On October 16th, Commissioner John Wainwright gave an excellent presentation about ‘The Salvation Army’. Starting in the UK from Protestant Christian origins, it is now in 131 countries, and expanding – particularly in Africa and Asia.

John, a fifth generation Salvationist, emphasised the distinction between the religious aspect and the delivery of services to people, irrespective of faith.

He spoke amusingly of the visit in 1874 by two salvationists to Harrogate, preaching on The Stray in competition with a Circus, and told us of the meeting of a thousand SA ministers to our International Conference centre next week.

John showed us inspiring video clips of some of TSA’s projects – the £8M refurbishment of Strawberry Fields in Liverpool as a training centre and workplace for young people with learning disabilities, and the ongoing anti human-trafficking work across the Globe.

His talk finished with videos of their world famous brass band in action in The Mall and a Soweto brass band outside Nelson Mandela’s house immediately after his death.