CIRENCESTER ASHCROFT WORK & WIFI CLUB

WEEKLY UPDATE - UPDATED AT 21ST JULY 2026 (with updated next 5 weeks’ sessions)

(Written whilst 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 JANUARY 2027 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 27th July 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 28th July 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 3rd August 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 4th August 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 10th August 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 11th August 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 17th August 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 18th August 12.00 - 2.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)

Monday 24th August 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 25th 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 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

This sounds like an excellent learning-by-doing scheme to help school students in the county to learn about growing food. This has to be a particularly valuable lesson in a world where the origin of food is distant from many people’s personal experience but where increasingly knowing how to grow your own food may become useful as food supplies become more strained because of trade and climate concerns. So we pray for all county school students to learn more about food production, both as an academic and practical education. We pray for all those local schools and educational initiatives that enable this education. And we pray for us all to help younger and future generations to better understand the importance and value of growing food themselves. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3eywylk1ldo?fbclid=IwZnRzaATL5LFwZG9mBWZkaWQWUK9PTifh-7DKEL6BSzNAR3Ah9P9hJGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzE3Mzg0NzY0MjY3MDM3MAABHrWjE6qf_fNUddbNypdHoZdgW9OfwB208-ExgIhL6TZ8VWcfjDEpJhHLKSde_aem_Xvcaadr1_scVyStIFlmMyQ

Thought for the day. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

I think the most interesting thing about this person’s story is that they are doing a degree as part of an apprenticeship, which sounds like a great way to combine the best of both worlds from an educational and employment perspective. If finding some way to get a good education that is very useable in your career is of interest to you, we at Cirencester Ashcroft Work & Wifi Club would be happy to help you in your quest. 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/zbxt8xs?fbclid=IwZnRzaATKiaRwZG9mBWZkaWQWUK6EXI6uJGy3GLdl87ni2V1uhK8rO2V4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzE3Mzg0NzY0MjY3MDM3MAABHnx6iUZcuDmgFVpTVu2n8UdXRsMthMvg4y7A5AWl5ABAeSlG_PYAP6WDZR1P_aem_FhbZzfTxNVUGRAVsG9OYSA

Thought for the day. Every blessing, Andy Rickell