Hello again, it’s Lesley once more asking that we remember our neighbours in Gorton, Manchester, this Autumn with our Harvest Festival. St Mary’s Church are fantastically generous towards this charity, which I think first became linked to us through Anne Robinson approximately 20 years ago. I know Maureen and Geoff Woolley have long been supporters and I became involved as a volunteer in 2019. It is a wonderful place where the local people go to eat and share time. Facilities include education (where I work), a shop (where many of the donated clothes and bric-a-brac provided by members are on sale), crisis support (where emergency food and clothes parcels are given to the very needy), life skills/job interview preparation and other leisure activities such as craft and singing, (where the choir is lead by the Halle). It is open five days a week and really provides a lifeline to many.
Please look on the website (oasisgorton.org) for more details, or ask me after a service. And do consider coming to visit yourself – I am there every Monday but there are volunteers every day along with staff members and you are always welcome for a coffee or tea. It is a super place demonstrating Christian values. Staff and volunteers begin and end each day with communal prayers and many religions are welcomed in this shared space.
It is a very difficult time, financially, for many people and any gifts (particularly of tins and food packets) are gratefully received.
Thank you Lesley Marsh (12.8.23)