Swindon Gorse Hill

10am Morning Worship Meeting

10:30am Sunday School

Following the meeting refreshments of tea, coffee and biscuits are available.

MONDAY

11.00am Social Butterflies Friendship Group - Join us for something different every week. From armchair fitness and pamper sessions to quizzes and games our Social Butterflies Friendship Group is a great way to get out and meet people. All welcome. Please call 01793 436928 for more information.

TUESDAY

9:30am Toddlers Group - At this time our Toddler Group is full but please call us on 01793 436928 for more information and to add your name to our reserve list

WEDNESDAY

12pm Luncheon Club - Our Luncheon Club comprises of a two course meal with tea or coffee to follow at a cost of £5.00 per person. Please call 01793 436928 to book a place and advise us of any dietary requirements

THURSDAY

1.30pm Crafty Chat and Coffee - Feel free to pop along with your knitting, crocheting, embroidery or any other craft and join our lovely group for crafting, chatting and refreshments. Please call 01793 436928 for more information

FRIDAY

9:30am Dance Fit Tots  - Come along with your pre-school children to enjoy a morning of dancing, singing, craft and sensory time. £1.50 per week or £10 per term. Please call 01793 436928 for more information.

Monday - Saturday 
9.00am - 3.00pm

Manager : Lee Cook

76 Cricklade Rd,  Swindon,  Wiltshire,  SN2 8AF

01793 522900 

Our opening hours are Monday to Saturday 9.00am - 3.00pm.

We are very grateful for every donation that we receive that thank you for your support. We are able to take anything that you would like to donate apart from items of furniture and duvets and we are unable to collect. Thank you for your understanding.

Volunteering

Are you looking for an opportunity to give back to your community?

Do you want to learn new skills? Or share your knowledge of skills with others?

Could you be part of a great retail team?

Do you like meeting people?

Are you great with fashion?

If yes! Then you could be perfect to join our volunteering team to help the Salvation Army in its mission to change lives.

If you would like to donate "A Gift of Your Time" and join our amazing team of volunteers then please pop into the shop and talk to Lee Cook our charity shop manager. Alternatively, email us at swindon.gorsehill@salvationarmy.org.uk or call 01793 522900.

The Salvation Army works with some of the most vulnerable people in the community. We have faced the worst public health crisis in our lifetime along with the cost of living crisis and people need us now more than ever.

From running foodbanks and checking up on people who live alone, to offering counselling, Salvation Army churches all over the country have responded to the crisis in many different ways.

Please visit the Swindon Gorse Hill JustGiving page and donate if you can. Any donations will help us to support as many people as possible. 

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/swindon-gorse-hill-the-salvation-army

The rise in the cost of living has hit people hard and our Food Bank is in more demand than ever so any donations to this will be gratefully received.

Our Charity Shop will accept all donations except furniture and duvets as we do not have the storage facilities. Again we are extremely grateful for every donation made to us.

We are living in very challenging times; if you need a friendly phone call or a chat over email or face-to-face conversation then please get in touch and let us know.

As a church we seek to support each other, offering assistance to anyone living in our community. If you would like any support whether that is prayer or practical assistance please contact us on 01793 436928 or come into the corps in Chapel Street and speak to us.

During the year we have various activities taking place in addition to our normal weekly programme. We also run:

Bacon & Bake
Join us for Bacon & Bake to kick start your Saturday. Whether you want a freshly cooked breakfast or just a hot drink and cake we have it all. Bacon & Bake will be open from 10.00am on the following dates:

Saturday 25th January 2025
Saturday 22nd February 2025
Saturday 29th March 2025
Saturday 26th April 2025
Saturday 31st May 2025
Saturday 28th June 2025
Saturday 26th July 2025
Saturday 27th September 2025
Saturday 25th October 2025
Saturday 29th November 2025

Messy Church
Join us for crafts, cake decorating and playing games. Messy fun for the whole family. Messy Church will be from 2.30pm to 4.30pm on the following dates:

Sunday 26th January 2025
Sunday 23rd February 2025
Sunday 13th April 2025
Sunday 25th May 2025
Sunday 29th June 2025
Sunday 21st September 2025
Sunday 19th October 2025
Sunday 23rd November 2025

Community Day

After last year's success we will be holding our Community Day again this year on Saturday 30th August 2025 from 10.30am onwards with an auction at 1.30pm.

There will be a Homemade Craft and New Stall, Prize Every Time Tombola, Face Painting, Crafts, Hook a Duck and Target games for children, Pop-Up Charity Shop, Refreshments including cakes and desserts, Barbecue , Candyfloss and Sweet stall and an Auction.

All money raised will go towards play equipment for our work in the local community.

Harvest

Our Harvest service this year will be on Sunday 28th September 2025 at 10.00am.

Christmas

This year our Christmas Services are as follows:

Sunday 7th December 2025 at 10.00am - Family Carol Service and Nativity
Sunday 14th December 2025 at 10.00am - Traditional Carol Service
Christmas Morning Service at 10.00am

If you would like to find out more details about any of the events listed above then please call on 01793 436928.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT HUB

Don't face life's challenges alone

We provide a confidential, non judgemental listening ear. We can offer support, signposting and guidance about a whole range of things including  but not limited to food support, money management, debt advice, training, Adult Community Learning courses, addiction and substance support, social clubs/activities/volunteering, entry to and sustaining employment, supporting and liaising with agencies on your behalf.

Whatever your circumstances, we are here and ready to help. We may not be able to solve all of your problems, but we promise you won't face them alone. Pop in or call us on 01793 436928 to speak to someone confidentially.

FOODBANK

We run a Food Bank for people who are in need of our support.

We are very grateful for every donation we receive towards this as demand is currently more than our supplies can meet.

At this time we are in need of pasta, rice, pasta sauces, tinned vegetables, tinned potatoes, tinned meat (hot dogs, stewed beef, corned beef, meatballs, mince and onions, chilli, curry etc), cereal, UHT milk, squash, tea, coffee, sugar, soup, tinned fruit, rice pudding, custard and biscuits but any other donations would be very gratefully received.

All donations can be dropped off at our hall in Chapel Street, Gorse Hill, Swindon, SN2 8DA or our charity shop in Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill, Swindon, SN2 8AF.

If you are struggling at this time and need help then please call on 01793 436928.

If you are more than ten weeks pregnant or have children under the age of 4, you could get help to buy food and milk. Apply online to get a prepaid card at www.healthystart.nhs.uk.

Once you have your card you will be able to come here to collect your healthy start vitamins.

We are one of many Literacy Champions in Swindon that work with Swindon Stories to encourage children to read and enjoy books. We have a small lending library here where children are welcome to pop in and borrow a book. 

The Salvation Army in Gorse Hill work very closely with the National Literacy Trust in Swindon. To celebrate this and to promote literacy in Swindon we are offering every family that visits our charity shop with a child on a Saturday or schools holidays a free children's book (one per family). This will be subject to supplies. 

We promote reading as a family and making story time fun.

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." Albert Einstein

"The more you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go" Dr Seuss

Although we are not yet upon the Christmas season we wanted to let you know that we will happily accept donations of new unwrapped toys and gifts all of the year through for our Christmas Present Appeal. Each year we support families who struggle to make ends meet over the festive season and the need gets greater every year.

Last Christmas we gave out 484 gifts to children and 132 gifts to the elderly and from October to December 2024 we fed 492 people.

Donations can include anything from toys, baby clothes, bath toys, books, dolls, action figures, cuddly toys, sports equipment, clothing, toiletries, gloves, scarves, hats, t-shirts, hair accessories and gift vouchers.

We are also asking for donations of non-perishable food which can be used in food parcels.

Any donation no matter how small will be gratefully received. We couldn't do it without you.

Gifts and food can be dropped off at the Salvation Army, Chapel Street, Gorse Hill, Swindon, SN2 8DA - Monday to Friday from 8.30am until 3.30pm or the Salvation Army Charity Shop, 76 Cricklade Road, Gorse Hill, Swindon, SN2 8AF - Monday to Saturday 9.00am until 3.00pm. 

If you would like further information then please contact us on 01793 436928.