Some practical ideas for helping us see God’s image in other people, as God does. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

The President Designate of the Methodist Conference visited partners in Israel/Palestine. His report can be read via the link below. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer

See the world through God’s eyes. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

I agree with Canon Graham. Please pray for peace as part of your Lent devotions. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

CIRENCESTER ASHCROFT WORK & WIFI CLUB

WEEKLY UPDATE - UPDATED AT 17TH MARCH 2026 (with updated next 4 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 end of SEPTEMBER 2026 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 23rd March 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 24th March 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 30th March 9.00 - 11.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)
Tuesday 31st March 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)
Wednesday 1st April 12.00 - 2.00 (ONE-OFF EXTRA SESSION AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 6th April 9.00 - 11.00 (CLOSED - BANK HOLIDAY)
Tuesday 7th April 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 13th April 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 14th April 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

This sounds like an excellent local project - using surplus fabric that would otherwise be thrown away, employing underemployed people, developing them with new skills, being run by local people, and creating products valuable to local customers for sale. Such projects generate local economic activity with multiple benefits for people across the county. So we pray for this and similar locally-led projects that seek to create economic, social and environmental improvements for local communities. We pray for all those who participate in or benefit from the output of such social enterprises. And we pray for all of us to patronise such businesses which seek to sustainably strengthen our communities. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3dzp9vly73o?fbclid=IwZnRzaAQl0x9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xNzM4NDc2NDI2NzAzNzAAAR4JRfn1c07pEOHInNQPylwrP_TF_p7JgYKZImLDYatMBX-OESIMsFyGc0gXuA_aem_IPSHz3AdqSfeNVo1GS9l5A