How we are serving our city

A USA mega church inspired Elim pastor Dave Ayling to bring about change in Derby

- Dave Ayling

Last year, Derby Elim’s Hope Centre processed a massive 3,000 requests for food at its food bank, providing meals for 4,000 people.

Home to one of the largest food banks in the city, it provides crisis support to needy and migrant families – all part of the church’s vision to serve in a practical way.

Senior pastor Dave Ayling explains the service came about 15 years ago, not long after he had joined Derby Elim, with a bit of inspiration from the States and the timely availability of a nearby office block.

“I’d read about the Dream Centre, which is a big church-run base in Los Angeles,” Dave says.

“They bought an eight-storey hospital from which they provide a lot of projects for the poor in the area. Around that time, we’d been looking for a more meaningful way to serve Derby. Then this old 1960s office block opposite the church became available, so we decided we’d buy it to use as a centre for our community projects.”

The ten-year-old food bank is one of the Hope Centre’s largest projects, with 40 volunteers providing three-day emergency food parcels every Tuesday and Friday to people referred by charities and 60 agencies in the city.