notices - Flipbook - Page 8
the church also needs some work, but we are unsure what to do,
if we clean of the graffiti it will give someone a blank canvas!
themselves down the well with Jeremiah, or in prison with
Joseph (everyone knows what sibling rivalry feels like!)
Garden Update Work on the garden has been completed at a
cost of £240 but will need to be continued on a regular basis
throughout the Spring and Summer.
We always encourage the children to ask questions, think openly
and explore their own idea of faith. It is important that we do not
only feed them facts but give them space to think. Most of the
time 30-40 minutes is not long enough!!
Finance Report
Full reports are available, if you would like to see a copy please
speak to Paul. Highlights are that Room Hire and Collections are
down from last year and expenditure on the property is higher.
We are hopeful that once Gift Day and Gift Aid receipts are in we
will be able to balance the accounts. A report will be given at the
Annual Meeting.
CAP Report
The Debt Centre Manager (Wendy Martin), is continuing to help
many of her clients free from debt. Since the centre opened, we
have helped 43 families and cleared over half a million pounds
worth of debt! £600,000 to be more accurate. There have been
quite a few changes in the last 6 months. Head Office has moved
(Still in Bradford) and there are some up to date IT changes which
should help Debt Centre Managers able to keep up to date with
their workload.
We recently had a shortfall of money but some donations have
increased and this seems to have helped. We are monitoring
the financial situation. Wendy would like more befrienders in the
Sittingbourne area. (Befrienders ac-company Wendy on visits to
clients’ homes, they can read prayers, Bible ex-tracts, or make
coffee and generally help the visit run smoothly.
The Steering Group continues to meet for monthly Prayers, which
helps Wen-dy to advise us of problems she encounters or tells
us of Blessings from God. Wendy works with many different
organizations including Mental Health, Social Workers, Job
Centres and Housing Associations.
Report from JC Club
JC Club continues to flourish on a weekly basis with a range of
ages and number of young people. Regular helpers and leaders
now include Derek, Chris, Priya, Rachel, Darcy and Ethelyn.
Naomi has shown an interest in helping as well. This allows for a
bit of flexibility with the rota thankfully with no one person being
overloaded.
We are still using materials from Scripture Union which we find
work well and give a good Bible based topic each month. They
tend to alternate between the old and new testament. Each
topic lasts 3-5 weeks and we are able to build up the knowledge
gradually each week. They are eager to learn and some of the
children know all the stories before we start! Instead of just
teaching bible stories the materials encourage us to bring the
idea in the story into our own lives and find practical ways to
grow in faith and form a relationship with God often like the
person we are learning about.
Some of the topics we have covered so far have included:
David taught us how God sees people differently, helps us make
right choices, and how to grow in our faith.
Peter taught us about prayer
Elijah helped us see that God provides, is all powerful and works
in us even when we want to give up!
John’s Gospel was all about Jesus
Jeremiah showed us that God knows everything including the
future and that his word cannot be stopped
Trusting God with big and little things
What it means to have faith in God in our modern world and
what that faith looks like
God’s sovereignty
We have explored stories in detail so they could imagine
If anyone would like to see what JC Club looks like please come
and join us for a session.
Thank you for your continued prayer and support.
Rachel Zacharova
Report from Youth Club
Youth Club meets every school holidays for 4-5 hrs. It is mainly
the JC Club people and we have lowered the age limit to include
siblings. It is now less of a youth club and more of an extension
of JC Club which gives the children the opportunity to build
up friendships and get to know each other. We include lots of
games and more recently food rather than just snacks. It is well
received and we have a couple of families who join us who
don’t come on Sundays. It is a useful platform to get the children
together informally and build rapport with them. We always
include a God slot but it is not related to the themes we run on
Sundays. Generally Rev Robert prepares these. Last session we
learnt about Lent and Easter traditions.
Rachel Zacharova
Report from Wiggles
Wiggles continues to flourish. We have more new people at the
moment and word of mouth is definitely our best advert. We are
very grateful to our extra helpers, Toni and Margaret, especially
at the moment as Annette is unable to come.
It is lovely to see the relationships between the parents/
grandparents grow and people looking out for each other if
someone is missing for example.
Numbers are stronger at the moment and this is apparent in
our “accounts”. Sept ’25-Aug’26 we gave £100 to the church as
a contribution towards running costs. From Sept ’26 we have
already given £230. May this continue!
Rachel Zacharova
Luncheon Club
We have maintained very good numbers during our winter
season.
We have had the privilege of showcasing the Luncheon Club
in the circuit magazine in Issue 36 - winter 2025, and were
delighted to do so.
The demise of the Appleyard has had an affect on some of our
club members. The clubs which met at Appleyard have had to
relocate or close because of various issues.
We have tried to accommodate our folk by adjusting dates and
from this month will meet twice a month at our usual distancing.
We have welcomed Vicky Smith to our ‘family’ of helpers, and
we are very appreciative of her blonde bubbly contribution, as
described by our members. John Shrubsall started helping at LC
during 2025 and has proved an invaluable member of staff.
We have struggled with help on various occasions, and as a
physical club are mindful that we are all getting older. We do not
stretch ourselves too far and try and stay within safety guidelines
having more able-bodied folk to lift pans etc.,
We do try and vary our menu but we have yet to please everyone
for whatever reason, all our members at a single sitting.
Financially we are sound and will be able to contribute to our
church finances favourably this year.
We are so appreciative of all who help, in whatever capacity.
From the shopping, cooking, washing up, setting up tables and
chairs, preparing cutlery and serving the water, and taking the
money, all hopefully with a smile on behalf of Sittingbourne
Methodist Church.
Pat Goodger
