About Us

The Besom Vision – past to present

The Besom was founded by James Odgers in 1987.  Early in that year, James left law practice in London to go to Hong Kong where he served in a Christian ministry involved with heroin addicts.  What particularly affected him was not so much the absolute levels of human degradation and poverty that he encountered but the ever-widening gap that exists between those of us who have and can give and those who are in need.  On the plane leaving Hong Kong in September 1987, James wrote the original mission statement for The Besom – that it should ‘Provide a bridge between those who want to give money, time, skills or things, and those who are in need.  It ensures that what is given is used effectively‘.  The Besom began in the spare bedroom of James’ flat in London, eventually becoming The Besom HQ, some 20 years later, in a large warehouse and offices near Clapham Junction.  There are over 20 other Besoms across the country which form The Besom Network, all following the same Vision and principles.  In 2021, with James stepping down from The Besom,  The Besom Network refreshed the Vision becoming, ‘Unlocking God’s purpose in you, through meeting the needs of others’.   As a Network, we believe that every community in the UK deserves a Besom and is working towards that becoming a reality.

The Besom in Esher

We began in 2010 when a couple of Christians began to pray about planting a Besom to serve the local area around Esher.   Separately they both served in the Besom Warehouse in Battersea when they lived in central London.   There was no Besom in either Elmbridge or Kingston where they could get involved and the other Surrey-based Besoms were not close enough to serve regularly.   This prayer journey eventually grew to include a core team of time-givers (volunteers) from three Churches (Esher Green Baptist Church, Holy Trinity Claygate and Chessington Evangelical Church) who committed to operating a new local Besom serving all of Elmbridge and Chessington.

More than 10 years later, this ministry is now supported by Christians of all church denominations within Elmbridge Borough.  We are a small Christian ministry which is independent of but supported by local churches.  2024 begins a new chapter of our Besom journey as premises have been leased in Hersham, and renovations and refurbishment are underway to have our first home!

Serving across Elmbridge…..

Our name may be ‘Esher’, but we cover all of Elmbridge Borough.  We accept referrals for recipients moving into this area or already based here.  We collect large donated items only within this area weekly and love to work with any Churches based in our borough so that local Christians can Give through us to their community.

We cover these postcodes:

KT6 – in part, Long Ditton only
KT7 – all, Thames Ditton & Weston Green
KT8 – all, West & East Molesey
KT9 – all, Chessington, Hook & Malden Rushett
KT10 – all, Esher & Claygate
KT11 – in part, Cobham & Stoke D’Abernon only
KT12 – all, Walton & Hersham
KT13 – in part, Weybridge only

If you would like to give through the Besom or have a client that you would like to refer to us who is not in our catchment then you can find details of other Besoms in Surrey or further afield here.