St Nicolas Centre
Open For All
We already have lots of things going on at St Nicolas Church and Community Centre, and now we can provide more spaces where people can meet. Please note we do not hire our hall out for parties.
FAMILIES We have children’s Dance Classes, Drama, Piano Lessons, Cubs & Scouts as well as Groups for New Parents and Toddlers. We have a central meeting area where parents and carers can come and meet socially.
ADULTS In an area where many work from home we provide a space to relax, socialize or have meetings. Over 50’s, SNAC (St Nicolas Afternoon Club), Board games café, Flower club, Mothers Union are all groups currently meeting at St Nicolas. The elderly can be isolated and far from relatives and we hope to form partnerships with charities and organisations.
WELLBEING AND MENTAL HEALTH The hall is an ideal space for exercise classes and yoga etc., helping us in our wellbeing. Having more rooms gives the opportunity for specialist activities such as counselling, debt advice, bereavement support, and marriage guidance.
We are also pleased to say our new building is fully accessible to all.
The Gallery
This is the connecting space in the Centre and we are hiring it out to local artists for 6 weeks at a time; please ask the office for more details.
The Welcome Area
The Welcome Area is open for the various different activities as well as a Community Coffee Morning every Friday.
The Small Meeting room
Is a small room suitable for an interview or counselling session
The Small Hall
Ideal for smaller meetings. You can also use coffee tables to make it more informal.
It can be accessed separately to the main hall but does have a connecting door.
The Lounge
Is a connecting space between the church and centre which has a large 6 seater sofa, tub chairs and coffee tables. There is also a TV.
It is ideal for young children to play during the service or for those who need to take a moment out.
The Pat Dummer Hall
It has a fully equipped kitchen and seating and chairs for a maximum of approximately 80 people.
The Church
We have a beautiful, light hexagonal building which is very flexible – the 120 chairs can be moved to create the perfect arrangement for you. Its ideal for baptisms and weddings, plus any worship event.
There is an organ, a piano, a sound system, projector and screen in the church.
St Nicolas Centre History
We were fortunate to receive an amazing gift left to us by Pat Dummer. Pat worshipped at St Nicolas from its very beginning, when a temporary hut was erected on the current site in 1946. Her father, Amos Sharp, was a local builder, a church warden and his expertise was critical when the first brick church, now used as our Hall, was built in the 1950s. From the start St Nicolas has been and still is home to many community activities.
After Pat’s death in 2013, we learnt she had left St Nicolas church a large bequest. The overall purpose of the bequest is that it ‘should be used in a manner faithful to Pat’s memory’ and that it ‘must accord with the mission of Earley St Nicolas Church’.
The Open Door Project
In 2014 we set up a project to look at how to use Pat’s bequest. It was named “The Open Door Project” to remind everyone of our vision statement of being ‘open’ – both opening our doors for everyone to come in and also for us to be going out through the doors to meet our community. We consulted with the St Nicolas congregations and with a number of key people in our community such as schools, doctors’ surgeries, local councillors… and we also talked to many individuals at our Election Café on 7 May 2015.
The St Nicolas Centre
It became obvious there was a need for a focal point for the community. We brought everyone’s ideas together and came up with the vision for the St Nicolas Centre.The building works started in October 2017 and the centre was opened on Sept 22nd 2018. It is now used by the whole community as a meeting place and useful space. We have a lot going on, if you’d like to join in please take a look at our groups, or visit to worship with us.
