Wittenham Avenue, Tilehurst, RG31 5LN
We’re delighted to confirm that our Friday night youth group is back up and running after having to pause during lockdown. It currently does not have a name but we will address that on 13th November.
If you are not currently a member but would like to be, please contact us. We’d love to welcome you to the group, but will need to make provisions to ensure that we can do that in keeping with current laws and guidelines surrounding youth groups meeting together.
Our Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM) is on Sunday 11th October at 11.15 am via Zoom.
Both the 10.00 am physical and on-line service will finish in plenty of time to allow people to attend.
To join the Zoom Meeting, simply follow this link http://tinyurl.com/cathapcm . You may be asked to download the Zoom App.
If you can’t download the Zoom App, you can still participate by joining us on the telephone; simply dial 0203 481 5240 and when prompted you’ll need to input Meeting ID: 853 2527 8861, Passcode: 217180.
This meeting will receive the Annual Report and Accounts (available on our website if you don’t have a copy – these were distributed in March before lockdown) and elect church officers.
Please do make the effort to join us.
A reminder that the Café is open – albeit with a limited menu and slightly less hours.
We are open on Thursdays and Fridays 10.30am – 1.30pm. Because we may only have one member of staff in the kitchen we can only have a reduced menu of hot and cold drinks, cakes, soups, and sandwiches.
All guests are expected to follow the latest safety measures to help safeguard the well-being of all. This includes no more than six to a table, and face coverings must be worn when not sitting down to eat or drink.
Please enter by the car park (north) door where you will be asked to fill in your track and trace details. There is limited seating, but weather permitting, we’ll have additional tables and chairs outdoors.
Despite all these additional measures, the same warm welcome and delicious food awaits you !
The Autumn issue of RG31 – our Parish Magazine – is now available on-line here, or click on the image.
Due to the Coronavirus lockdown we are currently in, there will be limited distribution of the magazine.
If you have the ability to download and read PDF files, you can click here to do so.
We are planning to hold our much delayed Annual Parochial Church Meeting on Sunday 11th October via Zoom.
We normally distribute paper copies of our reports and accounts before the meeting. Clearly that is a lot more difficult this year.
Accordingly here is a link to our reports – unaltered since originally produced for the APCM planned in March.
Here is a link to our annual accounts, as produced for the charity commission.
The Government’s announcement on 9th September of a six person gathering limit will clearly affect activities within St Catherine’s Centre.
It is clear that many Church and Hall activities will no longer be able to take place from Monday 14th. There are a list of exemptions to this rule, and we are currently seeking to more fully understand what they are.
However, for now, we can confirm :-
As the Government issues more guidance, further decisions on other groups can be made. Please contact your group organiser for details on any specific activity.
If you didn’t manage to catch our Messy Church video on Facebook, you can watch it below …
We are pleased to announce that St Catherine’s Centre (both Hall and Church) is open for hire and holding meetings from the 1st of September. We will be following Government guidelines as we continue to explore how best to operate in a Corvid safe manner as our users return.
We have been holding Sunday Services in the Church building, in a Corvid-secure environment, for a while now.
In addition, the Café is now open on Thursdays and Fridays with a reduced service.
Accordingly, we are now exploring the best way to open the Hall for use by groups, in a safe manner.
We are asking all groups to undertake additional responsibilities to try and ensure a Corvid-secure environment. As part of this will are temporarily splitting the centre into two zones. We ask Hall users to enter via the southern, road side entrance and Church users to enter via the northern, car park side entrance.
In accordance with Government Guidelines, most Hall and Church users will be expected to wear face coverings while they are inside the building.
We totally understand that some groups and some individuals will not consider it appropriate to attend or re-start at this time.
Activities will resume when each group thinks best for their users. Please chat to your group organiser for details.
We are pleased to announce that Tuesday get Together is restarting on Tuesday 1st September in the Café area of St Catherine’s.
We will be following corvid-secure guidelines. This means that we request that you wear a face covering as you enter the building, sanitise your hands upon arrival, sign in for track and trace purposes, and follow social distancing guidelines while in the Café.
We are stressing that as over 70s are still advised to be very careful in their socialising, that any decision to come is entirely of their own choosing.
In addition to our on-line service, we have been holding a simple, spoken worship service in church at 10am for a few Sundays now.
As attendance at this physical service has grown, we are now introducing a booking system.
If you would like to attend please let Rev Gill know before 12 noon on Saturday, or email us here at info@stcatherines-tilehurst.org.uk . If you turn up without booking, you may still be able to attend, but be prepared for the unlikely possibility that we may not be able to fit you in!
Please remember to wear a face mask. Strict social distancing is in place, and Covid-19 guidelines have been implemented. Government advice is that 70+ be encouraged to stay at home – but it is the individuals decision as to whether you attend.
Our separate on-line service continues as usual at 10am, and can be found at www.facebook.com/st.catherines.tilehurst/live/
St Catherine's