There’s some great content on the Facebook page below if you’re a Methodist fan. And I love this particular post. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

An idea which could be replicated elsewhere where there’s a major public event happening. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

CIRENCESTER ASHCROFT WORK & WIFI CLUB

WEEKLY UPDATE - UPDATED AT 8TH JULY 2025 (with updated next 5 weeks’ sessions)

(Written as usual from home in Stratton, Cirencester)

**NEWSFLASH**

The work club is now the work & wifi club! This is to emphasise that we not only help people seeking work, but also people wanting to improve their access to the internet. At both Cirencester Ashcroft Church and Centre, Ashcroft Road, and at St Lawrence’s Church, Chesterton, Cirencester we now can offer free internet access during our sessions, which you can use with or without support from the club. We have tablets we can help you use, if you don’t have your own device.

The work & wifi club will continue to operate on most

Mondays - 9.00am to 11.00am at St Lawrence’s Church Centre
and
Tuesdays – 12.00pm to 2.00pm at Cirencester Ashcroft Church & Centre
(but not on Bank Holidays).

We are now usually open for confidential one-to-one face-to-face support at these times. We also provide one-to-one phone and online support at these times too.

We also work in partnership with Cirencester Jobcentre to support referred jobseekers who would like some extra assistance.

You can contact me at the usual work & wifi club times by :-
- Face-to-face;
- Email : workclub@ashcroftchurch.org.uk;
- Phone or text : 07951439302;
- Sending a message through the Cirencester Ashcroft Work & Wifi Club Facebook page.

We can then have a chat face-to-face, by phone, by message, or by video link if we can set one up, and I will do my best to help you.

You can also contact me at other times and we will then agree an appointment time to have a proper conversation.

Specific opening times over the next few weeks are below. Later opening times for the period up to the beginning of NOVEMBER 2025 are in the Events section (which is itself sometimes in the About section) of the Cirencester Ashcroft Work & Wifi Club and Cirencester Ashcroft Church and Centre Facebook pages. To access those later times, you will now need to be signed in to Facebook yourself, as Facebook recently “upgraded” so that Events data cannot be accessed by internet search alone (at least that seems to be what’s happened). Also Facebook only lets us select a maximum of about 50 future dates for an event at the time it is first published, hence why it appears to stop at a random date.

Monday 14th July 9.00 - 11.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)
Tuesday 15th July 12.00 - 2.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)

Monday 21st July 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 22nd July 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 28th July 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 29th July 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 4th August 9.00 - 11.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)
Tuesday 5th August 12.00 - 2.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)

Monday 11th August 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 12th August 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

(For those who are interested, I normally highlight the opening times for the next 4 weeks. However sometimes I increase this when they include a break, in part to make sure that the last week I show is one when we are open. This is to emphasise that any closure is only temporary. The work & wifi club is a key part of Ashcroft’s mission and outreach project until at least June 2028. After that date I intend to continue to run the work & wifi club indefinitely, whether or not part of a larger project.)

Andy Rickell, Cirencester Ashcroft Work & Wifi Club Manager

Disadvantaged communities don’t just suffer material poverty, but they can suffer other problems, like poor health outcomes and access to the support they need to break out of the vicious circle of persistent disadvantage and exclusion they find themselves in. This requires deliberate action at community level over an extended period to overcome. It is great to see this particular project working to help a particular local community, as many others do right across our county. So we pray for the support of all of our communities that would benefit from deliberate action to address the issues of poverty and disadvantage they face. We pray for all those involved in managing and running community centres and activities that will empower communities as a whole and the individuals within them. And we pray for us all to support the focusing of resources that will help those communities most in need. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvg8pxj550eo?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLZixNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHlE8DijP4M-hD2Jz-V8cmttj6DjL_iV-O_b46xlDOT9btwjHKjxM2TDz1gGH_aem_hUrb1yvjmDEYQtw4a6xtmg

“I get knocked down, but I get up again …” goes the pop song. Resilience is useful in life generally, but it’s certainly very valuable at work. All work worth doing has the possibility of it not going as well as you or your employer might have hoped. Being able to pick yourself up from such an experience and persevere to do better in future requires emotional effort. If you would like to discuss your own resilience, in confidence, we at Cirencester Ashcroft Work & Wifi Club would be happy to offer a listening ear. Our contact details are on the Cirencester Ashcroft Work & Wifi Club Facebook page. Andy Rickell, Cirencester Ashcroft Work & Wifi Club Manager

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zdcb2sg?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLYNZVleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtaoIOnV6IIZa43XxeUNj4HpFN7VekZoOTHhl4-rmsatA5Ez14eVRM3cobsN_aem_i6OsRhtYoIcaFYraTbMNzQ