Our Partners
Tea & Company Friendship Cafe
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with Time to Talk Befriending and Brighton College
Currently suspended because of Coronavirus Normally, every Wednesday in term time, from 3.30 to 5 pm, St Mary's hosts a free friendship cafe for people who want to get out and smile a bit more. This is a joint venture between local Brighton charity, Time to Talk Befriending, and the Community Service team at Brighton College. Most weeks pupils from the College are on hand to serve afternoon tea and talk with our guests. The cafe is suspended during the pandemic, but we hope to bring it back in Spring 2022, by which time we hope also to have a new kitchen and accessible toilet in the church. We're always looking for new volunteers to make sandwiches, help serve or clean up. It's a happy lively gathering and we all benefit from the cheerful engagement with our neighbours. To find out more, to recommend a guest, or to volunteer, please call Fr Andrew Woodward on 01273 698601 or drop us an email here. We'd love to see you! Back to About us Back to Home page |
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The Big Issue Magazine
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Coronavirus Update - April 2021
Our vendors are now finally back on the streets selling the Big Issue magazine. If you're out and about and see one of them, please say hello and also buy a copy if you're able to. Lockdown has been very tough for many of them. ************************ Since June 2017 St Mary's has been the Brighton and Hove distribution point for The Big Issue magazine, which was founded in 1991 to provide 'A hand up not a hand out' to people who are homeless or insecurely housed.The vendors pay £1.50 per magazine and sell it at £3.00, keeping half the cover price for themselves. Selling the magazine is hard work, and several of our vendors take pride in sticking to it rather than resorting to begging. For others, it provides the discipline and structure they need to resist the lure of drugs or street drinking. So, if you see a properly badged vendor, please consider buying a copy - and have a chat too. It makes the world of difference to them. And the magazine is a good read too! We earn a commission on the sales, which pays some of our winter heating costs so that more people can find a warm welcome at St Mary's. We do formal sales and induction of new vendors on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 9 am - 1 pm, but we know the vendors would like longer hours. So if you'd like to help, please contact us. Our existing volunteers really enjoy meeting and getting to know the vendors. Back to About us Back to Home page |
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St Anne's Day Centre
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Coronavirus update: Currently St Anne's is offering a take-out lunch service every weekday at 12 noon.
The St Anne’s Day Centre operates from the large assembly room and kitchen in our church hall next door to the church. Open from 9.30 am to 1 pm, Mondays to Fridays, it offers breakfast, lunch, companionship and advice to approximately 50 homeless and vulnerable adults each weekday. The day centre was founded in 1983 by an order of Catholic nuns, the Poor Servants of the Mother of God, and initially operated at St Anne's Convent in Lansdowne Road, Hove. It moved to St Mary's Church Hall in 2007. It is funded by donations in cash and kind and much of the cooking and serving of food is done by volunteers. We are grateful at St Mary's to have this resource on our doorstep as the staff and volunteers at the day centre often comfort and provide practical advice to people in crisis who come to the church. Read more about the St Anne's Day Centre here. Contact the St Anne's Day Centre here or call 01273 602824. Back to About us Back to Home page |
Preparations for Christmas Lunch at St Anne's Day Centre, 2019.
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