Hello Everyone, welcome to the volunteering page of the St Augustine’s Parish Centre site. There’s lots of things that we could use help with in the running of the PC and we’re grateful for any assistance you can offer with the activities below; but before we start here’s something that might come as a surprise.
Volunteering is good for you!
That’s not a joke, there’s loads of stuff on the internet about the strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer.
I know, you have to be careful about believing what you read online but check out this link from the NHS:
But why would you volunteer to help out at the PC?
Good Question.
It’s called the St Augustine’s Parish Centre because it’s connected to, and sprang from, the long established church over the road. The people who built the centre 35 years ago knew that being a Catholic wasn’t only about shared worship it’s about being a community in a wider and social sense, so they gave us a building in which to have those shared times.
The current committee have worked hard to revive and refresh that vision and we are trying to extend our reach more than ever into the wider Darlington community as a whole.
That sounds a bit pompous, but what we mean is: we’re trying to make the place busier and of use to more people.
But making it busy puts a lot of pressure on the small team of people currently involved, so we’d appreciate some help with some of the practical things that are required to make that vision come to life. Below is a short list of some of the things we’re currently doing or planning that you might be able to help us with.
- Cleaning: We’re currently doing our own cleaning and there’s a couple of teams that put in a couple of hours each per week. This may not be a permanent situation but will last for a few more weeks yet. All help gratefully received.
- Bar work: some of our events are really well attended and therefore require general tidying up, glass collecting and organisation if they’re to run really well.
- Christenings: We are getting an increasing number of Sunday afternoon events, which is lovely, but the crossover between the end of 11 o’clock Mass coffees and setting up for the celebrations needs us to help if it’s not going to be awkward for the hirers.
- Gardening: we have a lot of garden and it’s a long term project to get and keep it looking lovely.
- Events: the PC runs several do’s each year. Mostly to generate interest in the place and have fun of course ! but the money we make helps enormously with running costs. This year we have the following in the calendar and the organisers are looking for help with setup, catering, organising, and tidying away
Dinner Dance in June – Family BBQ in August (this will be a BIG one) – Christmas Wreath Making in Nov – New Years Eve Party – Parents and Toddler Group, monthly on a Saturday a.m – Luncheon Group, monthly on a Tuesday – Book Group – The Outdoor Nativity in Dec – Quizzes, monthly on a Friday
If you’re interested in helping out with any of these, please get in touch with us on parishcentrevolunteers@gmail.com
And even if you don’t have the time to help us out, you should definitely volunteer for something. It’ll be fun and you’ll feel better !
