The VES Timeline 2013-2023

2013 - Croydon Vineyard Church was planted out from South West London Vineyard - seeking to be good news to Croydon. Key value: GOOD NEWS

2016 - Croydon Vineyard Church began serving teas and coffees to asylum seekers queueing outside Lunar House - one of the ‘front doors’ into the UK system. Key Value: MEETING PEOPLE AT POINT OF NEED

2017 - VES began with one class a week, trying different venues - local libraries, church halls. And when you start language classes, you may as well try to do them well - Key value: QUALITY LANGUAGE PROVISION

2018 - VES establishes itself at Croydon Central Library. Classes grow to multiple levels on multiple days and VES begins to be seen as a key provider of English Classes to the Borough. Key Value: SERVING THE COMMON GOOD

2019 - After class Bible studies and socials begin. Key Value: CULTIVATE COMMUNITY

2020 - Covid strikes. With trepidation we move classes online. This works much better than expected and we expand to 4 days a week, teaching three different levels for the first time. Key Value: EDUCATING AT THE RIGHT LEVEL

2021 - as Covid receded, the libraries were slowest to re-open so we experimented with different venues including south Croydon (Harvest Church), central Croydon (Praise House and Matthew’s Yard) - it became obvious that students need classes centrally or within walking distance. Key Value: ACCESSIBLE LOCATION

2022-2023 - We began to outgrow Matthew’s Yard and were offered the opportunity to step into our current venue, the Active Communities Hub at Centrale. This enabled us to offer a full range of levels on one morning - which in turn necessitates a growth in volunteer team, admin support and logistics. Key Value: FACILITATE GROWTH

2023 also saw VES invited into two asylum accommodation centres - Dunheved Hotel, and Best Western Crystal Palace. This enabled us to go where the students live; teach beginners classes; and signpost to other services. Key Value: SERVE THROUGH SIGNPOSTING