Project Welcome
St Mary's Church, Sturminster Marshall, has been a place of worship for hundreds of years and we very much hope our project will add to that experience for everyone, now and for the future: a sacred and social space for the village community.
The mission of Project Welcome is to add positive benefits to Sturminster Marshall village community life through the use of St Mary's Church.
Project Welcome's vision is to widen the use of the church to provide our community with a flexible and accessible space.
Project Welcome will add to the amenities of St Mary's, providing a WC and a kitchen servery, together with a flexible space at one side of the building. The WC will be comfortable for those who use a wheelchair, and the servery will mean that snacks and drinks may be provided within the building. With the new pathway from the road, this flexible community space will be fully accessible to all, including pushchairs and for those who have disabilities.
St Mary's Sturminster Marshall is one of six parishes that form the Red Post Benefice, serving the Dorset villages of Almer, Bloxworth, Morden, Winterborne Kingston and Winterborne Zelston, along with Sturminster Marshall. Project Welcome is the first step along the way to reinvigorate the use of all the churches within the Benefice and in this way to increase the benefits to our larger community.
St Mary's is a beautiful building, surrounded by greenery, where children may see and experience the wildlife areas. The church is open daily from 10am to 4pm, for everyone to use and to enjoy. At the same time different activities can take place, and it's a venue that may be used in the evenings for a variety of events. St Mary's church will be both a sacred and social space for the community, in addition to the other Sturminster Marshall venues, Mackrell Old School Hall and the Memorial Hall.
Project Welcome will enable small to medium-sized groups to use the building. For example:
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a pram-and-play group, a holiday club
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a location for community-useful talks that could range from debt management to dementia awareness
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music classes for children or adults, a rehearsal place
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a book club, a talk, a reading
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a parents' club
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a singing group, a concert, a masterclass (the organ is available to be used)
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exhibitions to celebrate an artist, a group, a season
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a hobby or games group
There will be WIFI; there's a piano, and a sound system with a hearing loop. The new kitchen servery will provide plates, mugs and glasses and there will be a fridge.
We hope that everyone in Sturminster Marshall and the surrounding countryside will want to get involved in Project Welcome. There will be events and activities to help raise the necessary funds.