Article for Spotlight – December 2016
North West Church 'Blitz'
The first 'Blitz' in the new North West Church took place back in the summer at Buckley Chapel.
The garden areas, car park and chapel surrounds were all in need of clearing and weeding. This was mentioned at one of the North West Steering Group meetings and it was suggested that Buckley set a date and time and circulate details to the other chapels in the new North West Church inviting people to come along and give a hand if they could.
So a two hour slot was decided upon in July to coincide with the weekly Saturday Coffee morning at Buckley, and it proved to be a great success. Helpers turned up dressed in their gardening gear and gloves and armed with spades, trowels, buckets, sweeping brushes and secateurs.
The sun shone for us and with the help of members from Kexborough, Silkstone Common, our two ministers – Kristin & Cameron together with Buckley members and friends – including 2 children and even a very willing man who was due to get married at Buckley in October – we got through a vast amount of work in the time allocated.
Those serving at the coffee morning made sure that there was a constant flow of hot and cold refreshments for those who had come long to help.
The end result was that the front garden was cleared and dug over ready for new roses to be planted as a memorial garden; the car park and chapel surrounds were cleared of weeds and moss; part of the garden at the back of the chapel was blitzed of undergrowth, glass bottles and cans that had been thrown over; and those averse to gardening did some work inside the chapel itself – scrubbing floors, dusting, polishing, sorting out rubbish and re-arranging furniture.
It was a very worthwhile exercise, and it was good to come together to work and make a difference in a practical way. It just highlighted what can be done if we work together to help each other out, even if it is just for a two hour stint.
Who knows what and where our next 'blitz' project will be !!
Registered Charity no. 1135240
circuitoffice@btconnect.com
01226 321522
Barnsley Methodist Circuit
c/o Emmanuel Methodist Church
Huddersfield Road
Barnsley
S75 1DT