roots down walls down
https://www.ashvalechapel.com/post/drawn-to-draw-new-art-club-on-mondays
#DrawnToDraw #ArtClub #SanRocco #AshValeChapel #RevdNeilLambert #CommunityArt
Harvest is coming up and as always the church celebrates and gives thanks for all our blessings! We also collect for those in need, bringing donations to our Harvest Festival Service on the 8th October. If you would like to join in you can join us at 10:30am on the day, or donate any time beforehand.
Here is the list of the weekly items that our local Ash Villages Food Parcels team use for a standard food parcel, to give you an idea of what you might donate:
The tins we get through 30+ a week of each:
Tomatoes / Sweetcorn / Baked beans / Tuna
Meat (curry or hotdogs or ham or mince or corned beef etc)
Sweet (tinned fruit / rice pudding / custard etc)
Other staples we include every week are:
Pasta (instant noodles are a great ‘low cost to cook’ option)
Rice (microwave rice is low cost to heat)
Pasta sauce (again low cost to heat)
Tea / coffee / sugar
UHT milk & Cereal
Treats occasionally to bring a smile e.g. Biscuits / Jam / crisps / sweets
We also try to include fresh items to support healthier eating:
Potatoes / Onions / Carrots / Apples / Eggs
Any of the above that you might like to donate would be much appreciated thank you. You could pick one item and donate a few of the same, or pick a couple of things from the list, or even pick one of each and donate the necessary for a whole weekly parcel.
Alternatively you could choose to support us with toiletries and “Baby bank” items:
Shower gel / Shampoo / Sanitary items / Soap
Nappies / baby wipes / Baby formula / Baby food pouches
Laundry pods (we divide packs between families)
Supporting those with much loved Pets: We also like to be able to give out cat food and dog food if people are able to donate those, so that families can afford to keep much loved pets.
Where to send things:
Donations for the Harvest Festival service collection can be dropped off at St Mary’s Church on Vale Rd, GU12 5JE whenever we are open. (E.G Sunday church services are 10:30am-12:00 / Toddlers on Tuesdays 10:00-11:30 / Cafe on Fridays 10:00-13:00)
Throughout the year you can also take donations directly to the team at the Chapel on Wharf Rd GU12 5AY, where we pack the parcels. The team is there packing parcels on Wednesdays and Fridays 8:45-9:30am or contact us to make other arrangements if these times don’t work for you. You can also choose to leave items in the community shed in the Chapel car park. Please clearly label the bag “Donation for the food parcels”.
Do you take donations of funds too? Yes please!
If shopping is inconvenient we do also very gladly accept donations of funds. We can buy in bulk which keeps the cost down and makes your money go even further to feed more families.
You can donate by cash or cheque at St Mary’s church Ash Vale, which our Treasurer allocates to the restricted fund for food parcels – just write on the envelope or on the back of the cheque what the donation is for and he ensures it goes in the right account.
We can send you the details for a bank transfer or regular standing order if you prefer. This just requires you to put “Food Parcels” as the reference so again we can assign the funds to the right project.
For immediate online donations we have a church account with the “Give a little” donations platform and the link for the Food Parcels project is here: https://givealittle.co/campaigns/7a47190c-ad4e-4cf9-8662-da844101a41c this platform allows you to sign up for monthly regular giving, or a one-off donation, whichever you would like to do.
Whatever you decide to do – thank you very much for your support!
If you’d like to know more please contact: 07730609446
Good Morning! Our regular groups are open again this week for the winter term. We look forward to welcoming you to St Mary’s and to The Chapel.
Mondays – Chapel Cafe 9:00-12:00 (Chapel)
Tuesdays – Little Lambs (babies and toddlers) at st Mary’s 10:00-11:30
Wednesdays – Chapel Kids (babies and toddlers) 11:00-14:00 (bring a packed lunch or we offer baked beans on toast)
Fridays – St Mary’s Community Cafe 10:00-13:00 (toasties at 12:00)
Chapel: Wharf road GU12 5AY
St Mary’s: Vale Road GU12 5JE
After 2 intense weeks of mission we are all so excited to see the Away Team home again and hear their news on Sunday. Here is the “Prayer Wall” content that has been shared by the Home Team (tha’s all of us here praying) in church – also now shared here for anyone unable to visit in person and read it all on the board. We hope you enjoy this virtual journey of prayer. Please keep the Uganda team in your prayers always. They will be continuing this work day in, day out, faithfully serving God.
If you would like to know more or would like to make a donation to support the work please have a look at Amaha We Uganda (Hope For Uganda) online or ask us in church.
The incredible thing about modern technology is that we can now receive videos from the team, via WhatsApp, directly from where they are in Uganda. Here are a few of the amazing videos that we have received from Neil, Helen, Sarah, Judith, Tina and William this week.
Amaha We Uganda Head Office – have a look around!
Next the team prepared the packs and went to meet the Womens Groups Leaders for a conference. Here are the video updates from the event… see below.
And after the Women’s conference – dancing and worship on prayer mountain!
After a very full week the team spend a little time enjoying the local wildlife at the Queen Elizabeth park:
Up in the hills – A wonderful time of fellowship with the Archdeacons at their conference. Visiting the villages to see old friends… Having a look at the trees already planted and the difference they make. Taking time to understand the context in which more new trees may be able to be planted…. and the challenges that everyone is facing.
Fellowship at AWU HQ: The team had a wonderful time of fellowship with the Street Boys in Kasese. Please keep them all in your prayers. There are some very inspiring young men among them who now have their own businesses and are paying school fees for their own children.
Respect to these chefs who made lunch for 1000 people!
This is what the roads are like in places… please keep the team in your prayers for safe travel.
(by Alex Sanderson and Carla Morson)
What a super morning we had on 21st June 2023 celebrating this new project! We are delighted to declare the new Ash Vale Community Fridge officially open! This is a superb way to make sure that no good food goes to waste, and we hope all our friends and neighbours enjoy using it. Ever wondered what goes in to a project like this? Here’s how the story unfolded…
One fine autumn day in 2022, our amazing Ash Villages Food Parcels Team, Chapel Project Team, and Chapel Kids toddler group were delighted to visit Ash Vale Co-op to celebrate the amazing support, delicious Fareshare food donations and vital community funding received from the Co-Op community team, and our 2 local stores in Ash and Ash Vale. We got chatting to Claire about food waste and mentioned wanting to have a fridge or shelving of some sort outside, so we could offer food to the community for more than just a few hours a week when the food parcels team are in the building. Amazingly, Claire had a contact, and knew of a Co-op / Hubbub Community Fridge network grant funding round that was closing in just a few days – fantastic!
With no time to waste, we sprang into action. First we got the go-ahead from The Chapel management team and St Mary’s, and started the application forms. With some super support from Patrick, who kindly handles the money side of things for our Food Parcels Project for us, we got the right documents submitted along with our Community Fridge application just in time. And then… Joy of joys! We were chosen to join the scheme, and received the funding in early 2023. With that, the search was on for a fridge.. that would fit in a shed.. that would fit in the space.. that would fit within budget… not as easy as it sounds, but we got there.
You can’t run a fridge on fresh air, so the next job was the electrics! Fortunately, Sacha from Sassy does it electrical was overseeing the Chapel’s electrical checks in the spring. Her team did a super job, so we invited them back to help us with an electrical supply for the community fridge. Their help and advice was invaluable and they did the job brilliantly. We even have an extra socket at the ready just in case we need heat or light in the winter.
Where there’s food there’s admin… If you’ve ever seen a Hubbub community fridge before, you will know that they are super helpful, providing signage, instructions, templates and pointers for every eventuality. We were very fortunate to have the amazing Viv on our team who kindly trawled through hundreds of pages of advice and instructions and made sure we didn’t miss anything important. Between us we completed the risk assessments, registrations, signage and other ‘setting things up’ tasks that go on behind the scenes. We even had Carla taking time out of a very busy schedule chasing up the insurance for us to get it all ready in time!
While the ladies busied themselves with the paperwork… the gents took on the practical challenges: We owe a big THANK YOU to Luke and his team who cleared away the weeds to make a clear space for us as part of their garden clean-up, and to Jeff who measured up and hand made the base for the shed and reinforced the floor, and to Steve and Alun who put up the shed, strengthened it, and bolted the Fridge down safely to make sure it stays where it is! We even have a lovely shelf, custom made, from a re-purposed kitchen top, so we can have swap-shop items and non-fridge items available in the community shed too.
The final piece of the jigsaw is of course the food to go in the fridge. This is where our food parcels team comes in – they will be the first regular contributors. These local heroes collect donated food from Co-op, Bookers and Tesco in the evenings twice a week. They use everything they can to go into the food parcels for local families, but sometimes they do receive things that will be out of date by the morning and can’t be frozen, or sometimes more of something than can be used in the parcels. They always try to make sure nothing is wasted, but it can be very time consuming making lots of individual phone calls. Now of course, having the community fridge is perfect – we can all simply pop the surplus in the fridge, snap a photo and tell our Facebook followers what’s up for grabs.
And then we launched! It’s hard to believe that all the hard graft has finally paid off and we can proudly say that the community fridge is officially open! The Co-op team are so amazing, they even came to celebrate the launch with us, bringing fresh bread and bananas to offer out to our first Community Fridge heroes! Rev Neil said a few words, and he, Carla and Claire cut the ribbon. Alex brought along some fizz and we all raised a glass (alcohol free of course!) to the project and all involved.
What does the future hold? It’s up to you! We hope that everyone locally will get into the habit of using the Ash Vale Community Fridge. Give what you can, take what you need, keep good food out of the bin… and please remember to fill in the sheet in the red folder so we can tell you how much food we have saved! We would love to grow this project, with more evening volunteers for more food collections, to put food in the fridge every night. We would love more volunteers to join the rota to check the fridges and help us to keep them shiny and clean. We will need some help raising funds for the electric bill once the initial grant funds run out, if anyone fancies becoming a regular donor or doing a sponsored challenge, give us a call. Feedback is always welcomed too of course, in person or you can phone or email. If you’d like to come and talk to us, Monday Chapel Café is 9am-12:00 in term time. Alex is there each week during the school term with Andy ready to make you a cuppa and give you the tour. Why not pop in and say hello?
Please join us in thanking these amazing local heroes, and see you soon at the fridge!
Alex & Carla
Project Manager’s phone: 07730 609446
Location:The Chapel Project, (former methodist church) Wharf Rd, Ash Vale, GU12 5AY
Our hall of fame… so far! Send us your photos of visiting, using and supporting the Community Fridge! Photo of the red folder – remember to log your food in and out! Patrick doing the electrics…. Steve and Alun putting up the shed… Jeff who built the base and reinfoced it, and has been part of the food parcels team for 3 years! ….Photos of the Launch Day with our friends from Co-Op….. Photos of the fridge in action…. Photos of the Food Parcels Crew who add items to the fridge… Photo of Rosie and Paul who collect donations in the evenings…. Send us your photos to add to the gallery! Love to everyone! xxx
This volunteers week, we want to celebrate everyone who makes St Mary’s, the Chapel and all our local community projects and neighbourly activities so wonderful and welcoming.
Did you know? Everything at St Mary’s relies on volunteers. With the exception of Revd Neil Lambert and Alex our part-time project manager, everyone else you see at church events and projects is a volunteer.
Thank you to those who help bake, cook, make the coffee and wash up, set up and clear down, wipe tables, stack chairs…. at church, at toddlers, at cafe, at bible study, and at our events like the quiz and summer fair and the light party and Christingle.
Thank you to all those who write articles for the online for the Parishioner magazine, put up posters and support us on social media with likes and shares. Thank you to the website and internet gurus and the technical whizzkids!
Thank you to everyone who volunteers on the PCC to help the church run, keeps us legal, looks after safeguarding and manages the building. Thank you to everyone involved in organising and leading events.
Thank you to everyone who makes the Sunday services so uplifting – flowers, altar linen, readings, prayers, worship, preaching, sound, zoom, service sheets, choir – there are so many ways to serve and we need them all.
Thank you to the army of helpers who turn up week after week for the food parcel project – donation collections, stock management, cleaning, taking calls, packing and deliveries.
Thank you for looking after the buildings with all the tidying, gardening, mending, polishing, fixing, skip runs, decorating and security.
Thank you for the care and love that goes into making Sundayschool happen, thank you for prayer ministry, thank you for welcoming people as they arrive.
Thank you for answering phones and emails, taking hall bookings, payroll and invoices, hearing aid clinics, chasing grants, managing the accounts, fundraising, stewardship and pastoral care.
thank you for donating raffle prizes, food donations, playing music, being the DJ, running a craft, sharing your talents, offering a hug, being a listening ear, leading a bible study, lifts, cooking for the community, putting up a shed, wiring up the Chapel office…..
….there are so so so many people who are are so kind and generous with their time and skills. Leading, encouraging, helping, visiting… we have probably missed lots off this list but please know that everything you so kindly do is priceless, important and appreciated.
Some may say that in church we don’t volunteer, we are called to serve. On the other hand, some of our most faithful and dependable community volunteers are not actually church goers at all and we only see you in the week! Whatever you do, and whatever your beliefs, we treasure you and thank you. Please know that you are a huge blessing and we love you! THANK YOU ONE AND ALL!
News from our Tuesday Baby and Toddler group
Can you believe it? Another Half Term has passed and we are looking forward to being back at Little Lambs on Tuesday next week 10:00-11.30. There 7 more sessions and then it will be the summer holidays! If you haven’t been before, do pop in and join us. Whether you come for just 1 session or all 7, you are very welcome and we look forward to welcoming you. (St Mary’s, Vale Road, GU12 5JE)
What do we get up to at Little Lambs Library?
We start at 10am with the toys out, craft at the table and books in our ‘reading nook’ tent. Everyone enjoys doing whatever takes their fancy. Usually Heather makes the drinks, Nikki catches up with the grownups and Alex is on hand to sign everyone in and help at the craft table. We have a different craft activity each week – paint, magic sand, playdough, cutting and sticking, colouring, collage…
Then at about 10:45 we put up the bouncy castle. It’s a great way to let off steam! While the older ones have a bounce, the babies enjoy a bit of a quieter moment in the main hall.
And then…. Peter arrives with his guitar! We all help to tidy away the toys and gather on the carpet. Alex tells the story and then we enjoy some of singing and music making together, finishing with the Hokey Cokey. (And remember you can borrow books every week and bring them back next time!)
We would love to welcome you soon – see you at St Mary’s!
Love from Alex, Nikki, Heather and Peter xxxx
Ps – It’s free / no fee so that everyone can join us, but we do ask for donations please if you can, so we can cover our running costs. Donations link:
https://givealittle.co/campaigns/0e1c078e-06c0-4f64-9d7a-1d452662af80
Find out more about this wonderful scheme at the upcoming coffee morning at the Ash Centre on 6th June 2023 10:30am. #TheBigHelpOut
By Alex Sanderson
Did you know? This amazing local team of volunteers have been feeding people in need in our villages since April 2020!
How does St Mary’s fit in? St Mary’s is the local parish church in Ash Vale. As well as Sunday services, we love to serve our amazing community all week long! We host community groups – everything from toddlers to choir to Friday Community Cafe. Nearby, we work with the local Methodist Circuit to run the Chapel Project on Wharf Rd. We offer a Monday Chapel Cafe & warm hub there, host the Chapel Kids toddler group with lunch club, and provide summer picnics, monthly makes and other community, creativity and arts events. In these difficult times our most important project is the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project (and our Community Fridge opening Summer 2023). We work together with Carla Morson and a superb team of volunteers from both the church and the Ash Villages Support Circle, feeding 20-40 families every week.
What does the project do? The Ash Villages Food Parcels Project serves our neighbours in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. We deliver emergency food and toiletries to local people in crisis, and offer a listening ear. Twice a week teams go out in the evening to collect donations of bread and perishables from the supermarkets and others shop for the best value items to top this up, to make a balanced food parcel. We add these to the food items donated by local people and then pack the parcels the following morning, ready to go out to local people in need.
How do we help people? Our Food Parcels project helps local people in crisis, by providing emergency food and toiletries. This includes ‘baby bank’ items eg nappies. Referrals come from CAB, Wellbeing Team, Social Services, DWP and local churches too. As well as food, we offer a listening ear, and help to connect people to other sources of help, including Monday Chapel Cafe and local warm hubs. We are passionate about connecting with people to battle against the anxiety, isolation and mental strain that goes hand in hand with food poverty, not just providing a one-off parcel. The lovely thing is, that lots of people who receive a parcel later go on to volunteer or donate to help others once they are back on their feet. This community is truly amazing!
How can local people help? We can all work together to help our neighbours. Our volunteers are amazing at what they do and we can always use more hands on deck. The other issue is of course funding. Typically we spend around £400 per week on basic essentials for the parcels, to top up what comes in as donated items. Please help us to keep the food parcels filled and keep the Chapel doors open for a warm welcome. Here’s the donations link:
https://givealittle.co/campaigns/7a47190c-ad4e-4cf9-8662-da844101a41c
You can donate once or sign up for a regular gift. If 100 people could regularly give £4 a week we could cover the food costs! Will you join us?
You can also donate items for the parcels direct to us. We use the app called “Bank the food” to let our supporters know what is most needed each week. You can text or phone us and ask if you’d like more information: 07730609446
Thank you for your support. It makes all the difference to local people in need. Let’s make sure we can proudly say that in our lovely community, none of our neighbours go hungry.
Thank you for your support.
Alex