As a faith based charity, the words of Jesus in the Bible provide some context for what Crossover does. In the book of Matthew, chapter 25, verses 37-40, at the end of one of Jesus’ parables (a story with a point!), he’s talking about the motivation for caring for others, putting others first. Those who are listening to him are confused and say that they’ve never seen Jesus himself in need, and Jesus gives an unexpected and challenging reply: ‘When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say (Jesus talking about himself in the story), ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ Any opportunity to demonstrate God’s love creates a space to get alongside those around us.
Crossover, at its heart, is an expression of love and care towards some of those in Brighton and Hove who could do with some hot food first thing in the morning on the weekend! Crossover started in 1997 and has continued its work amongst the disadvantaged and homeless of Brighton and Hove by providing food and practical support since then. The work was birthed out of CityCoast Church in Portslade and was further developed by project co-ordinators David and Linda Bolton. In the early days, Crossover was involved in a number of projects, including running a charity shop! Today the focus is simply on a weekend breakfast for those on the streets or vulnerably housed.
In 2010, with the rebirth of St. Peter’s Church in York Place, Brighton, right in the heart of the City, an opportunity arose for the already existing Crossover Street feeding programme to relocate its venue from the streets and into the Church’s Hall. A joint feeding project named Safehaven was soon developed in early 2010, staffed by a substantial group of volunteers, resourced not only from Crossover but also St Peters Church and One Church. Safehaven is still operating as a St Peters Church Project. After running as a volunteer group since its beginnings, Crossover became a charity in August 2013. A gap in services for those who were homeless and on the streets all year-round was identified, so Crossover stepped in to fill that gap. With a smaller group of volunteers, Crossover Brighton called upon its years of experience and stepped in to feed the guests with the catering van in St Peters Church car park with a project called S.A.S. – Saturday at Six!
Early in 2014, Crossover saw another gap – weekend breakfast! Statutory services, charities and churches provide support during the week but there is no breakfast provision at the weekend. Crossover trialled Saturday morning breakfasts with its catering van. This was an immediate success so the service was extended to include Sundays. Currently, we serve cooked breakfasts to between 30 and 50 guests every weekend, 52 weeks of the year.
Since 2018 Crossover has been managed and run by Youth With A Mission (YWAM) a Christian missionary organisation based about half an hour north of Brighton, just off the A23 (www.ywamholmsted.org.uk). The team at Holmsted Manor volunteer each weekend alongside a number of other local volunteers, from Brighton and the surrounding area.
