BOURNEMOUTH (WINTON) CHRISTADELPHIAN CHURCH
574 Wimborne Road Winton Bournemouth BH9 2ER www.wintonchristadelphians.org Services: SUNDAYS 11.00 am. and 6.00 pm. THURSDAYS 8.00pm
Correspondence to: Contacts : Norman Stock secretary@wintonchristadelphians.org 5 Ashton Road finance@wintonchristadelphians.org BOURNEMOUTH, BH9 2TN youth@wintonchristadelphians.org Tel: 01202 514549 preaching@wintonchristadelphians.org norman.stock@wintonchristadelphians.org welfare@wintonchristadelphians.org
CHARITIES COMMISSION ANNUAL RETURN 2023-2024 (244004)
The church is based in Bournemouth and operates as a Christian organisation, having 160 registered members who are able to attend services. We also have a number of members who are either live to far away or who are no longer well enough to support the services, even though we are able to offer transport in our minibus service. These are, however, kept under the care of the church’s welfare system and, where possible, visited by members of our welfare team.
We continue to offer a streaming of our services via both YouTube and Zoom. The Zoom option offers a more interactive experience with those online being able to chat to each other before and after the services – and even join in should they wish to by, for example giving the talk on a Sunday morning or doing a Bible reading or a prayer. The YouTube service is used both during the actual service, e.g. live during the Sunday morning or the Bible Class, or as a ‘catch-up’ facility when people are unable to actually join ‘live’ because of other commitments or because of time zone differences.
We have a number of Iranian members some of whom have been granted ‘Leave To Remain’ whilst others still await a decision. The numbers fluctuate as some are moved from Bournemouth to other locations, and others are moved to Bournemouth.
We continue to work with our sister church in Parkstone with the running of the Winton and Parkstone Community Pantry. We run four Open Pantry sessions per week, two at Parkstone and two at Winton with members of the public being invited by posters outside our buildings, by social media and by website such as ‘Help and Kindness’ and the ‘Access to Food Partnership’ run by our local council. These sessions are open to all with no prequalification needed. The ability to run these sessions and to be able to offer a variety of food to the attendees involves undertaking over 100 pickups from local supermarkets and other food outlets and this operation is carried out by a team of around 15 volunteers most of whom are not members of either church. It is an enormous blessing to be able to serve so many of our neighbours in this way with around 55 households attending each session at Parkstone and around 70 attending each session at Winton. One comment from a family who have recently started attending reminds of how essential this activity is for many – “Since coming to your pantry we have, for the first time in three months, been able to put a proper meal in front of our children.”. The social interaction that takes place over a cup of coffee and a slice of cake at the end of the pantry sessions shows that many also derive almost as much value from the company and the chats.
We also continue to offer a Welcome Space every Saturday morning at Winton where we offer tea, coffee, toast, cereal, bacon rolls as well as puzzles and conversation. We welcome between 30 and 45 of our ‘neighbours’ to these sessions every week. We were unable to open during the month of August because there were not sufficient volunteers to meet our operational criteria from a safeguarding point of view. The disappoint expressed by many of our regulars and the eagerness with which they counted down the weeks till we started again made us realise how much they value the warm space, the food and the company.
Registered Charity Number 244004
Our Sunday School continues, but the numbers declined simply because of the decreasing number of Sunday School aged children amongst our members’ families. Around 20 children meet on a weekly basis during term time. Our Youth Club also continues, albeit that it too has suffered from the fewer children but is enjoyed by all who attend – including the leaders.
The administration throughout this year has, as usual, been in the hands of elected trustees, together with three affiliated (also elected) members of the Arranging Committee with special responsibilities for Preaching, Youth and Welfare.
The committee also includes the three Secretaries, and the Treasurer.
Norman J Stock, Secretary
Registered Charity Number 244004
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