St Margaret's Church, Leicester

is to join with other churches and faith groups and with lay partners in serving the needs of those living, working, and relaxing in our city centre.

Many people come to St Margaret's looking for a place to encounter God, often after arriving in Leicester for the first time, too often feeling lonely and anxious. They are drawn by a church which stands out by its size and ancient beauty - and its reputation as a place of welcome.

As part of the diocesan 'Shaped by God' project, we are currently thinking and praying about how best we can serve the people in this busy and challenged part of the city. Click here for our Mission Action Plan.

St Philip's Centre for Study and Engagement in a Multi-Faith Society is providing short courses to assist our care and conversation with other faith communities in the city centre, including the Leicester Central Mosque. Click here for details of the invitation to take part in the course, Unfamiliar Journey.

►Street Pastors, volunteers offering help and friendship to young people who find themselves in difficulty during the night after 'clubbing' in our parish.

►Toc H Day Centre for Asylum Seekers, run until recently in the Vestry Hall on Friday mornings, now operates at St Andrew's Church, Jarrom Street.

Toc H is an international community-based organisation. The Day Centre was set up by the Voluntary Sector Forum in response to destitution caused by the Section 55 legislation in 2003. It is a volunteer-led project two days a week and provides advocacy, support, hot meals, and food to take away.

►City Councillors' Surgery. The Vestry Hall has been booked for surgeries in the past and we are very happy to hear from councillors who would like to book the hall for surgeries in the future. The building of new homes in the neighbourhood is a key element of the city's plan for Regeneration.

►The schools in our parish, Slater Street and Fosse Road. Our priest and one of our Readers, Margaret Gillespie, act as school governors. Schools use our church for educational visits, music, and fund-raising.

►We welcome use of the church for services and special events by workplaces and colleges. Contact our priest or one of the Readers or churchwardens. See our People page.

►Lunchtime organ recitals once a month on Thursdays, 1 to 1.30pm, with tea and coffee provided

►We have a growing Choir under the leadership of our Director of Music, Eleanor Graff-Baker, and our Organist, Peter Chamberlin. New members are very welcome, especially for the Children's Choir, but adults also. See our Music page.

►Bellringing - with the largest peal of bells in the East Midlands - has been an important feature of life at St Margaret's for at least three centuries. The team welcomes newcomers. See our Bells page.

►The Choir Children's Club meets in the Vestry Hall at 4pm on Wednesdays.

►Coffee Mornings for good causes are held on the first Saturday of the month, 10am till noon, admission free.

One of our recent coffee mornings was in aid of the the Rainbows childrens' hospice appeal of the Lord Mayor, Councillor Gary Hunt. The current Lord Mayor, Councillor Manjula Sood, is raising funds for the Special Olympics, providing sporting opportunities for people with learning disabilities, due to be held in Leicester in July next year.

►A Fair Trade stall offers a range of goods whenever the church is open. Leicester's fair trade Just Shop is a smart place to make those special purchases. It's in Town Hall Square next to Bishop Street Methodist Church. Leicester is a Fair Trade City. We serve fairly traded coffee and tea after our services.

►In Lent we raised money (as we did in Lent 2007) for Christian education in the diocese of Bujumbura in Burundi, which is struggling to rebuild peace and basic facilities after 14 years of civil war. You can read about Burundi's problems and its hope for the future on the Afrol news website. For pictures of Thierri, diocesan worker in Bujumbura, his family, city and colleagues, click here. We continue to support his work with regular funding from our coffee mornings. In Lent 2007 we also raised money for the Bishop's Appeal for clean water supplies in our sister diocese of Mount Kilamanjaro in Tanzania, a neighbouring diocese of Bujumbura.

Our stewardship of an important part of Leicester's heritage...

►St Margaret's is open to visitors at service times, and on Wednesdays from the first week after Easter to the last Wednesday in September , 11am to 1.30pm. We'll provide you with refreshments as well as information about the church and its history, free of charge.

► The new edition of the Church Guide Book, St Margaret's, Leicester: The History and Fabric of the Prebendal Church, by Dr Graham Jones, is now sold out! Watch this space for news of a reprinting.

Monthly prayer and worship at lunchtime on the first Thursday of each month at 12.30pm. Click on the logo for details of our partner churches and their service times.

Recent meeting included, at St James the Greater Church Hall, Leicester, Canon Dr Alan Billings speaking on the theme: 'Secular Lives and Sacred hearts, from a modern Catholic perspective'.

We still have some copies of Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard (Words Edition) (1983) which are surplus to requirements. If your church would like to have them, please contact one of the clergy or churchwardens - see our People page.

►Celebrate 80 marked the 80th anniversary of the reestablishment of the Leicester Diocese.