What the churches do in Swindon

Swindon Catholic Deanery Justice and Peace Group

Christians and the local media

Faith on Friday - column in The Swindon Advertiser

Prayer in Swindon

There are many prayer groups attached to churches or to parts of the borough. The information below applies to groups that cover the whole of the Swindon area.

There are special public events, such as carol services over the Christmas period each year.

There are opportunities locally for spiritual accompaniment, with people trained in this ministry.

A small group meet reguarly to pray for the borough and all who live and work here.

There is a page on the website, changed each month, with suggestions on prayer for the borough, for the work of the Churches in Swindon, and for our international contacts.

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Large-scale events

There have been several large-scale events of public worship and prayer in recent years. A large event having been planned for the The Old Town Bowl for Pentecost 2007 which was unfortunately rained off. However, a smaller service was held in Bath Road Methodist Church and was broadcast live by Flame FM. Flame FM is a Community Radio Station with a Christian Flavour. Run by Swindon Churches Together it broadcasts for 28 days usually every 2 years. It ran this year from 1st - 27th May, so watch this space for news of it coming back again. Also, see www.flamefm.co.uk Back to top

Quiet prayer

There are a number of people who offer one-to-one spiritual accompaniment. for people who wish to grow in their prayer life. Contact Swindon Churches Together for further information. Back to top

Talks, Discussion and Mission

Many churches run regular sessions. They can be contacted through our church directory page.

Other members of Swindon Churches Together often lead courses on faith-related matters at the local education colleges.

In addition, the following regular events occur. Back to top

Thinking Swindon

Thinking Swindon. A chance to discuss faith, ethics and spirituality in an informal atmosphere. First Thursday of the month, 7.30 pm at Swindon Moravian Church, Dixon Street (Eastcott Hill end). Each session is led by a specialist in the subject and allows free discussion. Worship afterwards in the Iona tradition.Details from repower@btinternet.com. Back to top

The Swindon Lecture.

Swindon Mission Network

By MIKE HASLAM, VICAR OF NORTH SWINDON

The Swindon Mission Network was initiated in 2005 by a group of church leaders who were [and still are] passionate about mission and who wanted to network with other leaders in mission from across the town.

The network meets every six months with a keynote speaker, someone with a national profile and remit. The main address is complemented by locally led workshops and by a meal.

Speakers have included Stuart Murray Williams, Co-ordinator of the Anabaptist network and Malcolm Duncan, Leader of Faithworks. Workshops have ranged from the work of churches within schools, to how to do mission though the arts.

Comments after recent meetings include Inspired and inspiring and It gave a completely different perspective!.

For more information about the Mission Network please contact Revd Mike Haslam, Vicar of North Swindon on mike.haslam@nschurch.org.uk Back to top

Swindon Reading Group

Swindon Reading Group The Group meets approximately every six weeks to discuss a previously selected book. The titles selected are of a varied nature so as to ensure as wide a range as possible of mainly Christian views and opinions. Meetings usually take place on a Wednesday afternoon at St. Aldhelms Resource Centre, Edgeware Road, Swindon SN1 1 QS, at 2pm. New members are always welcome. Please ring Helen Watt on 01793 694583 for further details. Back to top

Young People and Swindon

Much of the action of the church communities in Swindon is provided by young people, often for young people.

The churches in Swindon are the largest provider of initiatives for children and young people in the Swindon area.

Many churches also host events involving both children and young adults.

Details of what individual churches may provide can be found in the Church Directory section. Back to top

Willows Counselling Service

ANXIOUS? BEREAVED? CONFUSED? DEPRESSED?
STRESSED? RELATIONSHIPS IN TROUBLE?

Why wait for things to reach crisis level? Find someone to talk things through with now.
Take some time out, in an accepting and non-judgmental environment, to explore what really matters to you and regain some balance in your everyday life and relationships. The Willows Counselling Service provides trained counsellors with a wide range of experience, who will listen in total confidence to your concerns, and work with you to find a way forward, taking full account of your own aims and perspectives.

Feel free to make contact with Willows by telephone on 01793 706646:
e-mail: willows@willowscounselling.org.uk or check out our website for more details: www.willowscounselling.org.uk
Members of both ACC and BACP Charity no: 1037677. Back to top

Fair Trade in Swindon

The Borough of Swindon became a Fair Trade Borough in March 2006, it was awarded the status by the Independent Fairtrade Foundation. A number of churches were very active in helping to gain this status.

Becoming a Fairtrade Church congregation involves the following:
agreeing to use only fairtrade tea and coffee at all meetings of the Church and other meetings held on the premises;
using other fair-trade products such as sugar, bananas, chocolate or biscuits wherever possible;
publicising fairtrade events in Fairtrade Fortnight and at other times. A certificate is awarded by the Independent Fairtrade Foundation.

The criteria of becoming a Fairtrade Borough involves the Local Authority and the number of businesses and local organisations using fairtrade products. The criteria are dependent on the size of the population.

Full details are available from the website www.fairtrade.org.uk. The Fairtrade Foundation is part of the international group licensing Fairtrade.

Further details on the Swindon Fairtrade Coalition from Lynn Forrester at Swindon Borough Council 01793 463197 or Barbara Aftelak, Chair of the Coalition, 01793 536815. www.swindonfairtrade.org

The Swindon Fairtrade Coalition

The Swindon FairtradeCoalition works to promote awareness of fair trade in Swindon. Membership includes 'representatives from Swindon Churches Together, Wiltshire Wildlife Trust, World Development Movement, Swindon Borough Council, Lower Shaw Farm, Oxfam, Christian Aid, Swindon Friends of the Earth and Swindon College.

Over the last three years the Coalition has recruited new Fairtrade outlets, held numerous high-profile events, produced and maintained the Swindon Fairtrade Directory, eye-catching promotional materials and successfully achieved Fairtrade status for Swindon in February 2006.

Contact details - see above

Service and Social Action

There are many groups and activities that serve Swindon in different ways. There are also groups that work for justice elsewhere in the world. Some of them are listed here, and others will appear shortly. Back to top

Swindon Catholic Deanery Justice and Peace Group

Who are we?
Our meetings range from twelve to eighteen people depending on the activity in view. We come from the eight parishes in the Swindon Catholic deanery. We comprise a wide range of people by age, interest and occupation. We combine CAFOD reps with those supporting a broad range of J&P areas.

What do we do?
There is a pattern of activity over the year that the group has evolved over the last three or four years.

In January each year we put on a Vigil on Peace Sunday.

In May/June we run a barbeque for refugees and asylum seekers in Swindon. We work with The Harbour which operates a drop-in centre in the centre of the town. The event works well and everyone enjoys it a lot. It is great fun to do. We managed to attract well over a hundred refugees and their children to the event. This year was our third.

Towards Christmas we organize a trip to the pantomime for many of the same refugee families.

In Advent last year we ran a web site to inform about and track progress of a major effort in all our deanery parishes to support the CAFOD World Gifts project. CAFOD proposed that we replace Christmas presents by gifts to individuals and communities in the Third World. Catholics in Swindon raised thirty three thousand pounds for the project in five weeks. We are planning to repeat the effort this year.

We also run and participate in other activities through the year.

How do we communicate?
Our meetings, held in St Marys presbytery in Tovey Road, take place each month. Our December meeting is a party. Eight times a year we produce a rather smart newsletter that is circulated pretty widely and particularly in the churches of the deanery. It gives notice not only of who we all are and our own events but of J&P events organized by other groups in the town.

How can we be contacted?
Through Liz Barrett on elizabeth.robert@ntlworld.com Back to top

Pregnancy Crisis Centre

The Pregnancy Crisis Centre in Swindon was established in 2003. We are a group of committed Christians with a passion for serving God. We provide a safe environment in which women and men can talk about their fears and concerns surrounding an unplanned pregnancy. The Centre also offers courses for women who are suffering the effects of previous abortions, stillbirth or miscarriage. Our services are free, unbiased and completely confidential. If you feel you would like to get involved please call 01793 61 77 99 or info@spcc-uk.org Back to top

Swindon Food Bank

Swindon Food Bank ~ For Swindon people in crisis

There are 30,500 people who are officially income deprived within the boundaries of the Swindon Borough. 1 in 6 adults and 1 in every 3 children live close or at the edge of their finances ~ just one small problem away from a major crisis ~ like having no food to eat until the next benefit payment or pay packet arrives.

Swindon Food Bank enables the local community to support those local people who are struggling by providing free nutritionally balanced meals to people in crisis via a referral system from the Care & Emergency Professionals in the area.

Based on an award winning model of the Trussell Trust in Salisbury who opened the first Food Bank in the UK in 20001; Swindon Food Bank organises some 200 volunteers to collect non-perishable food in a strategic and regular way from most of the Supermarkets in the town. The non-perishable food is stored in the warehouse. Food Bank Vouchers are given to nominated Care and Emergency Professional who offer the Vouchers to those individuals in crisis as and when they present themselves as an individual or family in crisis. Those people with Vouchers come to the Distribution Centre in the Town Centre where they are offered friendship, advice, a cup of tea and of course the crisis food. Enough food to make three breakfasts, three lunches and three dinners.

Swindon Food Bank is a creative approach to some of the fundamental issues of income deprivation in our own local community. The Food Bank model enables Christians to draw the wider community together to solve some of the problems for those from the community in crisis. In the short term we feed them until the Statuary Agencies can tackle the root cause of the problem; typically 3 days to 3 weeks. In the longer term we expect to change people?s lives through befriending and signposting them to organisations that can help with issues such as debt, drug and alcohol dependency, homelessness, etc.

If you would like more information or would like to help in some way please visit our website on www.swindonfoodbank.co.uk Back to top

Christian Aid

Swindon and District Christian Aid Group

The Swindon group is a branch of the national organisation which works with local partners overseas to provide emergency relief for the victims of natural disasters and to encourage long-term improvements in the lives of millions of people, whether they are Christians or not.
Our main focus is directed towards the nationwide Christian Aid Week each May, when many churches collect funds by means of a house-to-house envelope or box collection. Other churches collect outside supermarkets or arrange for special events such as lunches, concerts at this time. Widespread publicity throughout the area draws attention to the importance of this Week.
During the year we take part in events such as One World Week or are part of demonstrations to persuade our MPs to press for political decisions designed to further the ideal of making poverty history. Group meetings are about three times per year and we are delighted to welcome new members.
Some churches support Christian Aid at Harvest or Christmas time with special offerings. Worship materials and varied resources for schools and anyone wishing to learn more about the organisation are available. Contact: Helen Thomas e-mail: thomhr14@yahoo.co.uk Back to top

Christians in civic life

Many Christians in Swindon take part in civic and public life, expressing their faith through service to the community, as councillors, campaigners, employees; activists and volunteers. Organised response to local civic issues can be found in the section on how Christians are organised in Swindon. There is a link from the MORE ABOUT US page.

Local concerns in which Christians are active include environmental concerns and our response to climate change; fair trade; the way that Swindon is growing; and the provision of people-friendly housing in a way that respects the environment. Back to top

Christians and the local media

BBC Radio Swindon/Radio Wiltshire has a programme from 7am until 8.30 am on Sundays on current events and the response by members of the local Faith communities. Other matters of relevance to the Christian communities of Swindon are covered by the local commercial radio stations and by local montly magazines. The local newspaper, the Swindon Advewrtiser, also carries stories of Christian relevance. These are sometimes carried onto their website. Back to top

Faith on Friday - column in The Swindon Advertiser

Each Friday a member of one of the Faith communities of Swindon writes a column in our local paper, the Swindon Advertiser. Over the last two years the writers have been mainly from the Christian communities. We have also enjoyed the insights of Muslim, Hindu and Jewish writers. We are always interested in new contributors. For guidelines for new writers, please look on the Articles section of this website, under the General Articles section. Back to top