Social & Communications Action Group
2025 was another very busy and successful year for social events in our parish. The events have two main aims: both fundraising and engaging with the wider village community, providing a witness that All Saints is very much alive and active in Thelwall. Our motto is “all welcome”.
During the year we organised six Coffee Mornings at All Saints after the Thursday morning services, raising funds for Children’s Society, Transform Trade, Jump Children’s Charity, Christian Aid, Church Urban Fund Lent Appeal, Breast Cancer Now, MacMillan Cancer Support and Sanctuary Café Big Build Project at the Sanctuary Café (which is supported by Lymm and Thelwall Churches Together). In addition, a Coffee Morning specifically for church funds was held in October. These Coffee Mornings attracted between 60 and 70 attendees each time. They provide a wonderful social occasion with a warm and friendly atmosphere, and it is lovely to welcome so many people from the village into our beautiful church. We held a very enjoyable Quiz Evening in January with 70 quizzers attending a really fun evening and in April our annual Easter Egg Hunt took place on Easter Saturday. With around 300 attendees the event is growing each year and attendance from the wider village community is a real blessing. Our annual Wine Tasting took place in May; numbers were again slightly down but those who came really appreciated the evening and made it a memorable night.
Members of SCAG organised the church “walking float” at the annual Thelwall Rose Queen Festival in June and it is felt to be important for the church to be represented at this very popular village event each year.
We began the second half of the year with a new event, a Village Cream Tea, which was very successful it was well attended with a wonderfully warm atmosphere. We aim to repeat this in 2026. Bonfire Night (organised by a separate committee) was its usual fantastic occasion, and the Christmas Fayre was a huge success. Numbers were up, boosted by a lovely performance from the newly formed Thelwall Community Choir, and there was a vibrant mix of stalls, both old and new.
We welcomed Warrington Male Voice Choir back in early December for our now annual hosting of one of their very popular Christmas concerts; it’s the start of Christmas for many people and the sound they produce under the arch in church is glorious.
Finally, members of SCAG joined with the All Saints musicians and other parishioners to sing carols in both our village pubs, raising money for the Children’s Society. All of the events listed have drawn people into our church community as well as raising a lot of money for both the church and many charities.
In addition to the events which we organise ourselves, we have a fantastic working relationship with the family at our local Laskey Farm Gardens, supporting their participation in the National Open Gardens Scheme by providing tea, cakes and manpower, and also running a number of our own events in the beautiful and popular venue. In 2025 we raised funds for the Creating Adventures, JUMP and Clatterbridge Cancer Charities, a total of almost £3,200. This link is much appreciated by ourselves and Laskey.
Members of the SCAG spent a fair chunk of time last year sorting out the storage of all the glasses and tea sets the church now owns for use at its various events; this was a sizeable task, but the items are now easier to access and keep clean.
Another task tackled was getting op top of the advertising revenue for the Parish News, which is edited by a member of SCAG and distributed free ten months of the year to every house in Thelwall by an army of volunteers. After the difficulties of the previous year the distribution process went smoothly in 2025 using a more local printer. The magazine is very much a Christian publication, with details of all the services and events as well as a Vicar’s Article and list of people to contact in church, but many local organisations and initiatives benefit too, including the Rose Queen, the Scouts Christmas Post, the Bridgewater Players, the WI, the Thelwall History Group and the local pubs.
Our website is kept as up to date and relevant as it can be given our resources, along with our social media platforms, but this is an area we know we need to develop.
Thank you to everyone who has supported any of our events in any way at all, from organising to advertising, baking, serving, attending and eating cake! Your support is really appreciated, and we look forward to welcoming you to our future events. Suggestions for new events are always welcome, as are new members of the Group.
