Interview with Callum McKenna
by Martin Whybrow
Martin Whybrow talks to our Hythe Salvation Army Church & Community Centre Corps Officer and Church Leader, Callum McKenna, as seven years of wonderful service to our community nears an end
Did you and Berri know Hythe before you joined our community and what were your first impressions? The Salvation Army has a somewhat strange system. Its leaders are, essentially, ministers of religion and are appointed where The Salvation Army thinks they’ll be of most use. In February 2014, then, we opened an envelope telling us we were moving to Hythe and, initially, thought we were moving to Southampton! Berri is originally from Kent and I’m from Merseyside so we were thrilled when we realised we’d get the best of both worlds - the Kent Countryside and the sea. When we arrived in Hythe, the then Town Mayor, the late Alan Smith, said that he was thrilled at our arrival because we’d lowered the average age of the town… I guess Hythe is an ancient Cinque Port after-all! It’s true that Hythe is a town steeped in traditions, but lots of those traditions are vibrant and living. We were quick to learn that Hythe is a community
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which takes looking out for one another, people and places, seriously. Our first impressions are the same as our lasting impressions: Hythe is warm, reliable and welcoming. What have been your main projects and what are you most proud of? Our lives are an incredibly eclectic mix of activities. One minute we’ll be doing the ‘Vicary’ type stuff of being a Salvation Army Officer: leading Church Services, life events such as funerals and weddings, providing pastoral support to members of the congregation. The next minute we’ll have our sleeves rolled up putting together food parcels or disinfecting toys ready for the toddler groups. One of the best things about being a Salvation Army Officer is being available to respond to whatever is going on the community and finding new and innovative ways of serving others. This probably has led to some of the things I’m most proud of from our time in
Hythe - especially the Community Sponsorship Project with a Syrian Refugee Family. Can you tell us a bit about this project? Some Hythe Life readers might remember the newspaper front pages in September 2015 which showed the horrific image of the lifeless body of Alan Kurdi - the toddler who drowned in the Mediterranean as his family fled the Syrian civil war. It brought into sharp focus the plight of many refugees and I think came particularly pertinent for Hythe Residents because of our proximity to the migrant camps of Northern France. Our phone lit up with members of the community wanting to do something to help those fleeing the conflict and we were inundated with kind offers of blankets and clothing and food. We were involved in delivering some of this to charities working in Calais but I remember thinking that it was all just a drop in the ocean and that we’d love to do something much more permanent.
