Happy New Year from The Sanctuary Trust.
As we step into 2026, we reflect on the stories of those who have struggled and overcome trials this year, like Bobby, who faced decades of life in prison before stepping into freedom.
As this new year opens before us, we return to a verse that has shaped our work more deeply than ever:
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)
At the beginning of December, our development team shared how unconditional positive regard is a key part of our harm reduction approach, enabling us to support clients even when they are facing their toughest struggles.
This year, The Sanctuary Trust has seen countless individuals requiring this much-needed ministry and support- a Christ-like, unconditional and responsive love to support them through 2025.
Bobby’s First Christmas on the Outside
Just before Christmas 2024, Bobby walked out of prison after decades of moving in and out of institutions. He’d spent nearly 40 years either behind bars or under probation, and he carried the kind of loneliness that only a lifetime of instability can carve out. As he left the prison gates that day, he felt more frightened than free. He told us later, “I’ve been inside so long I don’t know how to survive out here. I need re-programming.”
On his release day, Bobby panicked. The outside world felt too harsh & demanding. He pawned his phone and used the money to buy Spice, which he later called his “release blowout.” Though he was housed not far from The Reaching Out Centre in Rochdale, he evaded support for a couple of days, drifting in the shadows of a world he didn’t feel ready for.
It wasn’t until he came in for our Sunday Breakfast session at The ROC, that we caught up with Bobby. He returned on Christmas Eve for our community meal. He looked exhausted and defeated. He told a worker that his Christmas wish was to wake up back in prison, because prison was the only place he had ever felt consistent or safe. He didn’t want to offend again, but he saw it as his only route back to what he knew.
Despite Bobby’s feeling of self-destruction, we sat with him. Without judgment, we expressed unconditional positive regard and found small ways we could reduce harm in Bobby’s life. By the end of our conversation, Bobby made a small promise:
“If I keep out of prison, I’ll come back and see what help I can get.”
He kept his promise.
We began with small forms of harm reduction:
- sorting medication slips and a methadone prescription mix-up that could have caused Bobby to spiral,
- advocating with his new GP,
- helping him get clean clothing,
- making sure he was fed,
- walking with him to the library to sign up for audiobooks,
- helping him attend Turning Point, Sunday Breakfast sessions, The ROC Café, and men’s group.
Bobby experienced, maybe for the first time, what it feels like to be valued without conditions. Staff embodied 1 Corinthians 13:7, enduring and persisting in providing support- even when Bobby wanted the worst for himself.
One afternoon, just two weeks after release, a group of men tried to provoke Bobby on the street. He told us later:
“I didn’t hit them. I didn’t want to go back to prison.”
As a result of unconditional, Christ-like support, Bobby started to feel hopeful, planning for the future in little ways; Attending The ROC Rochdale 4 times a week, engaging in support to help address problems with his eyesight, and asking about the gym. For a man who had once said that he didn’t know how many days he’d stay out of prison, this was a profound moment of victory.
For the first time in 40 years, he wasn’t being monitored by probation. And he admitted that the lack of structure scared him.
“I feel alone… cut loose,” he said.
But now, Bobby was choosing to feel the unconditional positive regard others had for him. He was choosing life on the outside.
As we enter 2026, The Sanctuary Trust resolves to practically express God’s love with 1 Corinthians 13:7 in mind.
This means loving with endurance, loving in a way that endures all things. This means providing essential harm reduction tools so individuals can thrive, despite their mindset or circumstances.
This kind of support, for many of our staff with faith, isn’t just a job; it’s a ministry to help individuals fulfil their God-given potential.
May this be our shared commitment in the year ahead:
To demonstrate a love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)
