For those interested in engaging with issues of social, economic and environmental justice, here is a link to the latest edition of the Joint Public Issues Newsletter. If you have any queries, or would like support about an issue from the Circuit Social and Climate Justice Team, please contact me. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer

The address from the new Vice-President of the British Methodist Conference, at the conference. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

The address of the new President of the British Methodist Conference at the conference meeting. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

CIRENCESTER ASHCROFT WORK & WIFI CLUB

WEEKLY UPDATE - UPDATED AT 30TH JUNE 2026 (with updated next 4 weeks’ sessions)

(Written unusually whilst away on leave)

**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 6th July 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 7th July 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 13th July 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 14th July 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 20th July 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 21st July 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 27th July 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 28th July 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 2029. 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

The Cheltenham Festivals are a nationally recognised series of events which we are fortunate to have in our county. They attract talent and visitors from across the country and beyond, bringing many benefits to the local economy and those able to participate. It is excellent that the organisers have recognised the need to widen out the number of local people who get to benefit from the resources put in to these festivals, particularly those who tend to be left out. So we pray for all those people who will now get to benefit from the festivals who have not previously been able to do so. We pray for all those people who will be involved in extending the festivals to provide these new opportunities. And we pray for us all to want and be enabled to be more involved in these high quality cultural opportunities. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer.