CIRENCESTER ASHCROFT WORK & WIFI CLUB

WEEKLY UPDATE - UPDATED AT 20TH MAY 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 26th May 9.00 - 11.00 (CLOSED - BANK HOLIDAY)
Tuesday 27th May 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 2nd June 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 3rd June 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 9th June 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 10th June 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 16th June 9.00 - 11.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)
Tuesday 17th June 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 23rd June 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 24th June 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 is a brilliant outcome. It’s been more than 200 years since new forest was added to the Forest of Dean. Across the country and our county, the direction of travel over those 200 years has been to reduce forested areas and increase areas for farming, industry and housing. This is hopefully the start of a more sustainable approach to land use as we balance the need for development alongside the need to increase natural landscapes and biodiversity. So we pray for the work of all those organisations, communities and individuals seeking to re-wild our county alongside sensible development. We pray for all those people and other living things that will benefit from deliberate improvements to our natural environment locally. And we pray for us all to support wise and sustainable use of the land across our county. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2w2d1ww0yo?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKY8mBleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHpWIEnJLHXmi1nK07aLtnfPUkV-u3OpqBdPi7SOIGxpJ7h7KySytvuq_tafb_aem_XcqT5GP2Rwn1Zlqh4X3lYA

Interesting - it sounds like any church volunteer could join this “Staffroom”. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

Some very good advice in this article for those who want to get to the top in their business but who are just setting out. There is no shortcut (unless you are a close relative and favourite of the boss). The quickest way to the top is to do the job you currently have really well, and learn all you can to be ready for the next opportunity. If you are looking for the quickest and best way to get to the job you really want, then please come and chat to us at Cirencester Ashcroft Work & Wifi Club. 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/zv2d4xs?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwKXmY1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHnq0EThvxkkUPlGOU-RIfe_UI3SqmdarNfiB81TkW31ex4iqRFoEqMG2j_D-_aem_O7NVw7QJsibkZmWx2yrXJw

Words matter. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer