Community Groups
With roots stretching back nearly 100 years, the branch continues to be a welcoming space for fellowship, prayer, and service. Originally a meeting place for churchgoing women, it now embraces all—men, single and divorced women included. Members meet regularly throughout the year for prayer, Bible study, and faith-based courses, with every gathering beginning in worship.
The branch actively supports AFIA (Away From It All), a project offering free holidays to families facing hardship. Members also work closely with HMP Five Wells, providing prayer leaflets, good-quality clothing for inmates attending family funerals, and ‘thinking of you’ cards for bereaved prisoners—always in partnership with the Prison Chaplaincy Team.
Prayer is central to all activities, with regular bulletins circulated to guide intercession. In 2024, members knitted and sent 42 blankets to Ukraine, Poland, and Africa, along with hats, scarves, and gloves through the Blythswood Care Christmas Shoebox Appeal. They also crafted 47 dresses and 12 pairs of shorts from repurposed materials, and knitted 149 baby vests for Djibouti and Somalia.
The Mothers’ Union
3C’s
Coffee, Cake & Chat
which is a regular meeting place on a Wednesday morning for all sorts of people in the community. It has been running for 9 years with a break during the pandemic. Numbers attending are variable but means that overall we are reaching approximately 70, mostly elderly, and mostly widowed people. The initiative is to provide a warm and welcoming space for people to make friends and come for a chat. Since November 2024, this event has become part of the government’s Winter Warm Spaces initiative.
There are 6 bells in the tower of St Mary’s Wollaston and there is a resident team who ring regularly every Sunday morning prior to the service. Half the team stay for the Sunday service. The ringers practice every Wednesday evening from 7.30pm until 9pm and are always open to teaching new learners or returners to ringing. The bells are also rung for special occasions including weddings and funerals when requested, Remembrance Sunday and other significant national events. All ringers adhere to the diocesan safeguarding policy.
The ringers at St Mary’s are a part of the Wellingborough Branch of the Peterborough Diocesan Guild of Bell Ringers.
St Mary’s Bell Ringers
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