Are you getting organised for next term already? Please consider nominating the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project for your school / church / club / staff /scouts / guides / charity Harvest appeal this year. Every donated item is one that we can give directly to families in need locally, in the food parcels that we give out each week in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. If you are interested and would like more information you can see all our news and information online here: https://ash-vale.org.uk/foodparcels-2/ You can also email us on foodparcels@ash-vale.org.uk or speak with our Project Manager on 07730 609446.
Bumper harvest on the allotment this year? We would love to give out extra fruit and veg to local families if you can spare some. You are very welcome to drop off donations at St Mary’s on Sundays 10:00-12:30 during the sunday services. Our Project Manager is always at Wednesday Picnic and Play (Chapel) and Friday Summer Cafe (St Mary’s), or contact us on the usual number to make other arrangements. 07730 609446.
#PicnicAndPlay takes place again this year at Ash Vale Chapel and we can’t wait to welcome you, for lots of family friendly fun in the sunshine. We have plenty of fun on offer, DJ Martin is doing the disco & games, Revd Neil is planning his legendary pancakes, and we have arts and crafts, games and activities each week from printing to clay, sand and water play, and more in between.
DATES: It’s on the 4 middle Wednesdays in the holidays: 31 July, 7th August, 14th August, 21st August from 11:30am until 3pm (slightly longer this year so it’s easier to work around naps for our littlest customers!)
BOOKING ESSENTIAL text phone or whatsapp to 07730 609446 please so we know you are coming and can cater for the right numbers. (All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult please.)
FOOD: Let us know your choice of sandwich filling for each person when you book (or let us know now if you already booked and we dont have your lunch choice yet). We can offer cheese, ham, vegan humus, cream cheese, jimjam chocolate spread, or jam. Let us know your preference and we will order in accordingly, so there is no waste. Any allergies eg gluten free please let us know before you get here so we can be prepared.
COST: We don’t set a fixed fee, so that all families who want to can join us. We do have a donations link, and we do need donations to help cover our costs, so please if you can bring a cash donation on the day or pop a contiribution on the Give A Little link if possible. The amount you give is up to you, THANK YOU! . https://givealittle.co/c/4BYNqSiaQc0wz1KTSgzKPz
VOLUNTEERS: We are always in need of more helping hands, setting up the gazebos, making the picnics, serving the drinks, leading the crafts, clearing down and cleaning, theres a job for everyone! If you would like to pitch in please get in touch thank you!
Remember to book for Picnic and Play at The Chapel (Wharf Rd, Ash Vale) in the summer holidays and why not bring a friend! #PicnicAndPlay
We need volunteers on Wednesdays this summer to set up / serve food and drinks / run the activities/ clear down. If you can help please see Alex! Thank you xxx
Ash Villages Food Parcels Project& Ash Vale Community Fridge
Newsletter Summer 2024
Introducing…Ash Villages Food Parcels Project:
We are here to help anyone who is struggling in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. What started as a crisis project during Covid, has become part of the furniture locally, and we will be here for as long as we are needed.
We rely on grants & generous donations from individuals, businesses, schools and clubs for our store cupboard items, and all our parcels are prepared and delivered by a wonderful team of local volunteers. We also receive fresh food donations from Co-op in Ash & Ash Vale, Tesco, and Bookers, adding short dated items to the menu each week, food that would otherwise have gone to waste.
We have put together this leaflet to pop on your fridge and refer back to when you need us, or pass on to a friend. We hope it’s useful, and feedback is always welcomed.
With our best wishes to all our clients, the lovely volunteer team, our brilliant supporters, and to all of you in our local community. Have a fun and fabulous Summer 2024!
Alex Sanderson BEM (Project Manager)
Revd Neil Lambert (St Mary’s Church Ash Vale)
Cllr Carla Morson (Ash Villages Support Circle)
This is a joint project between the Ash Villages Support Circle (Carla) and St Mary’s Church Ash Vale (Revd Neil) Charity Number 1152717 and we are kindly hosted at The Chapel Project on Wharf Rd GU12 5AY. Project Manager Tel. 07730 609446 Website: https://ash-vale.org.uk/foodparcels-2/ Donations: https://givealittle.co/c/3ijYS6zC4gbOGqwer2tmdY
Know someone who is struggling?
Citizens Advice can help with things like benefits reviews, food bank referrals, advice and emergency loans. They can also refer new clients to us here in Ash Vale for a parcel.
Local Citizens Advice: 08082787888
UK Number: 0800 144 8848
Website: https://casws.org.uk/
Did you know? If you have had a food parcel from the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project before, and need another one, you can phone/text/WhatsApp direct on 07730 609446. You do not need another referral.
Welcome to… The Ash Vale Community Fridge
This simple project opened in June 2023. The fridge is located in the community shed in the Chapel car park on Wharf Rd GU12 5AY. It’s open 24/7 for you to drop off food you don’t need, or take food home that you can use. It’s pot luck, no guarantees, but it’s free, and it is open to everyone. What a great way to reduce food waste!
One big ask – please do make a note in the red folder in the shed when you drop off or pick up food, so we can keep track of how much we save from being wasted and report back to our funders. In June—Dec 2023 we saved over 1000kg! We are grateful to Co-Op and Hubbub for making this project possible.
Did you know? This is a separate project from the food parcels and is for everyone to share food. You do not need a referral for the Community Fridge. Enjoy!
Did you know? We have community groups running almost every day. We would love to welcome you.
MONDAYS Chapel Café (SCC Warm Welcome Venue / HSBMC Warm Space) is on Mondays in term time at The Chapel on Wharf Rd GU12 5AY. We are open 9:30-12:30. includes hot drinks and simple lunch. (free / by donation)
TUESDAYS Little Lambs Library (baby & toddler group) at St Mary’s on Vale Road GU12 5JE. Tuesdays in term time 10:00-11:30 includes drink & biscuit, craft, bouncy castle, story & songs. All welcome. (free / by donation)
WEDNESDAYS: Chapel Kids (baby & toddler group / HSBMC Warm Space) is at The Chapel on Wharf Rd GU12 5AY. Wednesdays in term time 11:00-14:00 includes cuppa and singing, then craft and play. We have lunch together too— bring a picnic or enjoy the beans on toast (or similar) and then play until everyone needs a nap! In the summer we enjoy the Chapel Community Garden. (free / by donation)
FRIDAYS Community Café (SCC Warm Welcome Venue) is on Fridays in term time at St Mary’s on Vale Road. GU12 5JE. We are open 10:00-13:00 includes hot drinks and simple lunch. We also open in the summer holidays on the same weeks as Picnic and Play. (free / by donation)
SUNDAYS Church Services at St Mary’s (with Sunday School) 10:30am start. We also offer refreshments in the large hall after the service. All welcome!
Summer Holidays: PICNIC AND PLAY at The Chapel on Wednesdays in the holidays 11:30am-3pm on 31st July, 7th Aug, 14th Aug, 21st Aug. Free picnic, craft activities, games and outdoor play. Bookings 07730 609446.
St Mary’s Summer Fair: Saturday 7th Sept 12-3pm If you woukd like a stall at this event please get in touch with Martin via the Parish Office parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk
How you can help the Food Parcels Project
Donating Food: We use the app “Bank the Food” to let you know what we need most urgently. Or you can donate any store cupboard items like tins, pasta, teabags and rice and drop them off at the Ash Vale Co-Op, Ash Manor School, St Mary’s Church or The Chapel. If your school, business, club or church would like to help us with a collection at Harvest we would love to hear from you! Thank you for your support.
Donating your plastic bags:If you have any spare plastic bags, we need them for the food parcels please. You can drop them off at The Chapel in the community shed next time you visit the Community Fridge. Thank you!
Donate Funds: Funds are a big help so we can buy in what is urgently needed (eg specific baby formula, bulk buys of tins etc) You can use our “Give A Little” online giving page here: https://givealittle.co/c/3ijYS6zC4gbOGqwer2tmdY. Or pop a donation in an envelope, and deliver it to The Chapel or St Mary’s and mark the envelope “Foodbank” Thank you for your generous support.
Giving your time: We are always in need of volunteers. These superheroes make the magic happen! We need help with all sorts of tasks – collecting donations, sorting donations, packing parcels, delivering parcels, fundraising, cleaning and tidying, chatting to clients and making cups of tea, Contact Alex to find out more 07730 609446 Thank you for your time and talents!
Hello and thank you for reading this! We hope that you are enjoying all the groups, services, projects and events at St Mary’s and The Chapel in Ash Vale. If you can spare a donation, or even commit to a regular monthly gift, we will be very grateful, as this all helps us to keep going and keep serving our community. Thank you for your support, it reallly matters!
Our online giving platform is ‘Give A Little’ and you can find our donations links here:
CASH AND CHEQUES: If a good old fashioned donation in an envelope is more your style, please pop it in whenever we are open, and we will pass on any donations to our Treasurer Patrick Brown. If you want your donation to go towards a specific project or service please make a note on the envelope or on the back of your cheque, Otherwise it will go towards the general running costs of all our activities and projects. It is always a good idea to give us your phone number in the envelope too, just in case we need to check anything with you. Thank you!
GIFT AID: If you are able to add Gift Aid to your donation, please do! For every £1 you donate we then receive an extra 25p from the tax man, at no cost to you. It makes a big differeance, as it all adds up! If you are donating online there is a box to tick. If you are donating in other ways please email us on parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk and our volunteer team will have a declaration form sent out to you as soon as we can.
BENEVITY – if your place of work is registered with Benevity, you can donate here for our community cafe and/or for the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project. Why not ask your colleagues to help us to? You can search for us by charity number 1152717. Thank you!
Huge thanks to all our family, friends, volunteers, community and supporters, Your time, talents and donations make all the difference. Thank you!
Wow – feeling very humbled this week! We were just tidying up the stock at the Food Parcels Project on Monday, and thinking about the next lot of shopping to do to make sure we can meet all the needs locally. We were just sorting out my list…. need more size 1 and 4 nappies, run out of one type of formula, need some more uht milk, running low on tinned fruit and jam etc etc…when suddenly a lovely gentleman arrived unannounced and gave us a wonderful cash donation! He did not give a name, so a huge big THANK YOU! to the “mystery man” who has just paid for the foodbank top up shop this week. What a wonderful community we live in.
if you would like to know more about this project please click on ‘Food Parcels and Fridge’ in the menu on this page.
Did you know? Our Ash Villages Food Parcels Proejct received funding from the The Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund to help us keep the project going in 2023/2024. We are so grateful for this government funding, as it makes all the difference for local families. The funding ended in March and we have just finished writing up our end of grant report, so I thought you might like to see a few of the statistics.
I am so incredibly proud of this amazing volunteer team! In 23 weeks they have fed 1300 people. They have been very busy collecting donations, managing the stock, packing and delivering over 400 parcels. The funding we received stocked up the shelves to make sure we could deliver enough food, basic toiletries, and baby bank items to those in urgent need in our local villages of Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham.
Have a guess how many volunteer hours they have racked up between them? We had 32 different volunteers, who worked a total of 373 shifts, donating a staggering 648 hours of their time between them during these 23 weeks. What a huge thing to do for the community. Thank you all so much!
If you would like me to pass on a message to them for you, please email me projectmanager@Ash-Vale.org.uk and I will be sure to share it in our team chat!
Dear Parishioners, Electoral Roll members, and wider community, herewith the APCM Report for the year 2023. As already announced the Annual Meeting takes place at St Mary’s on Sunday 28th April 2024.
With our very best wishes from the PCC all at St Marys.
We look forward to welcoming you at the APCM.
Please note – You can read the copy below online, or download it to read on screen or print. If you would prefer a copy by email please contact the parish office parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk If you cannot access the electronic version and need a printed copy please contact our Project Manager on 07730 609446 or pop in to the Community Cafe on Fridays 10:00-13:00 and ask for one to be printed for you. Please note that we do wish to encourage everyone who can use the electronic copy to use this version, as we are trying to minimise our climate impact. Thank you.
We have published the notice of this year’s annual meeting recently. Here it is for anyone who has not been in the building lately and may have missed it. See you on Sunday 28th April 6.30pm. If you would like a copy of the annual report please contact the Parish Office parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk or pop in on Sunday or at our community cafe and ask for one.
Special events this week for Easter 2024: Wednesday 7:30pm at St Mary’s: Neil’s talk – Reflection on the way of tea – “why I do what I do”
Thursday 6pm at st Mary’s: Maundy Thursday bring and share meal
Good Friday: 10:00 walk of witness sets off from st Mary’s 10:30 service with Churches Together at Ash Wharf outside by the canal bridge 11:30 hot cross buns at the Chapel on wharf rd, all welcome Afternoon – st Mary’s open for prayer, craft and meditation
Saturday: st Mary’s open all day, come and help with church decoration, flowers team will be in 10:00-12:00 come and join in!
Easter Sunday: special Easter celebration service 10:30am at St Mary’s (Remember the clock go forward!)
On as usual this week: Chapel cafe 9:30-12:30 Little lambs 10:00-11:30 Chapelkids 11:00-14:00 (Friday cafe will be at chapel this week, not at st Mary’s)
All free to attend, all welcome, see you there!
Chapel Kids and friends will be going to visit Forest Kids Ash on 10th April. Text for more info! 07730609446
