My parish is St Oswald's and St Chad's, Middlesbrough. It includes Grove Hill and Saltersgill and bits of other parts of Boro. It hovers around the top 2% of most deprived parishes nationally, which puts it about average of the parishes in Middlesbrough.
We love Middlesbrough and our neighbourhood. Here are some photos taken in the parish (or just over the boundary in a couple of cases). They‘re just of the place. I could post loads of photos of the surrounding moors and beaches that I can drive to in twenty minutes, but the best bits of Boro aren‘t the bits you can escape to quickly. The best bits are the people and I‘m not so good at capturing them in photos.
Of course there are rubbish things. I could post a bunch of photos I‘ve taken of the blocked drain down the end of the road (which the council have now fixed) or the empty properties that need work on, or the guy who I had to report to the police, but that wouldn‘t be a true reflection of the area. I also haven‘t got photos of the kingfisher I saw in the stream by the church, or the owl that lives in the tree at the end of the road and whose hoots you can hear in the evening.
In the last 12 months at church we‘ve baptised 10 adults, 5 children, and 2 infants (I think, I may have miscounted). Confirmed some people, had some people join us, buried some people, preached Jesus, shared bread and wine and food and cups of tea and coffee. Fixed one audio visual system, put some fire alarms in, got the internet working, dug some fence posts, planted a hedge. Had schools visit, visited hospital and prison, prayed with people, declared the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe.
I don‘t think I‘d like to minister anywhere else.
Up the Boro. Come Lord Jesus.
Mark Walley, Vicar - St Oswald's and St Chad's, Boro.