AN ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE community group is celebrating royal recognition after an emotional message from an elderly woman sparked action six years ago.
The 21 volunteers associated with St Gabriel’s have been given the Kings Award for Voluntary Service.
It may operate from a tiny church on Audley Street but the impact of a Place of Welcome and Community Garden has been huge.
The latter has also been recognised in 2024, earning an ‘outstanding – level five’ grading at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Britain in Bloom Awards.
Sandra Kiy, leader of St Gabriel’s Community Group, revealed the moment it all started, as well as her pride at seeing how the work the group has put in has benefitted the people it serves.
“In 2018, after a service, one of our elderly ladies told me that she wouldn’t see anybody till next Sunday.
“I realised that his poor lady was going to go home to an empty house for a week, which seemed so sad and so wrong.
“So, I spoke to one of my friends, Sheila Kenyon, and suggested that we do something. Then I found out about Places of Welcome.
“We started the group that November, with about eight people. Since then it has grown and we’re now getting between 45 and 50 every week on a Monday between 9.30am and noon.
“People have tea, coffee and toast, then regularly there are two ladies who do hand massages and another who does seated exercises.
“At 11am, they are served fresh fruit and cake, then we play bingo and other games. The aim is to alleviate loneliness and social isolation and we know it works as every year we do a survey, which bring amazing responses like, ‘It’s made such a difference in my life. Life’s worth living now.’
“It is good to know that it does make a difference.
“Our aim is to impact on the community we’re in. It’s a small church, with a flexible space so there are lots of opportunities for community activities.”
St Gabriel’s, which also holds a free lunch on the third Monday of every month, has established links with other similar organisations in the area. Indeed, some of the people who come through the doors on a Monday attend other Places of Welcome on different days.
Even though it operates from a church, it is not a religious body. All are welcome and it is much more than tea and toast. Thanks to a lot of fundraising applying for grants, it also runs a food pantry, which is open every Monday
Sandra explained, insisting teamwork is the key to its success: “We invite people and groups within the community to come in to share what they do and to give advice and support such as the police, the fire service, mountain rescue, banks who can warn about frauds and scams etc.
“The NHS has also come in to do talks about sleep, healthy eating, mental health and anxiety and to do blood pressure checks.
“I’m always looking for groups in the community that can offer a service and support to our visitors.
“We have had visits from Cycling UK to give a talk and demonstration about accessible tricycles, and from musicians and singers, theatre groups and craft class leaders, all offering our visitors the chance to learn new skills and enjoy something a little different and fun!”
The idea of creating a community garden from the grassy unused area outside the church came about in January 2022.
With another member of St Gabriel’s, Mandy Hayes, Sandra started to bid for grants to enable them to make significant changes to the outside area.
Mandy’s vision and creativity was put to good use and the garden is now well established and well used by many people of all ages and abilities as the paths and patio are accessible.
To ensure that the garden benefits a wide range of people in the area, the group has made connections with educational establishments in its vicinity.
Parochial Primary and Tameside College are already on board, and a link with West Hill School is about to start.
Volunteers from the community come along to help with the gardening activities on special gardening days and the garden is open at all times for people to enjoy.
Sandra told The Correspondent: “We are so lucky to live in a community which offers great support.
“On a couple of occasions when we have had a setback such as a theft from the garden, local people have donated replacement goods, money and we even had a full CCTV system donated.
“This is what working in the community is all about and all of us, in our team of volunteers, get so much pleasure from what we do.
“We all get on really well together and that is what has created our success.
“Although we are honoured to receive the awards we have received in the last two months, the most important thing for us, is knowing that what we do makes a real difference in people’s lives.”