The leaflet we circulated widely and which generated a lot of local support.
Raising the money needed

Children and young people

Our policy

We believe that the church is the Body of Christ, made up of people of all ages. We actively welcome children at our services when children have activities suitable for their ages and there is a ‘children’s address’.

We are also committed to new forms of engaging with children, as our involvement in Messy Church shows.

Sundays

Currently we do not have a Junior Church, though provision is always made for children who come. Appropriate relevant activities are available, and

Parents & Toddlers Group

We run a weekly Parents & Toddlers Group (Wednesdays 10.00-12.00) which provides structured activities for children and a chance for parents to chat and support one another.

For details email enquiries@Dawlish URC

 

MESSY CHURCH

The youth leaders of the Methodist and URC Churches, concerned at low numbers in their Junion Churches, decided to cooperate to run a monthly after-school club on Fridays. Inspired by reports of the success of Messy Church in several local URC congregations, they decided to adopt the Messy Church format.

The first Messy Church was held in January with 35 children were present in the Methodist Church hall. Ever since the pattern has been the same: as the children arrive there are board games to enjoy. Then the group gathers together to hear about the theme for the day, which always involves the opportunity to try various crafts around the theme for about an hour. Then there is worship for 15 minutes before before everyone sits down to a delicious hot tea which usually includes chips, and is always followed by cake and fruit.

One of the features of Messy Church is the encouragement to parents to stay and become involved with the children, including sharing in the worship. An increasing number are now doing this.

The dates for Messy Church until the summer are: 20th June and 18th July, each starting zt 3.45 and ending at 6.00. For further details email Marie Whitehead on phone 01626 889 098.

The URC Youth Leader, Marie Whitehead, said "It's really exciting, with the children loving it and parents joining in. If numbers continue to grow we will need to divide into two groups."

Children and young people

Our policy

We believe that the church is the Body of Christ, made up of people of all ages. We actively welcome children at our services when children have activities suitable for their ages and there is a ‘children’s address’.

We are also committed to new forms of engaging with children, as our involvement in Messy Church shows.

Sundays

Currently we do not have a Junior Church, though provision is always made for children who come. Appropriate relevant activities are available, and

Parents & Toddlers Group

We run a weekly Parents & Toddlers Group (Wednesdays 10.00-12.00) which provides structured activities for children and a chance for parents to chat and support one another.

For details email enquiries@Dawlish URC

 

MESSY CHURCH

The youth leaders of the Methodist and URC Churches, concerned at low numbers in their Junion Churches, decided to cooperate to run a monthly after-school club on Fridays. Inspired by reports of the success of Messy Church in several local URC congregations, they decided to adopt the Messy Church format.

The first Messy Church was held in January with 35 children were present in the Methodist Church hall. Ever since the pattern has been the same: as the children arrive there are board games to enjoy. Then the group gathers together to hear about the theme for the day, which always involves the opportunity to try various crafts around the theme for about an hour. Then there is worship for 15 minutes before before everyone sits down to a delicious hot tea which usually includes chips, and is always followed by cake and fruit.

One of the features of Messy Church is the encouragement to parents to stay and become involved with the children, including sharing in the worship. An increasing number are now doing this.

The dates for Messy Church until the summer are: 20th June and 18th July, each starting zt 3.45 and ending at 6.00. For further details email Marie Whitehead on phone 01626 889 098.

The URC Youth Leader, Marie Whitehead, said "It's really exciting, with the children loving it and parents joining in. If numbers continue to grow we will need to divide into two groups."



They hoped to knit eleven
with tea their toil to leaven.
They managed that
and a good chat
and pleased both church and children.

The swimmers with the minister before the start.


Enjoying the swim - it's lovely once your in!


And refreshments afterwards

The target is met!

Hard at work

 

We set our small congregation to raise £25,000 in six months. With the suppport of many in the community we managed to rasise £25,500 by Easter Day 2009!

This target had two objectives - one was to show that the congregation was heart and soul behind the proposals by the generosity of its giving; the other was to provide seed capital for developing the project, because the task requires professionals in architecture, conservation and grant applications.

We were spurred on with the promise that if we raised £25,000 in the time, a donor would give us £4 for every £1 raised.

So we raised £125,000.

And it was fun.

 

 


Braving the waves on the way in

A Knit-in or Knitathon

Our Knit and Chat Group meets fortnightly to make blankets and clothes for orphans in Malawi. They got sponsors for a six hour Knitathon with a target of eleven small dolls. They did it!

This poem was written to celebrate the event:

From 10 to 4 they knitted
and each one was committed
to do her best
in the contest
to comfort orphaned children.

Boxing Day sponsored swim in the sea

The local daily paper reported at Dawlish beach yesterday [Boxing Day 2008], hundreds went for a dip to raise money for the United Reformed Church's refurbishment appeal. Other Christmas swims took place on beaches at Exmouth, Sidmouth and Charleston."

This was a slight exaggeration. Five hardy women (no men dared to have a go) swam for about ten minutes in the sea. The sun shone from a cloudless sky, but there was a bitter south east wind which not only chilled the spectators but whipped up quite a surf. The tide was at its lowest, so there was a long walk to get up to waist deep, but the swimmers were undaunted.

Following the example of Teignmouth, the next town along the coast, which has a Boxing Day splash (a paddle, not real immersion), our swimmers decided to dress up. So two went as sheep (one lost, one black) and the other two appeared as Little Bo Peep and Old Mother Hubbard, which added to the fun and entertained the 60 plus spectators who came to cheer the swimmers on.

On swimmer confessed "I'm was terrified getting in, but I said to myself, if I can raise enough money it will be worth it - I suppose." The church's minister, Revd Roger Whitehead, commented, "In case you wonder why I was not doing it as well, sadly I felt I needed to be there on the beach with the soup and brandy - soup for the swimmers and the brandy for me." Two lads served Christmas mulled wine and coffee for the spectators and provided soup for the swimmers. In the end only two swimmers reached for the brandy!

The total raised exceeds £3,500 – and, with Gift Aid and the “4 for 1” support, the morning was worth over £20,000 for our refurbishment fund!

You can see a video of the event
We are grateful to Ted Barolw for taking a video of the event. It’s a bit noisy because of the wind but fun to watch - just click here http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=UnQ04cKZTjQ