Wow wow wow! These kids are unstoppable! The Foodbank Youth Group, plus friends and family had an amazing night last weekend. They played badminton all night long from 7pm to 7am, to raise money for the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project. Their original target was £280 (enough to buy 1000 tins of beans), but they have absolutely smashed it! The sponsor money is still coming in, but as of today they have raised £477 online, plus more offline, and their latest total is £811.50 – simply amazing! Huge congratulations to the team who took part, and massive thanks fo the volunteers and generous donors. You are amazing!
The Parishioner was delighted to interview Refeia, a locally based Holistic Life Coach:
Parishioner – It was lovely to meet you at a community coffee morning organised by the ladies from the Ahmadiya community at the Ash Centre recently. What is your local connection, and what does community mean to you?
Refeia – I have lived in Frimley Green for the past 26 years, my children grew up and went to school around Frimley. Community to me means friendship and support during good times and the not so easy times.
Parishioner – We are always interested in what people love about the local area and what would you suggest to newcomers to try within a few miles of Ash Vale. Any favourite pass times, places to visit, walks, clubs or groups you would recommend?
Refeia – My happy place is feeling the sun on my skin. I take a daily walk through Frimley Lodge Park, along the canal. It is so peaceful and I love being in nature. There’s lots to do for those with children and a cafe. The past couple of weeks, the ducks and geese are having their babies, so I’ve been feeding the ducklings and goslings. Tip: Try leaving your phone at home.
Parishioner – We understand that you are a professional Holistic Life Coach, how did you find your way in to this profession, and can you give our readers an idea of what you get up to in a typical week?
Refeia – I’ve always been interested in helping people become the best version of themselves. About five years ago, I trained as an organisational development coach, and through working with people, I quickly realised that you can’t really separate work life from home life. When things improve in one area, it often has a positive knock-on effect in others.
In any given week, I might be supporting someone who’s feeling overwhelmed and trying to find a better work-life balance, helping someone build confidence, or talking things through with someone going through a big life change such as becoming a parent, going through a divorce, retiring, or coping with bereavement.
No two days are ever the same, and that’s something I really enjoy. But what I enjoy most is seeing people start to feel more like themselves again, often through small, simple changes that make a big difference.
It’s not about having all the answers or making huge life overhauls. Sometimes, it’s just about having the space to pause, reflect, and take that next step forward.
Parishioner – You gave us a wonderful deep breathing exercise to try at the coffee morning. It was a very effective way to release some of the stresses of the day. If you had one piece of advice for a new habit for someone to start, what would you suggest?
Refeia – Step outside and pause long enough to take it in. Properly pause and let your attention land on something natural around you. A tree, the sky, the sound of the leaves rustling or the birds singing. The calm you’re searching for isn’t something you need to build from scratch but something your body already knows how to access.
Parishioner – Thank you so much for being our “meet the local” for April 2026. If a community group, company or individual is interested in your services how can they reach you?
Refeia – Thank you so much. I work with both individuals and groups.
Egg-citing news! ASDA in Farnborough are supporting the Ash Villages Food Parcels Project this Easter, by collecting donations of Easter eggs for us to give out to local families in the holidays. If you are shopping at Asda soon, please think of us, and pop an extra egg in your trolley to donate for a family in need.
Big thanks to Jenny, the wonderful new Community Champion at ASDA who has been instrumantal in making this happen, and huge thanks to all of you who donate for this wonderful cause. Thank you so much!
Can you believe it is almost Shrove Tuesday already? Join us for the annual Pancake Party at St Mary’s 11:30-13:30 for races, pancake day craft, and yummy pancakes for lunch.
All welcome, all children must be accompanied please, but we don’t mind who brings you. Parents / carers all welcome. Join our Community Cafe and Toddler Grooup regulars, and enjoy a lunchtime party! Newcomers very welcome too!
St Mary’s Church, Vale Rd, Ash Vale, GU12 5JE
The event is free / by donation. If you would like to donate online the link is here:
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, the day after our pancake party. If you would like to come to the service please pop back to St Mary’s on Wednesday 18th Feb for the Ash Wednesday Evening Service 18:30. All Welcome.
Lent bible study recommendation for 2026: St Mary’s will be using the resources available on Lectio 365. Ask Revd Neil if you would like to know more or why not download the App. https://lectio365.com/
The Ash Villages Food Parcels Project would like to say a huge thank you to the Ash Hill Evening WI Meeting members.
Alex Sanderson (Project Manager) reports…
What a wonderful evening we had yesterday! I was very kindly invited to visit the WI for their January meeting at St Mary’s. The welcome was very warm, and it was lovely catching up with friends old and new – and some of our wonderful volunteers past and present as well!
I was delighted to give a talk about the Foodbank, and share the ups and downs of our journey with this ever-growing project. What started as an emergency response to people going hungry in Covid-19 has now become the go-to Foodbank for anyone in need in Ash, Ash Vale, Ash Green and Tongham. We fed over 4,600 people in 2025, and 128 households received a Christmas Parcel to bring some seasonal joy in difficult times.
Your support is so kind, and much needed. Huge thanks to the WI for your donation of £250, a fantastic amount raised throughout the year, which will go towards filling parcels with good food in 2026. Thank you too for the lovely donations of tins, packets and lovely treats which you all brought in yesterday. Every item makes a big difference to local people in need, and it is through your help that we can make this happen.
We welcome donations of anything with a long shelf life (tins, packets etc) throughout the year, and are always glad of any spare carrier bags for our food parcels to be sent out in. Most of you know where my porch is, open 9am-9pm for donations, or you can bring things and pop them in the St Mary’s church foyer any time you are here for a WI meeting. You can even use the donations basket in the Ash Vale Co-op. Thank you to all of you who downloaded the “Bank the Food” App, so you can always see what is most needed from week to week. https://www.bankthefood.com/ (If anyone missed the meeting here is the link).
The joy of being very much a grassroots project is that the community all knows one another, and it makes me proud to know that no-one need ever go hungry in our local villages, thanks to generous people like you. While we wish our project was not needed at all, we are glad that we can help our neighbours. In the words of one of our clients recently in their message to us “Thank you all so much, you have helped us more than you know”.
Happy New Year 2026, and on behalf of Revd Neil Lambert, Cllr Carla Morson, all the volunteer team and our clients locally – thank you for your support.
What a great morning we had, so good to get to know everyone, and thank you for turning up and making Ash Vale look even better. #Community #HappyNewYear
Here is the news from AMA Ash:
🧹 Ash Community Clean-Up! 🌱
A fantastic clean-up took place earlier today, with 50+ volunteers coming together to make a real difference in our local #village 🙌
The event was organised by AMA Ash with the support of Ash Parish Council and St Mary’s church, Ash Vale,Surrey. with five clean-up routes organised around Ash Vale.
Each group, made up of around 10–15 volunteers, worked hard to help keep our neighbourhood clean and tidy.
To top it off, we were warmly invited to St Mary’s Church afterwards for tea and refreshments ☕ — a lovely way to end a great #community effort.
Thank you to everyone who took part and supported the event! 💚
Christmas Chill-out at At The Chapel Saturday 29th Nov 2:30-4:30pm The Chapel, Wharf Rd, GU12 5AY
Pop in and join us for Christmas Craft Activities, Hot Chocolate bar, Christmas Bakes, and some fundraising fun for The Chapel and Foodbank. Try your luck with the Golden Bucket, guess the weight of the Christmas Food Hamper, have a go at Christmas Card Stamping and Make a Lantern for the St Nicholas event on 6th December. Hotdogs for tea, before you go to see Santa switch the lights on in the village. Why not visit Ash Fantasia too, before you come to us? Don’t miss it, come and support The Chapel! https://www.ashvalechapel.comFacebook @AshValeChapel
Our local Food Bank for Ash, Ash Vale, Tongham and Ash Green is appealing for Christmas Hamper items, toys and winter warmers for local families this Christmas. #AshVillagesFoodParcelsProject
Not everyone will be in a position to help this year, but if you can, we will be very thankful. Donations can be dropped off on or before Sunday 14th December at St Mary’s Church Vale Rd on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays 10:00-12:00 or at The Chapel on Wharf Rd on Mondays and Wednesdays 9:00-1400, or other times by arrangement (please contact 07730609446) THANK YOU!
Ideas for things to donate? Hot water bottles, warm socks, blankets, new or good as new childrens toys (no cuddly toys please), sweets and treats, cranberry sauce, mince pies, biscuits, Christmas cake, crackers, Christmas pudding, custard, chocolates, seasonal fruit and veg, gravy granules, christmas activity books, board games, festive toiletries… think about what makes your Christmas special – let’s share some of that Christmas joy! Thank you for your support.
^Donations Link.Thank you for your supportfor local people in need this Christmas.
The Ash Villages Food Parcels Project is a joint project between the Ash Villages Support Circle and St Mary’s Church in Ash Vale, hosted at The Chapel Project, Ash Vale.
Bridges are giving away funding to local charities, but we need your votes please! This will be a huge help with keeping all our projects going (We co-manage the local Food Parcels Project, Community Cafe, Chapel Cafe, 2 Toddler Groups and lots of community events at St Mary’s and The Chapel). Please everyone vote for St Mary’s, as we co-fund / co-run the Chapel Project as well, so a vote for St Mary’s is a vote for The Chapel Project too.
Thank you for your support!
Please vote today!
St Marys Church Ash Vale
Charity Number 1152717
Address is St Mary’s Church, Vale Road, Ash Vale, GU12 5JE.
The Ash Villages Food Parcels Project Team would like to say a huge thank you to everyone at Holly Lodge, and your teachers, parents and carers, for the wonderful fundraising you have done this summer. We are so grateful for the £165.16p you have given us, to top up our foodank stores. This will be a big blessing to people in need in our community.
Alex our Project Manager was delighted to visit your school to collect the funds. It was very inspiring to hear about all your wonderful achievements and awards in assembley, what a talented and lovely group of students. You have a lot to celebrate!
