Upcoming Events
- Sat, 30 NovMaidstone30 Nov 2024, 10:00 – 13:00Maidstone, Moncktons Ln, Maidstone ME14 2PY, UK
Events
Celebrating the Opening
We celebrated the opening of the center on two occasions.
The first celebration was held on the 30th of July, which saw us open our doors to the community. The dedication of the center was by Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin.
We had a beautiful service which included a warm welcome from Revd. Ian Crofts and Revd. Jackie Cray, head of RCCDG - Rose Henn-Macrae, MD of HB Homes and builder of St Faith's - Trevor Barnes, and Churchwarden - Sue Shaw.
We celebrated with two beautiful hymns - "Let us build a house" and "Sing of the Lords Goodness", with a bible reading "Matthew 7:24-29"; shortly followed by a prayer of dedication, by Bishop Rose.
After the service in the hall, we moved to the lobby area, to have prayers and blessings. The garden and hall were blessed by Fran Butler (Chair of Ringlestone Residents Association), the reception and cafe area by Trevor Barnes (MD of HB Homes), the Nursery by Heather May (Colour and Fabric Advisor), upstairs by Stephen Taylor (Diocesan Secretary), and for our community and the ringing of the bell - Arthur Houston (Revd. Canon); the blessings were concluded with a final blessing from Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin.
After the service and blessings, guests stayed for refreshements and cake served in the cafe area, and stayed to celebrate the joyous occasion of St Faith's Centre finally opening it's doors.
Our official opening was held on the 30th September, just two months from when the Centre had began running.
This opening was by Councillor Ian Chittenden, Kent County Councillor for Maidstone North West.
We were welcomed by Revd. Canon Arthur Houston, leading with a prayer, followed by a beautiful hymn led by the members of the Gundulf Consort, who later when on to sing "Deep Peace - A Gaelic Blessing".
Macmillan Coffee Morning
On Friday 29th September, we joined Macmillan to host a coffee morning.
We had a large variety of cakes donated by local residents; the center donated refreshments for the day, and we had a wonderful tombola and Raffle. We were generously donated 5 Raffle Prizes.
Firstly, we had a wine tasting and tour for 2 at Mereworth wines, we also had a gift experience voucher, where the winner could pick their own experience day, provided by experience days (https://www.experiencedays.co.uk), 2 personalized wine glasses by Mama Bear, an hour photography experience including edited images by Jessica Swadling Photography, an introduction to osteopathy by Oliver Wellbeing, and a hamper put together by the center with donations from the local residents of Ringlestone.
We raised a grand total of £275, we would like to thank everyone who donated, who came along to the day, and all the volunteers who worked hard to ensure the smooth running of the morning.
Social Outreach Programme
We have been lucky to have been awarded funding to start a social outreach program; we kicked off with a beautiful hand stitching class led by Crafted by Joy to make a little pumpkin. All attending learnt to make these from start to finish and took a souvenir home!