The Millside Centre is a community space in the heart of the West Yorkshire City of Bradford, serving vulnerable people and helping them to improve their lives.
The Goitside area of Bradford where our UK office is situated has a lot of social issues. There’s poverty, unemployment, and a growing population of refugees and asylum seekers. We have homeless people in the vicinity, as well as working girls, all situated within walking distance of our building.
After 30 years in Bradford and renting space in a three-story building since the mid-eighties, the opportunity arose for the UK office to buy the whole structure, and thanks to God’s faithfulness and the generosity of his people, this purchase was completed in 2008.
We could now start work on a brand new vision - to be the voice and hands of Jesus using the derelict ground floor space of the building.
We decided to open the space to the community, and to partner with churches, charities and other agencies in our locality to create a safe and welcoming community centre where needy people could find the help and services they need – all in the name of Jesus.
The Millside Centre opened its doors in February 2017. Today we have a whole range of activities and services on offer to our local community. These include English classes, mental health support, a befriending service and help for victims of domestic abuse. We even run a Welcome Cafe as a training opportunity for refugees and asylum seekers in the city. The vision of the centre is like our projects overseas - to show compassion to the needy, to help build community, and in doing this, to demonstrate the love of Christ to those who we serve in the building.
You can visit the Millside Centre website for more information on the services we offer. If your church is exploring how to serve your community’s needs through running a community space, then we’d love to support you. You can find out more about the 'Millside Approach' and the advice we can offer to you through the Your Church section of the website.
We are very grateful for the support of Reaching Communities, the Garfield Weston Foundation, Bradford Council and Incommunities.
When I first joined, I hardly knew anyone and was a bit hesitant to speak, but people are so lovely and helpful that they take care of every individual and make them feel comfortable with their presence, that it felt like being at home.
Neha, Millside Service User
