Chaplaincy About Town

Drugs, relationship woes and family difficulties are all in a day’s work for this bunch of dedicated listeners.

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Members of Chaplaincy About Town (ChAT) help people of all religions, or none, no matter what situation they might find themselves in.

As the name implies, it is a Christian organisation, populated by churchgoers of all denominations.

ChAT is a confidential, non-judgemental listening service open to all, but its volunteers can pass people on to other agencies if the need arises.

Chairman of trustees, Jill Putnam, has lived in Weston since 1975 and is very much at the heart of the organisation as one of its senior chaplains.

The 63-year-old said: We try to help people just by listening as sometimes they feel they cannot speak to their families about certain things. You get a great feeling from seeing someone feel better about themselves and people do tend to come back more than once.

Jills responsibilities also include the charitys funding and long term future.

Churchgoers of all ages are welcome to join the ChAT teams ranks, subject to an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau check which is needed when working with potentially vulnerable people.

ChAT established a base in Meadow Street last year where volunteers can hold appointments. It also doubles as a shop selling a broad range of Fairtrade goods.

Group representatives see between 20-30 people each week and while the organisation boasts more than 30 chaplains, she says more are needed to provide the level of service they would ideally like to give. Current members include former publicans, housewives and nurses.