All Saints' Parish Church, Leamington Spa
  • Home
  • Worship & Music
    • Service Schedule >
      • Sermons
    • Late Worship
    • Music List
    • Choir >
      • Recordings of the Choir
      • Choral Scholarships
      • Carol Singing
    • Organ >
      • Organ Specification
      • Organ History
      • Organists
    • Music Department
  • About All Saints
    • Vision
    • History & Heritage
    • Staff
    • Nightlight
    • Bell Ringers
    • Find Us
  • Friends
  • What's On
    • Bank Holiday Organ Recitals
    • Events Photo Gallery
  • Coffee Shop
  • Get Involved
    • Making a Donation
    • Repairs
  • Contact Us
    • Prayer Requests
    • Christenings/Baptisms
    • Weddings
    • Confirmation
    • School Visits
  • Blog
    • PCC Journal
    • Annual Report

Wanted - Insomniacs!

12/6/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Having trouble sleeping? Excellent! Come and join our friendly team on NightLight!

More seriously, this evening we celebrated our fifth anniversary (attained in April) with an impromptu party, during which the anecdotes flowed as freely as the excellent tea, coffee, home-made sausage rolls, potato wedges and cake (all supplied by the coffee shop). Clearly the NightLight volunteers enjoy the experience of standing outside in the dead of night, serving hot drinks to passers-by irrespective of the weather and the lack of sleep. It certainly gives us plenty to talk about!

We considered how things are going, reflecting both on the enormous appreciation we receive and on the reduced footfall in the town compared with Friday nights when we started.  We noted the significance of staffing the project ecumenically - it really challenges public perceptions of the Church. (Those attending tonight came from no fewer than 8 congregations.) We discussed whether we're running at the most effective time, noting that the recent change to open and close half-an-hour earlier than previously has been positive. We decided to experiment with even earlier times during July and August, when the town is normally much quieter. And we resolved to cover, subject to resources, up to three forthcoming nights which are expected to be particularly busy, in addition to Fridays.

Our programme will be as follows:

Fridays in June: 11pm - 3am (14th and 21st are expected to be busy).

Monday 24 June and Thursday 27 June: 11pm - 1.30am (we've been asked if we can cover these two nights).

Fridays during July and August: 10pm - 2am, with a review of times towards the end of August.

Thursday 15 August: 10pm - 1am ('A' level results)

Currently we rely on around 20 active volunteers and another 10 or so occasional helpers. We'd welcome additional volunteers: come along one evening to see what we do. If you'd like to join up, you need to be a regular member of your church and to be recommended by your vicar or minister.

Donations of money or supplies to NightLight are always welcome. Supplies should be Fair Trade: tea, coffee, hot chocolate (the sort which is made with hot water) and sugar. They can be brought into church during opening hours or handed over on any night when we're operational. Money is used to purchase supplies, cups, kitchen rolls, bin bags, etc, and to put towards repairs and replacements. Currently we aim to add a laminated surface to the trolley counter (or, failing that, to repaint it), and we'd also like to design and fit a roof to keep the rain off. Money can be given through the website here or brought into church in a marked envelope during opening hours. We have a strict policy never to accept funds at night - not least to safeguard the security of our volunteers. 

Of course, we prayed together too - as we do at the start and end of every NightLight session. We gave thanks for the past five years and for all those whose lives have been touched by NightLight. We prayed for the project and the team; for clubbers; for those working at night, including those upholding law and order; for the homeless and vulnerable; for the life of our town. And then, as we cleared up, we just couldn't resist a few more anecdotes. After all, which insomniac would ever rather go home for a good night's sleep?!

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    All Saints' Church, Leamington Spa
    News Blog

    Welcome to our blog - we hope you enjoy reading about what goes on at All Saints!

    Find us on facebook.
    Follow us on twitter.

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    October 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    All Saints' Parish Church Leamington Priors and/or the blog authors retain copyright of all materials posted. Copying on a small scale for non-commercial purposes is permitted providing the copyright ownership is acknowledged. Please contact us for clarification or further details.
Cookies - Like most websites, our site uses cookies to help improve our visitor experience.  If you continue to use the website without changing your settings, we assume that you are happy with receiving cookies.  If not, click here for options or more information.