Gorleston church on national award shortlist

St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston has reached the finals of the National Church awards 2022, in the category for Church and Community Volunteers. Tony Rothe reports.

The awards, run by the National Churches Trust, are split into five categories : Church architecture, Church maintenance, Church tourism, Church volunteer, and the Friends award. In addition, the Church of the year award goes to the overall winner from the other categories. These awards are open to churches, chapels and meeting houses across the UK, but not cathedrals, as they are included in other awards. 
 
St Mary Magdalene was nominated in the Church and Community Volunteer Awards category, of which there are four finalists in the England section: Bournemouth’s Urban Green Project, St Peter’s and The Hub at Peterchurch, Wisbech - A Church for the Future, and St Mary Magdalene Community Volunteers at Gorleston.
 
The Gorleston entry says, “At its height, our foodbank was providing food for 95 households per week and added a delivery service for those isolating. There are currently 130 volunteers, including children who water the garden, teenagers who prepare refreshments, people who volunteer in their spare time, people who are unemployed, disabled and unable to work, people who are homeless or retired; people who are illiterate and people who are educated, people battling live addictions and people recovering; people who do it for sheer passion.”
 
Winners of each category will be invited to an event, including high tea, to be held at Mercers Hall in the City of London, on 24 October 2022. Although spaces are limited, the event will be livestreamed so the organisers hope all churches, and volunteers, will join in online.
 
The Church and Community Volunteer Awards are run in partnership with the Marsh Charitable Trust. These awards celebrate the vital contribution which volunteers make to both looking after and making best use of churches to benefit local communities and people. Judges are looking for innovative and engaging activities which involve the wider community, and will be selecting a winner from each of the home nations; England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
 
Judging will have taken place during August and September. At a final panel, judges from all the partners will choose one of the winning churches to be our Church of the Year, which will also be announced at the awards ceremony.
 
Visit nationalchurchestrust.org for more information.
 
Also visit stmmgorleston.org.uk to find out more about the work at St Mary Magdalene, Gorleston.

The picture above is courtesy of St Mary Magdalene.

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