The Village Centre is a Methodist Church located on Victoria Street in Englefield Green. In 2010 it was converted from an operational Church into a community building.
We pride ourselves in being an integral part of the Englefield Green community and endeavour to offer as many community services as possible.
Our community cafe is the heartbeat of the Village Centre and a warm welcome to everyone is always guaranteed. Our staff are friendly and approachable and we pride ourselves in knowing the majority of our customers by first name. For those coming in alone, we are more than happy to chat with you and introduce you to others – many friends have been made in our Cafe! We have a children’s play area including a ball pit which is free to use and no booking is needed to attend. Please feel free to log onto our free WiFi and indeed many people come in to work whilst their child plays or whilst enjoying a hot cuppa. We have a varied adult and child menu as well as barista coffee and speciality teas. Our cakes are homemade and donated from a selection of local cakemakers and all menu items, including our hot specials are freshly made on site. A takeaway option is also available. You will find baby changing facilities on site as well as high chairs.
We have many regular activities running in our Hall, from Pilates & ballet classes to children’s music sessions and sensory classes. Please take a look at our Weekly Activities to find out more information on class descriptions and times.
Englefield Green Child Contact Centre – The Centre provides facilities for children to meet with the parent with whom they no longer live due to family break down. The aim is to provide a warm, friendly, toy-filled neutral meeting place where contact can take place during what can be a very emotional period. Please see our Child Contact Centre tab for more info.
Baby Basics project – Baby Basics provides the basics needed in life for vulnerable women or families with a newborn. We work with midwives, health visitors and other local organisations to provide starter packs for those in need. We can help vulnerable groups such as teenage mums, families on low incomes, and women fleeing domestic abuse and trafficking. For further information, please see our Baby Basics tab.
Village Centre Community Fridge & Kitchen – Our Community Fridge is a social site of food education and sharing. It is housed at the back of the Village Centre building and we make fresh food that would otherwise be wasted, freely available to the community. Surplus perishable food is donated by local businesses or members of the public, and collected by people who need it. Our Community Fridge exists to reduce food waste and foster a spirit of sharing and mutual support within our community. A Community Fridge is open to EVERYONE! Volunteers within our Community Kitchen cook some of the surplus food items to make tasty homemade meals. These meals are portioned and made available to everyone via the Community Fridge, as well as being delivered to vulnerable members of our community. Please see our Community Fridge tab for more information.
In the early 1800’s Methodists, led by the Pocock family, prayed in the Salvation Army Hall in South Road. Increasing numbers led them to buy a small piece of land in Alexandra Road and build a chapel called the Wesleyan Chapel. As its popularity continued to grow, the Pocock family bought a large plot of land in Victoria Street, where another chapel was built. This chapel, also known as the Wesleyan Chapel, was added to in 1904, thanks again to the Pocock family, when the present church was built.
The cottages behind the building were a gift to the church from the Pocock family and the sale of one of these cottages helped to finance the refurbishment of the Methodist Church building as the Village Centre, which opened in September 2010.
Today, The Village Centre is part of an ecumenical partnership with the Anglican Church, St Jude’s in Englefield Green and the Staines & Feltham Methodist Circuit and is the main community outreach for these two churches. We share a charity number 1169401 with St Jude’s Church, however the Village Centre manages its own finances and is governed by an independent Management Team. The Village Centre is a non-profit organisation and all funds raised through grant making bodies, donations, cafe income and hall rental is fed back to support the ongoing community work at the Centre.
To help financially support our building and the community work undertaken, we set up the Friend of the Village Centre scheme. In return for a monthly donation by standing order of £10 or more, you will receive a loyalty card which will entitle you to 10 free teas & coffees in a month at our community cafe. You will also receive regular updates by email about our work at the Centre and an invitation to our annual Staff & Volunteer evening.
Every donation given will make a difference.
Your regular donations will help finance:
To become a Friend please click on the link below to complete the standing order form. If you are a UK tax payer please also complete the gift aid section. We will then be able to reclaim tax back on every donation made (25p in every pound) making your gift go further.
Friend of the Village Centre application form
Completed forms should be returned to The Village Centre, Victoria Street, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0QX.
Please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you…
Contact:
Email – Manager@villagecentre.org.uk
Phone – 01784 471110
Address –
The Village Centre,
Victoria Street,
Englefield Green,
Egham,
Surrey,
TW20 0QX
Socials:
You can follow or get in touch with us via Instagram or Facebook – see homepage.
Carparking is available on Victoria Street, free of charge for up to two hours. Alternatively, there is a carpark at the top of Victoria Street, or all other local roads can be parked in free of charge with no time restriction.
Charitable donations are a huge part of making the work we do at The Village Centre come alive.
Every pound you donate allows us to enrich the services we provide to babies, children and young people, the elderly & isolated, vulnerable families and the hungry.
You can donate at any time to our community work through the DONATE button on our Home Page or you may wish to make a more regular donation to support us:
Would you like to help support our community work by becoming a Friend of the Village Centre?
To help financially support our building and the community work undertaken, we set up the Friend of the Village Centre scheme. In return for a monthly donation by standing order of £10 or more, you will receive a loyalty card which will entitle you to 10 free teas & coffees in a month at our community cafe. You will also receive regular updates by email about our work at the Centre and an invitation to our annual Staff & Volunteer evening.
Every donation given will make a difference.
Your regular donations will help finance:
To become a Friend please click on the link below to complete the standing order form. If you are a UK tax payer please also complete the gift aid section. We will then be able to reclaim tax back on every donation made (25p in every pound) making your gift go further.
Friend of the Village Centre application form
Completed forms should be returned to The Village Centre, Victoria Street, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0QX.
Maybe:
Get in touch so we can tell you all about how you can get involved at The Village Centre. We have opportunities in our Community Cafe, Child Contact Centre and Community Fridge!
Contact: manager@villagecentre.org.uk or 01784 471110
We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas from The Village Centre. A huge thank you to all our supporters, customers, staff and volunteers who make this a very special place to be. 🌟🎄🌟🎄
These gifts have been donated to our Child Contact Centre and Baby Basics from the Enterprise ‘Angel Tree’ programme, in conjunction with Voluntary Support North Surrey. We are very grateful for the support!
We are looking for a cleaner to come and clean the Village Centre for three hours, once a week. Ideally they would come on a Friday, but we can be flexible. We provide cleaning materials.
The successful candidate must be registered to pay tax. We will discuss rates of pay with applicants.
Please call us on 01784 471110 or email manager@villagecentre.org.uk if you’re interested in this vacancy.
There will be a festive Seniors tea party 🎅🏻🎈 at the Village Centre on Friday 13 December! Royal Holloway students invites local senior citizens to come and join in. There will be Christmas carols! 🎄
Call us on 01784 471110 if you’d like to come along.
MY LITTLE SUNSHINE TUESDAY PLAYGROUP
My Little Sunshine Playgroups offer a “stay and play” session that provides children with a safe space to learn through child led multisensory play. Classes are run in the Hall at the Village Centre by Rachel Walsh on Tuesday from 9.30-10.45am.
Cost per session is £7 per child (then £3 per sibling) – block booking is available.
Full information is on our website. Please contact Rachel directly to book a place. rachelwalsh2323@gmail.com
07891 884907
In order to cover the shifts for our Monday Lunch Club at The Village Centre, we need a few more volunteers!
What we’re looking to cover is Mondays, 11am-2.30pm on a rota, volunteering approximately twice in a month.
Duties – Setting up tables, arranging flowers, welcoming guests, serving food to tables, chatting with guests, clearing away and washing up.
If you’d like to be part of our volunteer family, making a difference in the life of our local community, please get in touch by calling us on 01784 471110 or emailing manager@villagecentre.org.uk
BABY BASICS
We were humbled and touched to receive several notes of thanks recently, for our Baby Basics outreach scheme. Without your kind support, we wouldn’t be able to provide this level of help, so thank you.
Not everyone has heard of Baby Basics, so here’s a bit about it. Baby Basics is a volunteer-led project whose aim is to support new mothers and families, who are struggling to meet the financial and practical burden of looking after a new baby. Their website says ‘Working with midwives, health visitors and other professional groups to provide support directly where it is most needed, Baby Basics volunteers lovingly collect, sort and package a ‘Moses Basket’ of clothing, toiletries and essential baby equipment as an attractive gift to new mothers.’
Thank you again to everyone who gives so kindly to help families who need support.
The Woods Shed- Jazz Workshop and Jam Session for all levels
Tony Woods runs a regular jazz workshop on Monday nights at the Village Centre. It’s open to all instruments, abilities and ages. The club runs from 7.45 pm until 9.15 pm, followed by a jam session till 10.30 pm.
The cost is £10 for the workshop & jam session paid termly in advance, or £12 on the door. You can just come along to the jam session at a cost of £2.
The workshop is run on a group basis, covering several areas with plenty of opportunities to play, including: rhythm, improvising ideas, common jazz chord sequences, riffs & tunes. The jam session gives you the chance to play with an accomplished rhythm section or you can just listen to the music.
More information here – https://www.facebook.com/towoodsshed and https://www.villagecentre.org.uk/group/the-woods-shed-jazz-club/
December Foodbank Appeal
We’re sharing the latest ‘foodbank needs’ list, along with a QR code for anyone who wishes to make a financial donation so the Foodbank can purchase items that are in short supply:
We have a Foodbank drop off point in our foyer for donations. Many thanks for your help!
⭐️ ALL ABOARD THE (CHRISTMAS) SHOPPING BUS! ⭐️
Toot toot!
The community bus is running TWO shopping trips from Englefield Green to Windsor on 5 and 12 December. Pick up points are around Englefield Green, starting at Hanover Close at 10.40 and moving on to The Hub, Schroeder Court and The Village Centre. The bus makes its return trip early afternoon. It’s £5 return, which can be paid on the bus by cash or card.
This is a great service for people who don’t have a car, aren’t confident driving longer distances, or need to travel with a wheelchair or mobility aids. These trips are such a hit with people who love to get out and about, and we think Windsor will be lovely and Christmassy. Apparently Daniel’s in Peascod Street pull all the stops out for Christmas.
Ladies and gents, book your place and look forward to a nice trip out with friendly people. This is not just any bus, this is the Community Bus!
10 Green Bottles 🎵 ? At the driver’s discretion, I’d say 🤣
Book your seat without delay by calling us on 01784 471110 or emailing manager@villagecentre.org.uk
