Members and friends of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the United Kingdom and Ireland have described the “deeply moving” chance to serve their communities as an inspiring example of Christlike love, following the release of the Church's 2025 Caring Report.
The 'Caring for Those in Need 2025 Report[1] ' details the Church's worldwide commitment to welfare, self-reliance and humanitarian aid and comes with a message from the First Presidency of the Church encouraging people to see caring for others as both “a duty and a joyful privilege”.
Elder Kevin W. Pearson, President of the Europe North Area, said this approach to service around the world reflects a broader spiritual focus for members across the region.
'Our goal is for people to see every individual in their community as a beloved child of God with divine potential, and to joyfully live the gospel of Jesus Christ one by one: one person, one act of service and one new relationship at a time' he remarked.
Supporting Families in Need: The Cwtch Baby Bank
One such initiative in the United Kingdom saw members of the Church in Cardiff, Wales, coordinate with the nation’s first-ever ‘baby bank’ - Cwtch Baby Bank, providing cots, highchairs, baby baths, toiletries and other essential items to mothers experiencing homelessness and abuse.
Year-round service activities brought together children, youth and adults in purchasing and preparing care kits for the Cwtch Baby Bank. Carolyn Morgan Davies, Cardiff Stake Relief Society president, said volunteers have felt “deeply moved” by their involvement.
“Our ongoing work with the Cwtch Baby Bank has truly become a hallmark of service in the Cardiff Stake; members of all ages are engaged in meaningful acts of compassion, and the project continues to strengthen the spirit of unity and love within our community' she said.
Deb Barry, a member of the Church in Cardiff, said “Cwtch is one of my favourite Welsh words and it means more than a hug, it is a safe space. So, people will often say, “let me give you a Cwtch,”[2] which means let me give you a hug and a sense of feeling protected or safe from the world. When the stake got involved in the Cwtch baby project, the word meant something to everyone in the stake.”
Recovery and Homeless Support in the North of England
Members of the Church in Manchester Stake had a similar experience with not-for-profit organisation, Reach Out and Recover[3] , which helps people to rebuild their lives after addiction, trauma and homelessness. Through this collaboration, the Church furnished recovery homes with mattresses and bedroom furniture, dining chairs and kitchenware.
Reach Out and Recover members attend Macclesfield Ward sacrament services monthly and the ward provides a Sunday school discussion class to support their recovery. Each year Relief Society sisters sew wash bags and the ward collects toiletries for those entering ROAR. Additionally, for several years now, a highlight for the congregation is the annual Reach Out and Recover Christmas concert, hosted at the Macclesfield chapel. Ward members, friends and family of ROAR members and people from the community attend the performances. Jen Poulton, who helped coordinate the Church's involvement in the project, said the experience had deepened the Macclesfield congregation’s compassion and love for those facing hardship in the community. Many in the congregation, she added, “have been moved by the gratitude, humility, commitment to change, and faith demonstrated by ROAR participants.'
“[The team at Reach Out and Recover are] an inspiring example of sacrifice, love, and Christlike inclusion… [offering] opportunity, regardless of background and consistently [recognising] the inherent worth and potential in all people” Poulton added.
Jill Millward, charity manager at Reach Out and Recover, said creating a clean, comfortable and welcoming environment has always been at the heart of their work. She says the Church’s support “has made a real and visible difference, helping ensure residents feel valued and cared for.'
Elsewhere, the Church collaborated with the Single Homeless Project in London, providing kitchen equipment and medical supplies to support vulnerable adults and young people across 20 of London's 32 boroughs. The Church donated items to the charity’s training kitchens, which teach budget meal preparation and basic catering accreditations. Protective equipment, interview clothing, travel passes and course materials for work and training were also provided to support personal development; and basic household items were donated to those transitioning into permanent accommodation.
Tackling Food Insecurity: Community Partnerships in Ireland and Northern Ireland
In Ireland, the Church worked with food waste non-profit FoodCloud to redistribute surplus food from farms and businesses to local charities and community groups. Church funding allowed a 'growers project' and a 'community meals project' to continue without interruption when other grants ended, while additional investments in FoodCloud’s operations helped maintain a steady supply of fresh produce to organisations facing rising demand for help from their communities.
Church members throughout Ireland were involved as volunteers in various projects helping those in need over the past year. In Limerick, women from the Church Relief Society organisation assembled comfort and hygiene kits for families staying near hospitalised children through the Children’s Health Foundation. Additionally, Church youth from across Ireland and in Belfast prepared hygiene kits for individual and family refugees and asylum seekers supported by Diversity Sligo. The local Sligo congregation has an established relationship with the charity and plans to continue to support ongoing needs.
Taken together, these projects form part of a global picture in which Church members worldwide recorded more than 7.4 million hours of service across welfare and self-reliance facilities, service missions, and community projects in 196 countries—a scale that begins, as these stories show, with one individual, one family, one charity and one community at a time.
