The Friends of St Gabriel’s, Heaton, was founded in October 2021, so we shall be approaching our 5th birthday. Membership is open to anyone and everyone who would like to be involved in supporting the life of our beautiful, historic church, a pivotal part of the Heaton community since 1899. Friends are invited to share in events and activities taking place at St Gabriel’s, whether or not they come to church services. Our aim is for the Friends of St Gabriel’s, currently 75 members of whom about half are regularly part of the congregation and half have an affinity with the Church in a different way, to develop its role in the community, and to care for our grade two listed buildings for current and future generations.Over the last five years, the Friends of St Gabriel’s have fully funded quite a number of items. These include new noticeboards for the St Gabriel’s/Heaton Road corner, a large number of hymn books, maintenance and repair of our solitary bell which is rung before every service, furniture and equipment for the Children’s Corner in church, a heavy duty strimmer and accessories to help with garden maintenance, bulbs, plants and a tree for our garden, and a Friends’ Bell for our proposed ring of 12 bells. We have provided and served refreshments at Come and Sing events as well as running at least three coffee mornings every year.Our most recent coffee morning took place on Saturday 11th July and was well supported by both church and local communities. Many thanks to all those who baked and made, donated and sold, helped, supported and served. The Jewellery and Books stalls were popular, Angela’s handcrafted cards were admired and bought, pens were sold and as ever, the Cakes Stall, Refreshments and Raffle were very busy. By the time Parish Breakfast contributions on Sunday morning were added to Saturday’s takings, this event raised £720, thanks to the generosity of many people. I think this is a remarkable amount in, mostly, one pound coins. A huge thank you to all who supported, baked and helped.
On Sunday August 9th, Mary Sumner day, St Gabriel’s Mothers’ Union ‘took over’ the 9:45 service. I’m sure most people will never have heard of Mary Sumner, but my goodness, she left her mark on the world! In 1876 Mary Sumner founded the Mothers’ Union, and she really was ahead of her time, recognising the hugely important part women played in society. From the small seed of that very first meeting, along with her vision for a network of women’s groups supporting other women, she is responsible for the birth of an international organisation with over 4 million members in over 80 countries worldwide. This women-led organisation strives to end injustice, end poverty, and end violence. So on Sunday August the 9th, as the Mothers’ Union banner was brought into church, we remembered all the women worldwide, past and present, who through prayer and through action work to make the changes that Mary Sumner envisioned. Our small branch here in St Gabriel’s was out in force, with our members serving on the altar, preaching and leading the intercessions. It truly was a a wonderfully joyous occasion, celebrating all that Mothers’ Union does and stands for. After the service the celebration continued with pink fizz and a magnificent cake.Please do pop into church and have a look at our display board (near the Lady Chapel) which tells you a little bit about the history of the Mother's Union and the work it is involved in. Although we’re a woman-led organisation, everyone Is welcome to join us. If you’re not already a member please do think about becoming one. Thank you to the churchwardens and to Fr Jonathan for not only allowing the Mothers’ Union to take over the church on that Sunday, but for supporting and celebrating our work with us. Thank you also to anyone who played a part in making the day such a success - not least of all to Alison, for the magnificent Mothers’ Union 150th Anniversary Celebration cake!
For the second year the community of Heaton came together to celebrate Heaton Pride on the 19th July 2026! We were pleased to be a sponsor for this. The Church was the location for a Pride Market full of local small businesses and the Vestry held a Family Fun Zone including crafts and a storytime! The weather held out and much fun was had by all! All are welcome at St Gabriel's and we are so pleased to be involved in this event.
Our Winter Coffee Morning on 24th January 2026 was a popular, happy event and it was well supported by both the congregation and the community. Stalls selling cakes and other home produce, books, attractive home crafted greetings cards, the refreshment area from where drifted the smell of warm cheese scones, the raffle and the lucky card game were all busy. Sales of Friends’ pens in advance and on the day contributed £33. Sincere thanks must be given to all those who came, who baked, donated, set up and cleared away, or helped in any way. No expenses were taken, so the proceeds of £600 on that day and the following morning at Parish Breakfast will enable us to contribute to future Church developments and maintenance, particularly a Friends of St Gabriel’s Bell if our project to install a peal of twelve bells in our magnificent tower goes ahead successfully.At last, the large print edition of the Revised English Hymnal for use at Evensong was published and within a week, we received the 6 copies we had ordered. They all now bear book plates celebrating their donation to St Gabriel’s from the Friends, in gratitude to God for 125 years of St Gabriel’s Church, 1899 – 2024. So Friends have been able to buy all the Evensong hymn books for congregational use comprising 15 copies of the melody edition, 10 copies of the words only edition and 6 copies of the large print edition. A generous grant reduced the total cost of all these books to £430. Father Jonathan has blessed the books and they are now in regular use.The Friends offered up to £500 to improve the Children’s Corner in church, used every week by littlies during the Parish Eucharist and often during the week by visitors who are spending time enjoying the beauty and peace within our Church. Much thought is being given to this project. A starting point was considering better storage so Friends have paid for a new pine storage unit and a children’s bookcase with toy box, a total of £144.95. They look very smart.
