A prayer for today from the Methodist Church Facebook page. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

Come as a dove flying over still waters of hope, putting peace into the hearts of people who would wage war.

Come to the captives and the refugees. Comfort all people who wait for freedom and all people who wait for them to be free.

Come as the sound of silence to hear the cries of people whose lives are limited by gender-based violence and domination. Stir up the hearts of all who abuse their power and privilege.

Come as flames of justice to a world where children are hungry; a world ripped apart by untruths and greed.

Come as water cascading down a mountain washing away the inequities of wealth and poverty. Come change the story. Come Holy Spirit, come now.

Amen.

Penny McCulloch, worship leader, Balsall Common Methodist Church, West Midlands

Find more ways to pray at methodist.org.uk/prayer.

A prayer for today from the Methodist Church Facebook page. Every blessing, Andy Rickell

Loving God, Fill us with your grace, so we can: know the way and walk in it, hear your word and respond to it, see injustice and address it, be attentive to pain and alleviate it, seek transformation and bring it, through your empowering Spirit. Amen.

Andrew Charlesworth, Chair, Wales Synod Cymru

Find more ways to pray at methodist.org.uk/prayer.

CIRENCESTER ASHCROFT WORK & WIFI CLUB

WEEKLY UPDATE - UPDATED AT 3RD FEBRUARY 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 beginning of JUNE 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 9th February 9.00 - 11.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)
Tuesday 10th February 12.00 - 2.00 (CLOSED - VOLUNTEER ON LEAVE)

Monday 16th February 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 17th February 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 23rd February 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 24th February 12.00 - 2.00 (AT ASHCROFT CENTRE)

Monday 2nd March 9.00 - 11.00 (AT ST LAWRENCE’S CENTRE)
Tuesday 3rd March 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 article refers to what sounds like a brilliant scheme to improve land use in a key landscape in the county that will help both with issues of flooding and water management, and improve the habitat of important vulnerable wildlife. I know the particular area mentioned as I lived there for a period, and remember the weird experience of late night vehicle movements in the mist as elver fishermen with their big nets moved their pickups around during their nocturnal fishing trips. So we pray for the success of the funding bids for this particular local environmental project. We pray for all those involved across the county to develop and maintain schemes that protect and enhance the environment for both wildlife and for human benefit. And we pray for us all to encourage wise long-term management of the natural environment across the county. Every blessing, Andy Rickell, Circuit Social Justice Officer.