Inner Sydney walking tour connects Salvos on mission
- Jul 21
- 3 min read
BY LAUREN MARTIN
A walking tour of Inner Sydney is connecting Salvation Army mission workers from different services and helping them better assist people in need.
The initiative began about four years ago as an idea during Sydney City Area Leadership Team (ALT) meetings, as a way to introduce new employees and volunteers to each of the different city Salvation Army expressions.
They were first organised and run by Sydney City Salvos Team Leader Mitchell Evans, who said it began as a way to ‘build team’ within the inner-city Salvation Army services and mission expressions.
“For participants, it’s not about ‘my role in isolation’ but gives them a greater perspective on how their role contributes to the whole,” he said.
The walking tours are now organised and run by Caleb Wong, the Sydney City Salvos Program Manager.
They are held roughly every six weeks and last about three hours. He says it’s a great way for employees and volunteers from different services and mission expressions to meet and network.
“We wanted to improve relationships between the expressions and also the referral pathways for our community members,” Caleb said.
“People who go on the walking tour feel it’s really helpful because they get a bigger sense of what The Salvation Army is doing in the city. They also get to see the service and how it works and get to know each other and talk about what they do.”
The tour starts at Territorial Headquarters in Redfern, where participants board a bus to Sydney City Salvos Waterloo, then on to Oasis Youth Services in Surry Hills.
From there, participants walk to all of The Salvation Army’s services in the city, including Sydney City Salvos Surry Hills Community Centre, William Booth House Alcohol and Other Drugs Service (currently being redeveloped), Sydney City Salvos Elizabeth Street (currently being redeveloped) and Foster House Homelessness Support Service.
“We also have a presentation from Samaritan House (women’s accommodation service),” Caleb says. “We can’t attend the site due to confidentiality, but staff come and provide an outline of what they do and answer questions.”
According to Mitchell (former tour guide), it’s what happens ‘on the road’ that is the most powerful part of the tour.
“The pit stops at the various sites are great to learn a bit about referral pathways, where people physically go to access a service and a general overview, but the interactions and conversations walking between the spaces is where the real gold is,” he said.
“That’s when people get to know one another, and the role they play in the larger Salvation Army mission in the city.”
The Salvation Army introduced its Local Mission Delivery model seven years ago and set up 75 Area Leadership Teams (ALTs) across the country to integrate mission delivery between different Salvation Army expressions, streams and enterprises.
The inner Sydney walking tour is a small but innovative way to see that vision come to life.
*The walking tours are only open to Salvation Army employees and volunteers who work in Salvos services and mission expressions.
Starting at Territorial Headquarters at Redfern (top left), the Inner Sydney Walking Tour takes in Salvation Army sites including Sydney City Salvos in Elizabeth St and Waterloo, William Booth House, Foster House and Oasis Youth Services Centre.
