Nicholaston House

Derrick and Sue Hancock had been working for a long time with a person who had suffered severe abuse. It became apparent to them, and the psychiatrist now working with them, that any healing that was going to take place could be significantly hurried up if the therapy could be more than simply sessional. Established centres were approached, but, (a... ) there was always a lengthy waiting time, and (b) the centre wanted to use their own staff, thus going over much of what had already been covered. The vision of a safe house was thus born. The problem with visions is that they seldom happen overnight; that is why many God-given visions don't materialise - people give up too soon. The vision was carried to Swansea in a quite remarkable way. A fleece was put out on a train going into Waterloo Station on a cold Monday morning in January 1990. After many months of searching as to where this vision could be realised, Swansea appeared on the screen quite out of the blue. Derrick and Sue had been in Swansea on the Sunday visiting their daughter and God spoke to them at an evening church service. The Monday morning fleece prayer was a result, and it was simply 'if you want them to move to Swansea, they will go, but you will need to find a buyer for their house without their putting it on the market'. That was 7.50 in the morning. At 7.30 in the evening, someone called to ask if they were selling their house. The caller's wife had that day discovered she was pregnant and they now needed a 4-bedroomed house - so they bought it. Derrick and Sue became linked up with a charity in the city - Swansea City Mission - and soon became involved in running a residential unit for homeless men. Then three years later they were instrumental in commencing a counselling service. Many years on, this service is still operating. Well over 1,000 people have used the service, which remains donation-based. The vision, however, was for a residential place of safety and much prayer was made over many years. £75,000 had become available, and though ...Read More