Introduction
Alpha International Annual Review 2018
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02
Our mission 05
Alpha through the years 07
Alpha in 2018 11
Also from Alpha 13
Alpha around the world 19
Financial review
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Our mission
Our Mission
Alpha’s vision is the evangelization of the nations, the revitalization of the church and the transformation of society. Alpha believes everyone should have the opportunity to hear about Jesus, no matter where they are in the world, for free. An increasing number of young people are feeling disconnected from the church. This requires an urgent and relevant response from the church. Alpha exists to equip and serve the church in its mission to help people discover and develop a relationship with Jesus.
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Our mission
Letter from the Chair and Chief Executive Officer
The Revd Nicky Gumbel
Mathew Neville
Chair of Alpha International
Chief Executive Officer of Alpha International
It is wonderful to hear of people from all over the world who have tried Alpha and encountered Jesus. This review highlights some of Alpha’s global impact over the past year and we are always amazed to see how God has been so faithful and done far more than we could have ever imagined. We are witnessing extraordinary unity among churches and we are passionate about seeing that flourish. Alpha works as a simple, effective tool for evangelization across denominations, cultures, and borders. It continues to grow in different denominations and, significantly, in the Catholic Church.
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In 2018 we saw the Alpha Youth Series launched in Spanish and Mandarin and work began on translating it into a further five languages. Likewise, the Alpha Film Series was contextualized for use across the African and European continents and we were thrilled to see the Amharic version being used beyond Ethiopia – in five further countries.
2019 is already set to be a key year for us digitally as we look forward to launching the new Alpha.org website and see further development of our digital platforms to support churches globally at every stage of their interaction with Alpha. We are hugely grateful for your support. Nothing we do would be possible without you. Thank you. With very best wishes,
The Revd Nicky Gumbel Chair of Alpha International
Mathew Neville Chief Executive Officer of Alpha International
Our mission
Brooke’s story I spent years in jails and institutions trying to fight free from the chains of addiction. I started drinking alcohol when I was twelve years old. I became addicted to drugs and for twenty years I trudged through my own perpetual hell day after day. I spent years in jails and institutions trying to fight free from the chains of addiction but nothing, not my family, nor my children, could set me free. I became homeless, I was broken, and I was severely addicted to meth and heroin. I prayed every day that God would take me out of my misery. Instead of God answering that prayer, he took me out of the world, he put me in jail and, unknowingly at the time, led me to Alpha. Through Alpha I found Jesus. Today I live my life for Jesus Christ. Today I know that he is my Lord and Saviour and wherever he leads me I will follow obediently. Because if my story can be the light in someone’s darkness, if I can help lead just one person to Jesus, then not even one moment of my life was wasted. — Brooke Alpha participant, USA
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Alpha through the years
Alpha through the years
Alpha begins in Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB) in London as a course for new Christians.
Questions of Life, Alpha in book form, is published.
Alpha expands to a ten-week course with a weekend away.
First Alpha Conference in Asia.
Holy Trinity Brompton holds the first National Alpha Conference, attended by 1,000 church leaders.
Tricia Neill, now President of Alpha International, joins the team, builds Alpha in the UK as well as rolling out an international strategy.
Egypt holds Alpha’s first Middle East Conference.
Nicky Gumbel takes over the running of Alpha and re-positions it for non-churchgoers.
Four churches are running Alpha.
First Alpha Conference for Catholics is held at Westminster Cathedral Hall. Alpha runs in prisons for the first time. First Alpha conferences are held in Africa, Europe and North America.
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First Alpha Conference in South America.
Alpha through the years
Barna study carried out reveals that 82% of non-Christians described themselves as followers after Alpha1.
11,000 church leaders attend the world’s biggest ever Alpha conference in Seoul, South Korea. Alpha participants in the UK is at its highest level since Alpha started in the 1990s.
Alpha Film Series is released alongside the first ever Global Alpha Campaign featuring Bear Grylls. The campaign sees over eight million views of the feature video inviting people to try Alpha.
Alpha is represented at the Vatican Synod on the New Evangelization in Rome.
First ever international hubs of the Leadership Conference are held in Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles. Approximately 30,000 churches and organizations ran Alpha.
Mathew Neville joins the team as CEO of Alpha International and introduces a global goal to double the number of churches running Alpha by 2022.
UK leaders of the Catholic and Anglican Church pray together for unity at the Leadership Conference 2015, with over 7,000 people.
Alpha is repositioned for the next generation. The Alpha Youth Film Series is released; the first Alpha videos designed for young people filmed outside a church building.
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Although becoming a follower of Jesus does not necessarily equate to conversion to Christianity, a variety of data points demonstrate significant spiritual impact, and even radical life change, among the 82% of non-Christians who described themselves as followers of Jesus since doing Alpha. For example, 88% of non-Christians became more committed to growing their knowledge of the Bible after Alpha, and 80% became more committed to sharing their faith in Jesus with others.
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Alpha in 2018
Alpha in 2018
1 Amount raised: £1.5m
2 In 2018, approximately 30,000 churches and organizations ran Alpha with over 1.3 million participants3. Of this, over 20,000 churches actively engaged with us when they ran their Alpha, helping us better understand where Alpha is being run around the world.
In 2018 Alpha International adopted a strategic direction that refocused the growth of Alpha through the local church. Ongoing use of Alpha’s digital platform globally has provided us with an opportunity to review the church metric methodologies being utilized by National Alpha Offices (NAOs). The conclusion of this review proposed two approaches to measure the number of churches running Alpha, which we will implement. Alpha International continues to measure the estimated number of churches and organizations running Alpha across the world. Clear and robust estimation methodologies are used by NAOs to determine 8
these figures which are assessed by the Global Impact Team at Alpha International. In addition to this, we have launched an accompanying metric called ‘Actively Engaged Churches’ that refers to churches that are registered on our digital platform or have been verified by our NAOs to have run Alpha in the year of counting. This provides us an even greater degree of accuracy and scalability to understand where Alpha is running in the world.
Includes funds raised from donations, resource sales and conferences.
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In 2018 the European Union’s GDPR law came into effect. This changed Alpha’s ability to understand its impact in the UK which was traditionally determined by polling pastors. The law has introduced difficulties to conduct the poll without achieving prior consent. Work is underway to determine a solution. In the interim the UK’s 2017 figures have been carried forward into the 2018.
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Alpha participants include guests, hosts and helpers.
Alpha in 2018
Equipping and serving the church A new approach to training Alpha grew from a church in London, Holy Trinity Brompton, and today continues to work best in the context of the local church. To see more people given the opportunity to explore a personal relationship with Jesus, it is essential that we inspire, engage, train and equip the church to run excellent Alphas.
Alpha’s early rapid growth was achieved through in person training conferences held all over the world, featuring Alpha’s founder, Nicky Gumbel. This training was highly effective, but resource intensive and difficult to scale consistently. In 2018, a new digital training platform was released that will enable Alpha to train the same number of churches by 2022 as we have trained in the last twenty-five years. The roll out of this new platform, supported by new training content from 2019 onwards and CRM capability, will also enable Alpha to better manage relationships with these new churches, consistently measure the impact of Alpha, and better inform strategic decision making.
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Alpha in 2018
Alpha offers a very human, non-threatening door for everyone to enter. Everyone eats. And when we eat, it is not just an exchange of food. The table becomes also an exchange of stories. Alpha is bringing the experience of the faith and even the episodes in the Bible in ordinary meals, ordinary conversations and ordinary encounters. In their ordinariness, they are really extraordinary. I encourage people to try this model of evangelization. — Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle Archbishop of Manila, the Philippines
Revitalizing the church Since 2017, there has been a growth of 18% in the number of Catholic churches actively engaged with Alpha. As a result, 21% of all churches that ran Alpha in 2018 were run in a Catholic context. This growth is driven in part by our partnership with Divine Renovation. Divine Renovation is a Catholic global ministry that inspires and equips parishes to become mission-focused. Alpha and Divine Renovation have a shared vision to equip parishes in evangelization.
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In 2018, Alpha was involved in Divine Renovation events held in Canada, South Africa, Australia, the Philippines, and the UK. The aim of these events was to envision Catholic churches to become working models of healthy mission-focused parish life; influencing others around them and serving their communities, with Alpha at the center.
We want to ensure that we continue to serve the global church in new and effective ways. Our aim is to build strength in regions and National Alpha Offices so that the growth of Alpha can be released globally.
Alpha in 2018
Building strength globally
For the first time, alongside the Leadership Conference in London, there were hub events held around the world – in Kuala Lumpur, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Mexico City. In Kuala Lumpur, the Leadership Conference was followed by a one day Experience Alpha conference. Church leaders from the across the region were able to experience the culture and DNA of Alpha in the context of the local church. The Asia Pacific office were so empowered and encouraged that they plan to run a Leadership Conference hub annually.
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Also from Alpha
Also from Alpha The Marriage Course: Marriage as a sign of God’s love Today we face a global crisis regarding family breakdown and marriages are under more pressure than ever. To see society transformed, we recognize the urgent need to invest in marriage and family life. There is a direct correlation between the strength of marriages in the church and the strength of our witness to the gospel of God’s love and grace. The Marriage Preparation Course and The Marriage Course provide couples with the practical, proactive tools they need to build a strong, lasting relationship, The Marriage Courses have given over 1.7 million people in over 100 countries a renewed vision for a loving, lifelong marriage. Exciting progress has been made on the project to refilm The Marriage Courses. Remaking these courses is essential if we are to equip churches to engage with millennials around the world and help them build strong, lasting marriages. In 2018, scripts were updated and reviewed and the new content was tested and trialled at HTB (the home of both Alpha and The Marriage Courses). New sofa couples were chosen from across the world; sofa couples are real couples who share how they have practically applied the course teaching to their relationship.
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In February 2019 filming began in Vancouver, Canada and will continue through to June 2019. The English-language product will be launched in January 2020.
Also from Alpha
Reaching millions with the Bible The Bible in One Year is a free daily Bible reading resource with commentary by Nicky and Pippa Gumbel.
Fundraising evening at Lambeth Palace In September, couples were invited to experience the refilm project at a special evening at Lambeth Palace, the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. During the evening, guests heard from Sir Paul Coleridge, founder of UK Marriage Foundation, who spoke on how the courses are ‘the gold standard’ for marriage courses on the market. Couples also experienced a special taster of the updated course material from founders Nicky and Sila Lee. Over £240,000 was raised on the evening towards the total project budget of £2,708,424.
Available via YouVersion, app, and email, the Bible in One Year provides readers of any faith background with the understanding and ability to read and apply the Bible’s teaching to their lives. Over 1.1 million people used the Bible in One Year in 2018, a 71% increase on 2017. It is now available in seven languages, including audio versions in English, Mandarin, and Bahasa Indonesia. In total, over three million people have used the Bible in One Year since its release in 2010.
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Alpha around the world
Alpha around the world The weekend helped me get to know who the Holy Spirit is, and why he’s important, and also why we’re never alone because he’s in us, which was a good message for me because I had been walking through Christianity feeling alone. — Kayla Alpha participant
North America Churches across the US gathered across denominational lines in January for the first Alpha Conference in nearly a decade. Leaders came together to worship, encounter Jesus, and to be equipped and inspired in their mission and role. Senior Pastors from the US and Canada attended Experience Alpha in the UK – an opportunity to see first hand how Alpha runs at HTB and receive bespoke training in how to run an effective Alpha. In October, churches from the Greater Toronto area joined together for an Alpha Weekend. Over 240 guests attended and it was highly impactful for both guests and volunteers.
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The next generation are being empowered and equipped to share their faith. In Canada, over 2,500 Alphas were run for youth and in the US, the number of Alpha Youth courses grew by 87% from 1,932 in 2017 to 3,605 in 2018.
The four largest cities in Syria – Homs, Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia – are running Alpha and The Marriage Course. Two of the courses which ran in Aleppo and Damascus in 2018 used the Alpha Youth Film Series newly translated into Arabic. Following a conference in Syria, the Diocese of Damascus recommended the use of The Marriage Course and the first course was run in 2018. In Egypt in November, 100 church and mission leaders gathered at an Alpha conference in Assuit and were trained, envisioned and sent out to run Alpha and The Marriage Course across the country.
Alpha around the world
Middle East
Latin America and Caribbean In 2018, there was a growth of 17% in the number of churches running Alpha across Latin America and Caribbean. This was the highest percentage of growth compared to other regions. Since the launch of the first Alpha Youth Film Series in 2014, the number of young people trying Alpha in Latin America has grown exponentially year on year. In June 2018, the new Alpha Youth Series was launched across Latin America and we expect the new material to have a significant impact across the continent. The number of young people trying Alpha in Latin America now represents 17% of the global total.
Despite the ongoing crisis in Venezuela, Alpha in running in both Protestant and Catholic churches across the country.
November saw the end of a sixty day challenge set by the Alpha Brazil team to visit 222 churches in different states across the country. 190 of these churches are now actively considering starting Alpha.
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Alpha around the world
Europe Following a strategy retreat for Alpha Offices across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EMENA), teams have been working together to invest in key church leaders across Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Poland, Egypt, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, and Sweden. These are the top ten strategic countries in the EMENA region. Through investing in key leaders and providing an opportunity for them to see Alpha’s effectiveness first hand, we aim to establish fifteen new hub churches by the end of 2019. Hub churches serve as a model for other churches to come and see ‘Alpha best practice’ and provide training and coaching on how to run Alpha.
UK A Prison Ministry Conference in November included interviews with Prisons Minister Rory Stewart MP and Prison Governor Nikki Marfleet, and a seminar on how Alpha can be an effective tool for prison ministry and reduce reoffending. Alpha is now running in seventy-four prisons in the UK (53% of all prisons in the country). At the Newday Youth Festival, over 1,000 young people experienced Alpha, with 140 giving their lives to Jesus.
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Over 500 senior church leaders received dedicated Alpha training across the UK in 2018. The largest ever Alpha training to take place in Wales was held in Swansea in November.
Alpha around the world
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Alpha around the world
Asia Pacific In 2018 Alpha expanded into the relatively young mission fields of Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia. In Myanmar, Alpha ran with refugees, giving at risk children confidence and courage to stand up against sexual violence, abuse and exploitation.
A partnership with the charity Compassion meant that Alpha was introduced to thirty churches in Thailand in 2018. In Cambodia, through a former partnership with Vision Fund, over 1,000 people have experienced Alpha with twenty-five people giving their lives to Jesus.
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Alpha around the world
Africa The Alpha Youth Series now includes African street interviews and local promotional materials, giving it greater reach among young people in Africa. The East Africa Alpha Conference, held in Kenya in November, saw leaders from twenty-five churches come together, 30% of whom had never experienced Alpha. From November 2018 to February 2019, thirty-one new Alphas started running across East Africa. The Alpha Film Series was translated into Amharic for use in Ethiopia, the first African country to translate the product into a local language.
When I did Alpha, I was hesitant at first, but as I went through the series I discovered so much about God. I am excited for the new series. After seeing an episode, I think that the Alpha Youth Series with African interviews will be great because we as young people will hear our experiences shared as we explore the questions of life. — Ida Fumbah Alpha participant, Kenya 19 19
Financial review
Income and expenditure
Income:
ÂŁ11.5 million From donations:
From resource sales and conferences:
Expenditure1:
ÂŁ10.4 million Ministry: putting Alpha into the hands of local leaders worldwide
Fundraising:
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1.
Support costs make up 15% of total expenditure.
Income
Financial review
Statutory accounts Total funds 2018 (£)
Total funds 2017 (£)
192,085
345,830
Other donations
10,098,865
8,363,662
Total donations
10,290,950
8,709,492
1,192,699
1,193,700
11,483,649
9,903,192
577,000
702,655
1,091,143
1,078,376
843,050
961,200
2,909,896
2,049,557
3,119,469
2,869,697
Alpha Context Development
612,217
624,082
Other Ministries
137,808
342,221
1,122,259
1,247,955
Total charitable expenditure
9,835,842
9,143,234
Total expenditure
10,412,842
9,845,889
1,070,807
57,303
Donations Donations under Gift Aid
Income from resources sales and conferences Total income
Expenditure Fundraising Charitable activities1
(including allocated support costs)2
Strategic Leadership
Global strategy and oversight
UK Development UK hub costs
Media and Resources
Technology and innovation
International Development
Establishing localised infrastructure and training
Tailoring Alpha for different contexts
The Marriage Courses and Mission Giving
Conferences1
Equipping global leaders
Net income3
Some 2017 comparative costs have been re-allocated into different expenditure categories which are more in line with 2018 activities and the longer-term strategy of the charity.
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2.
Support costs make up 15% of total expenditure.
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lpha International closed the year with an operating surplus of £1,070,807. This surplus was chiefly due to restricted donations received towards the new A three year Marriage Course Re-filming project not spent in the year.
The figures above are summarised from the charity’s draft accounts, audited by Kingston Smith llp, for the year ended 31 December 2018. A complete set of the accounts will be available later in the year from the UK charity commission website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/charity-commission.
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Financial review
Alpha International board of trustees Nicky Gumbel is Chairman of the Alpha International Board, pioneer of Alpha and Vicar of Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB). In 1990, Nicky took over the running of Alpha and repositioned it for those outside the church. Nicky is married to Pippa and they have three children.
Tricia Neill is the President of Alpha International. Tricia joined HTB in 1994 from News International, where she headed up News International Exhibitions. Prior to that, she worked in the Middle East for Shell. Tricia sits on the boards of numerous Alpha offices worldwide.
David Gardner OBE is a co-founder and General Partner of London Venture Partners, a seed fund investing in the Games Sector. He has over thirty years’ experience in the industry, previously working as EVP and COO of Electronic Arts Worldwide Studios, and CEO of Atari, SA.
Chris Sadler is Global Partnerships Director for Alpha International. He previously served as Alpha USA National Director and led Alpha's Asia Pacific region for ten years. Chris has served on a number of corporate boards and has twenty years' experience in the investment banking industry.
Al Gordon is the Rector of St John at Hackney, East London. Until September 2016, he served as Global Vice-President of Alpha International. Al is the Executive Producer of the Alpha Film Series. He co-founded Worship Central and is a trustee of Charity: Water.
David Segel is a financial and media industry investor and founder of Mako Global, a European leader in options market-making. He is Executive Founding Partner in MPower Pictures and creator of the Video Genome Project. David sits on the boards of Trinity Exploration and Production, Yale Divinity School, Eastern Congo Initiative and Alpha USA.
Jody Jonsson is an equity portfolio manager and Partner at Capital Group, with an MBA from Stanford University and twenty-eight years of investment experience. Jody serves on the board of Alpha USA. John Mackay is a founding principal of the Strand real estate organisation. John also sits on the boards of Alpha USA and Alpha Canada, and is active in many other charitable organisations. He has degrees in business and law. John and his wife Rebecca have three grown children. Bernard Mensah is a Managing Director and Global co-Head of Fixed Income at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. He was previously at Goldman Sachs, where he spent many years working in Asia before becoming Global Head of the firm’s Bank Debt business in London.
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Sandy Millar practised as a barrister before being ordained and becoming Vicar of HTB in 1985. He oversaw the growth of HTB to the largest church in the Church of England and was involved in leading Alpha from a local to a global resource.
Rebecca Stewart is the founder and CEO of Goldstar Partners, providing executive search and consulting services to clients in the non-profit sector. From 2003 to 2015 she worked at HTB and Alpha International in a variety of roles, including COO, Chief of Staff and, from 2014, HTB Group CEO. Michael Timmis was senior partner of Timmis and Inman L.L.P lawfirm, and co-founder and Vice Chairman of private investment company Talon LLC. Previously Chairman of Prison Fellowship International, Michael now serves on the board of New Canaan Society. Hong Yeoh is the Executive Director of Malaysian listed YTL Power International Berhad and Director of both the holding company, Malaysian conglomerate YTL Corporation Berhad, and Wessex Water. Kathleen, Hong's wife, is Chair of the Alpha Asia Pacific Advisory Board.
Financial review
Alpha is a great tool to help people integrate into church before they even believe in church; we believe that every church should run Alpha as it can bring many people into faith. — Greg Hart Hillsong Africa Foundation, Kenya
Alpha is for meeting Jesus. What I like in all that I have seen and heard about Alpha is the simplicity. For me, the Christian life has something to do with simplicity, friendship, closeness, and joy. That’s what I feel about Alpha and I think that’s a sign that it works and that it’s given from the Lord. — Cardinal Christoph Schönborn Archbishop of Vienna, Austria
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Yvonne tried Alpha in Kenya and then went on to invite her sister Sally.
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Yvonne’s story
Sally’s story
My initial expectation was that it would be a crash course to Christianity. I arrived with a pen and paper in hand thinking it would be much like school or another church course, but what I experienced was something completely different.
My sister Yvonne started to disappear somewhere every Wednesday night without fail and couldn’t stop talking about this thing called Alpha. Not just talking, she raved about it. It got my interest and a few weeks later I found myself experiencing Alpha.
It was so natural, with the focus on community, exploring together without any pressure on me... What I loved most was how candid everyone was, it’s rare to have people talk so openly about life and the challenges we all go through... It made me hungrier to experience Jesus and to finally find a faith that was my own.
It was incredible! Alpha brought me closer to Jesus and gave me that extra push to explore my relationship with God and renew my faith. At my own pace with no pressure. I now feel part of a community. I spend more time in church compared to six months ago, when I would simply get in and out as quick as possible.
Join us
Together, we can help serve the church to provide an opportunity for people to explore life, faith, and God. Pray
Serve
Our desire and prayer is that God will continue to use Alpha to introduce people to himself – a personal and loving God. Please join us in praying that women and men across the globe, young and old, will come to know Jesus.
Alphas are run all around the world thanks to the help of numerous volunteers. We would love you to consider volunteering at an Alpha near you.
Give
Leaving a legacy gift to Alpha is a simple way of blessing future generations for many years to come with the gospel. You could help provide opportunities for people to discover a personal relationship with Jesus wherever they are in the world, by leaving a gift in your will.
We believe everyone should have the opportunity to explore life and the Christian faith wherever they are in the world, for free. You can help make that happen by considering a gift to Alpha, so that more people are reached and transformed by the good news of Jesus.
Leave a legacy
For any further information, please contact us at alpha.partners@alpha.org
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Vision & Mission
Alpha International is a registered charity in England and Wales (1086179) and in Scotland (SC0429 a06) Alpha International, HTB, Brompton Road, London SW7 1JA, England
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