Bradford North Circuit

What an achievement!! The Drop-in Centre opened in May 2013, with the aim of providing a regular meeting place for anyone to come into our church Welcome Lounge for free refreshments and fellowship given by members of our church. Meeting every Friday morning, from 10-11.30a.m, we have a six week rota of roughly 24 of our members, who provide their own baking, or purchase cakes and prepare drinks as necessary. There is no charge, although a plate is there if anyone wishes to donate. All donations received go to local charities. At first we did not have many visitors, just a few of our own members, but gradually the Drop-in has grown and now is usually very busy. A lot of our own members enjoy conversations when there is no restriction on their time. We have made lots of friends. Lonely people now welcome the chance to talk while they are eating the delicious food provided. We have a regular table of men sharing local gossip and solving national and international proble...

Our Sunday School goes from strength to strength under the leadership of Elaine.   Each week she prepares a lively and entertaining programme for our young people. In the corridor outside Sunday School, we now have a ‘Spotlight area’, where members of the congregation can see what the children have been working on each week. On 17 th April, they were talking about sheep!  After the service there were delicious woolly buns for the congregation to enjoy, which had been made by the children. Sarah R, Allerton

The Wives' Group at Saltaire Methodist Church presented a cheque for £2,000 to their 2015/16 charity 'The Alzheimer’s Society'.  Donations amounting to £225 have also been given to other local worthy causes. A big thank you to everyone who supported our charity events. Lesley H, Saltaire

May saw Christian Aid week when armies of volunteers tramp the streets, knock on doors, organise sales, coffee mornings, collections and countless other events, with proceeds going to help the work of Christian Aid in many areas of need around the world. It does not just do emergency relief (although that is important). It helps give people a leg-up, to help themselves: with seeds to plant; clean water wells and toilets, hospitals and schools to build; cows, chickens & goats to rear, etc. Over the years people from churches all over, including North Bradford, have had ideas and inspirations, which have helped to raise funds. They have collected in stores, on street corners and from house-to-house, with thick skins and determination, as well as smiles and cheerfulness. They have organised line dances & concerts, opened gardens etc. Thank you to all who have done and still do these things and keep the generous spirit alive. I feel that these efforts must be linked ...

The storytelling workshop at Allerton Methodist Church on Saturday 16 April was brilliant.   Sue Allonby is a gifted storyteller who told stories, had us tell stories, and gave us the confidence to try our own storytelling.   We discussed the key skills of words, memory, visualisation, concentration, and geography and gesture - and then practised them!   We played the Yorkshire Cat game to encourage us to think of words quickly; were told a story and then had to tell it to someone else; discussed visualisation which would help fix a story firmly in our heads; played games of concentration to feel how it is to keep a subject in our minds; discussed the geography of a story and the gestures that we would use.  And then used all of these in the reading of a poem.   Subjects covered included repeating words and actions, facial expression, speed of delivery, pauses, eye contact, getting the audience on your side; so much covered in so short a tim...