It started in 2014 when West Harton Methodist Church rented a shop in the main street for 6 weeks at Easter, to show the face of Jesus to the folk of Shields. It offered a cuppa and a scone, a “Messy” table, and an exhibition of showing our love of family, our love for others and God’s love for us. We had a chapel to pray with or for visitors, and a prayer wall. We thought it was a one-off, but as Christmas approached we opened again, proclaiming Christmas Starts with Christ, and after that we opened for six weeks every Easter and Christmas as a pop-up often in different premises as the empty shops were taken up. After Easter 2018, our regulars didn’t want us to close, and we started to feel the nudge towards opening on a permanent basis. It became a circuit project, our landlord at the time offered us favourable rates and we sought funding. The Methodist Church, at Circuit, District and Connexional level have generously awarded us funding almost entirely for 5 years. We were able to open all year round and employ a manager. Unfortunately, just as the funding came through, the Landlord needed the property for someone else and we had to move temporarily. Covid-19 struck and we had to close altogether, opening for a few weeks in late summer and then closing again. After a further move, we are now in our permanent home, the best property of the lot.