Looking Outwards

ST PETER’S MEN’S BREAKFAST

The new Season of Men’s Breakfasts will start with the breakfast on September 11th at St Peter’s Assembly Rooms, Cecil Road, Hale at 8-15am - 9-30am, cost £3-50.
The Speaker will be Anthony Taylor who will speak about his epic journey across the Atlantic. The title of the talk is “Rowing alone across the Atlantic”. Members and friends of Altrincham URC who would like to attend should contact Michael Moore not later than Thursday September 9th.


CHRISTIAN AID WEEK
9th – 15th MAY 2010

The table below shows the totals collected by Altrincham URC in each of the three areas allocated to the church.

2009
2010
£593.42 Altrincham £815.38
£2081.79 Hale £2371.60
£1028.25 Timperley £1241.61
Total: £3703.46   Total: £4428.59

In addition £1,627 of the sum collected was Gift Aided.
The total of £4428.59 shows an increase of 19.6% over the 2009 figure, which is very pleasing.

Altrincham Christians Together

ACT meets to share news, to pray for member churches and for the community we seek to serve. It meets on the first Saturday of each month, 9.30 a.m. to 10 a.m., at Altrincham Methodist Church Barrington Road.

For more information about ACT activities
visit the new ACT website:
www.altrincham-christians.org


Churches Together in Hale - Eco Festival

Churches Together in Hale are considering the idea of an Eco Festival. Such an event would be held at a suitable location in the Hale area, one Saturday between 10 am and 4pm.
Events and activities for all ages, all on an eco theme, could range from fun and games to serious debates. Live music and refreshments, perhaps including a Hog Roast, would all add atmosphere to an exciting day when the Churches of Hale could gather together exploring an issue in which we all have a common interest.
It is estimated that it will take at least twelve months to put together, therefore the earliest date for this to happen may be Spring 2011. The next step is to bring together a team that is passionate about making this happen. The key is that those involved need to have the time, energy and motivation to drive this through.
Two types of team member will be needed. First, those who can offer support, ideas and knowledge which will help identify potential stall holders. The second is an administrator / facilitator who will drive the project and bring it together.

If you may be interested in being part of the team that puts this together, please contact Brian Jolly or Edmund Shaw.


Altrincham Interfaith Group

All three local ecumenical bodies to which Altrincham United Reformed Church belongs are represented on Altrincham Interfaith Group (AIG). AIG exists to provide opportunities for people of different faiths to meet in growing understanding, friendship and co-operation.

Annual Shared Meal


Young People at the AIG Annual Shared Meal Photo © Paul Fertig
Other pictures of the event by Paul at www.pbase.com/fertig/aig_supper_2010

Six members of Altrincham United Reformed Church were among 140 people - Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims and Sikhs welcomed by Iftikhar Awan, Chairman of Altrincham Inter Faith Group, to AIG’s Eighth Annual Shared Meal at Altrincham Grammar School for Boys on Saturday 6th February. The principal guests were the Deputy Mayor of Trafford Councillor Ken Weston, the Deputy Mayoress Councillor Marilyn Lucas and the speaker, Dr Mohammad Seddon, Lecturer in Muslim Studies at Chester University. The event raised over £600 for the work of AIG and charitable causes.


AIG now has a website providing details of its work, activities and events:

www.altrincham-interfaith.org.uk

Inter Faith Friendship Circles

Altrincham United Reformed Church is represented on Altrincham Inter Faith Group via the three local ecumenical bodies (ACT, CTiH and CTiT).

Altrincham Inter Faith Group (AIG) exists to provide opportunities for people of different faiths to meet in growing understanding, friendship and co-operation.

In addition to maintaining its varied and popular programme of events AIG is seeking to provide more intimate opportunities to meet by the formation of Friendship Circles. Each Friendship Circle will consist of about eight people of different faiths meeting in one another’s homes, on weekday evenings, perhaps three or four times a year. Friendship Circles will provide an environment in which friendships between local people of different faiths can develop and we can gain insights into one another’s traditions, spiritual outlooks and lifestyles.

If you would like to join a Friendship Circle please contact: Revd Brian Jackson or Edmund Shaw


WOOD STREET MISSION NEWS 2010

THis is part of the letter which Jan O’Connor (Manager) has written in the February Newsletter. This really points out the difficulties which Wood Street, and many other charities, are facing in this economic climate. Jan writes :

Upon returning to our snow covered home here at Wood Street this New Year we were faced with a new sight—empty shelves! Never in recent memory have we completely exhausted all our toy and food supplies from a Christmas Project. This added to the already empty shelves we had for children’s clothing as we see what many charities face in these times, an increase in need against a fall in donations.

It’s a difficult situation to manage. Last Christmas was especially hard as we had to cancel appointments for 221 families because we had no toys left. This was a heartbreaking task and one we do not wish to repeat. Focusing on the positives we were able to help over 3,200 children with toy parcels, many of whom would have received nothing on Christmas morning but for your gifts.

WOOD STREET MISSION

Wood Street Mission is one of the oldest charities in Greater Manchester and was founded, in 1869, by Mr Alfred Alsop to tackle the poverty and deprivation faced by people living in the Deansgate area of Victorian Manchester. In the early years they fed and clothed hungry children and gave free room and board to homeless men of Manchester – some nights there were 400 men sleeping in the basement of the mission.
The aim of Wood Street Mission today is to alleviate the effects of poverty on children and families living in Manchester and Salford, Greater Manchester having some of the highest levels of child poverty in the UK and in some areas more than 60% of children are affected.
The Mission can only do this work by receiving donations of food, clothes, baby equipment and money from the general public – people like us. When we went to tour the new premises (or should we say the upgraded premises) this week, we were quite distressed to hear that the donations, both in goods and money, had gone down by 50%!

Any donations can be made directly to Wood Street Mission, 26 Wood Street, Manchester M3 3EF or via Doreen Radcliffe. No donation is too small, they are grateful for whatever you can give. Posters are going up at Woodlands Timperley and Trinity Hale telling you the other things that they can accept. Please help in whatever way you can.

Thank you!


WOOD STREET MISSION SCHOOL UNIFORM PROJECT 2010

Once again we are appealing on behalf of Wood Street Mission, the details are as below. If you are able to help in any way, please contact Doreen Radcliffe at Woodlands, or you can leave any items with Lynn in the office at Trinity Hale. Thanks

How can you help? A £10 donation would buy one school uniform for a child.
Donations of BRAND NEW trousers or skirts in blue, grey or black—up to the age of 16 years.
Donations of BRAND NEW jumpers or sweatshirts in navy or black — up to the age of 16 years.
Donations of BRAND NEW shirts or polo shirts in white or pale blue—up to the age of 16 years.

Packs of pencils, pens, small rulers and pencil cases would be welcome to give out as extras with the uniform parcels.


Packets of BRAND NEW socks would be welcome to give out with the uniform parcels.

Mark Crosher is a PhD student at the University of Manchester, researching the work of Wood Street between 1945-1990.
He would like to discuss and perhaps interview anyone who has either been helped or associated with the charity during this pe¬riod. Please contact Mark direct by email: mark.crosher@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk.

THE COTTAGE, Hale

At its recent forum meeting the churches of Churches Together in Hale agreed to support the work of ‘The Cottage’ at the bowling green in Hale. The ministers of the area are to visit regularly on a rota basis. This is to be part of the ecumenical outreach of the churches and is seen as a valuable way of expressing the churches’ pastoral care in the neighbourhood.

There is also an urgent need for people in our church to help with the catering at ‘The Cottage’. It would be gratefully welcomed if some of our members and friends would volunteer to help by making and serving coffee, tea and biscuits. ‘The Cottage’ opens each weekday from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon and from 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm. Would anyone willing to help please see Miss Dorothy Heywood. (Tel: 980 8928)
The elders’ meeting decided to give £200 to ‘The Cottage’ towards the cost of new chairs, which have been needed for some time. All the other churches in Churches Together have been asked, and most have agreed, to help this cause with similar amounts.
Brian Jackson