives Matter and we seek to redress the historic imbalance by lifting up the voices of Black and People of Colour through our Celebrating Black Lives project. This year, a small group of our community worked through the antiracism book Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad which sensitised us to the issues and increased our vocabulary in order to speak more about racism and White Supremacy. View our Antiracism Resource List. We hope to develop further activities to address the issues raised. We also regularly display profiles which highlight significant lives via our physical noticeboard onsite and social media channels.
Death Café
Join us in a safe and welcoming space to discuss end of life matters and break the taboo of speaking about death, over tea and cake. A Death Café provides an opportunity to consider an emotive subject amongst understanding friends. Many feel a deep connection at these gatherings. There is no agenda, just a willingness to share our experiences and offer mutual support. Our monthly Death Cafe meets on the last Sunday afternoon of the month (except August and December). Read more about our Death Cafe events here.