The Village Centre is a Methodist Church located on Victoria Street in Englefield Green. In 2010 it was converted from an operational Church into a community building.
We pride ourselves in being an integral part of the Englefield Green community and endeavour to offer as many community services as possible.
Our community cafe is the heartbeat of the Village Centre and a warm welcome to everyone is always guaranteed. Our staff are friendly and approachable and we pride ourselves in knowing the majority of our customers by first name. For those coming in alone, we are more than happy to chat with you and introduce you to others – many friends have been made in our Cafe! We have a children’s play area including a ball pit which is free to use and no booking is needed to attend. Please feel free to log onto our free WiFi and indeed many people come in to work whilst their child plays or whilst enjoying a hot cuppa. We have a varied adult and child menu as well as barista coffee and speciality teas. Our cakes are homemade and donated from a selection of local cakemakers and all menu items, including our hot specials are freshly made on site. A takeaway option is also available. You will find baby changing facilities on site as well as high chairs.
We have many regular activities running in our Hall, from Pilates & ballet classes to children’s music sessions and sensory classes. Please take a look at our Weekly Activities to find out more information on class descriptions and times.
Englefield Green Child Contact Centre – The Centre provides facilities for children to meet with the parent with whom they no longer live due to family break down. The aim is to provide a warm, friendly, toy-filled neutral meeting place where contact can take place during what can be a very emotional period. Please see our Child Contact Centre tab for more info.
Baby Basics project – Baby Basics provides the basics needed in life for vulnerable women or families with a newborn. We work with midwives, health visitors and other local organisations to provide starter packs for those in need. We can help vulnerable groups such as teenage mums, families on low incomes, and women fleeing domestic abuse and trafficking. For further information, please see our Baby Basics tab.
Village Centre Community Fridge & Kitchen – Our Community Fridge is a social site of food education and sharing. It is housed at the back of the Village Centre building and we make fresh food that would otherwise be wasted, freely available to the community. Surplus perishable food is donated by local businesses or members of the public, and collected by people who need it. Our Community Fridge exists to reduce food waste and foster a spirit of sharing and mutual support within our community. A Community Fridge is open to EVERYONE! Volunteers within our Community Kitchen cook some of the surplus food items to make tasty homemade meals. These meals are portioned and made available to everyone via the Community Fridge, as well as being delivered to vulnerable members of our community. Please see our Community Fridge tab for more information.
In the early 1800’s Methodists, led by the Pocock family, prayed in the Salvation Army Hall in South Road. Increasing numbers led them to buy a small piece of land in Alexandra Road and build a chapel called the Wesleyan Chapel. As its popularity continued to grow, the Pocock family bought a large plot of land in Victoria Street, where another chapel was built. This chapel, also known as the Wesleyan Chapel, was added to in 1904, thanks again to the Pocock family, when the present church was built.
The cottages behind the building were a gift to the church from the Pocock family and the sale of one of these cottages helped to finance the refurbishment of the Methodist Church building as the Village Centre, which opened in September 2010.
Today, The Village Centre is part of an ecumenical partnership with the Anglican Church, St Jude’s in Englefield Green and the Staines & Feltham Methodist Circuit and is the main community outreach for these two churches. We share a charity number 1169401 with St Jude’s Church, however the Village Centre manages its own finances and is governed by an independent Management Team. The Village Centre is a non-profit organisation and all funds raised through grant making bodies, donations, cafe income and hall rental is fed back to support the ongoing community work at the Centre.
To help financially support our building and the community work undertaken, we set up the Friend of the Village Centre scheme. In return for a monthly donation by standing order of £10 or more, you will receive a loyalty card which will entitle you to 10 free teas & coffees in a month at our community cafe. You will also receive regular updates by email about our work at the Centre and an invitation to our annual Staff & Volunteer evening.
Every donation given will make a difference.
Your regular donations will help finance:
To become a Friend please click on the link below to complete the standing order form. If you are a UK tax payer please also complete the gift aid section. We will then be able to reclaim tax back on every donation made (25p in every pound) making your gift go further.
Friend of the Village Centre application form
Completed forms should be returned to The Village Centre, Victoria Street, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0QX.
Please get in touch, we’d love to hear from you…
Contact:
Email – Manager@villagecentre.org.uk
Phone – 01784 471110
Address –
The Village Centre,
Victoria Street,
Englefield Green,
Egham,
Surrey,
TW20 0QX
Socials:
You can follow or get in touch with us via Instagram or Facebook – see homepage.
Carparking is available on Victoria Street, free of charge for up to two hours. Alternatively, there is a carpark at the top of Victoria Street, or all other local roads can be parked in free of charge with no time restriction.
Charitable donations are a huge part of making the work we do at The Village Centre come alive.
Every pound you donate allows us to enrich the services we provide to babies, children and young people, the elderly & isolated, vulnerable families and the hungry.
You can donate at any time to our community work through the DONATE button on our Home Page or you may wish to make a more regular donation to support us:
Would you like to help support our community work by becoming a Friend of the Village Centre?
To help financially support our building and the community work undertaken, we set up the Friend of the Village Centre scheme. In return for a monthly donation by standing order of £10 or more, you will receive a loyalty card which will entitle you to 10 free teas & coffees in a month at our community cafe. You will also receive regular updates by email about our work at the Centre and an invitation to our annual Staff & Volunteer evening.
Every donation given will make a difference.
Your regular donations will help finance:
To become a Friend please click on the link below to complete the standing order form. If you are a UK tax payer please also complete the gift aid section. We will then be able to reclaim tax back on every donation made (25p in every pound) making your gift go further.
Friend of the Village Centre application form
Completed forms should be returned to The Village Centre, Victoria Street, Englefield Green, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0QX.
Maybe:
Get in touch so we can tell you all about how you can get involved at The Village Centre. We have opportunities in our Community Cafe, Child Contact Centre and Community Fridge!
Contact: manager@villagecentre.org.uk or 01784 471110
We would like to thank the students at Our Lady of the Rosary School, who collected items over Christmas towards our Baby Basics project. Thank you to staff and parents who supported them.
As you can see from the photos, we received so many vital items, such as nappies, wipes, toiletries and outfits. All items will be redistributed to families that are referred to us that need help providing for their newborn babies.
A big thank you to our wonderful volunteer Anna, who had great fun unwrapping and organising the donations.
Tony at the Woodshed Jazz Club is running a free concert on 10th February at the Village Centre! It will be at 8.00 pm. Come along and hear what the Woods Shed Jazz students have been working on lately. All welcome.
Last week Ali our manager and volunteer Anna were invited to Audley Village at Coopers Hill to accept a donation. The residents of Audley Village ran a few fund-raising events leading up to Christmas, and very kindly made a financial donation towards our food projects running at The Village Centre.
Our local community is so supportive of the Village Centre and the work we do, and we’re always so grateful for this.
Need a good local venue for your club, class, meeting, party, baby shower, wake, or other function?
Our excellent facilities include:
-a cafe with children’s area (with a good selection of toys) and a ball pit
-a spacious hall that comes with a fully equipped kitchen
-an upstairs Meeting Room, which is ideal for training and classes
The Hall & Cafe Area are linked via a small interior foyer, and you can book both spaces for your party or function. Many people book the Hall for the party entertainment, and use the Cafe Area as a quieter area for serving food and entertaining waiting parents and siblings.
Our facilities lend themselves to a broad range of activities, from dance and exercise classes to music clubs, to children’s parties, large meetings, trainings, and functions. Pictured is the wonderful Jazz Club that meets at the Village Centre, in our Cafe. We have availability weekdays and weekends, both daytime and evening, and currently have space for one or two more regular weekly hirers. You can hire a space on a regular basis (ideal if you’re running a regular class or event), or ad hoc.
Get in touch with our Manager to discuss your needs – call her on 01784 471110 or email manager@villagecentre.org.uk – or visit our website for more information.
Calling our senior residents!
Did you know that there’s a source of fun, entertainment, community and sustenance on your doorstep?? Not to mention opportunities to meet new people! Here’s what we have to offer:
-our lovely Café is open weekdays 9-2, with late opening until 5 pm on Thursdays (and we have cake! Also snacks and light meals, and proper coffee)
-we host over 55s lunch club on Mondays (check out those puddings!)
-thanks to our super volunteer team at Royal Holloway, there are going to be seniors’ tea parties here in February and March
-we have volunteering opportunities for anyone who has some time to spare and would like to join our wonderful volunteers family
Our Café is a wonderful place to bring a pal or a whole gang of friends, come and do your knitting or crochet, bring your laptop to work on your latest project, bring your neighbour for lunch or brunch, or just have a spontaneous coffee while you’re out and about in the village.
We also have community fridge, food bank, Citizens advice and other regular services that might be of interest to you.
If you haven’t visited before and are feeling shy, tell our Café staff and we’ll help you to feel at ease.
We hope to see you soon.
MONDAY LUNCH CLUB
The weather is chilly, but our lunch guests were warmed through by Creamy Chicken, Leek & Spinach Stew with mash, green beans & peas.
Reserve your space for next Monday by this Friday lunchtime. You can call us on 01784 471110 or email manager@villagecentre.org.uk
RUNNYMEDE FOOD BANK
February Foodbank Appeal. We’re sharing the latest ‘foodbank needs’ list, along with a QR code for anyone who wishes to make a financial donation so the Foodbank can purchase items that are in short supply. Here are the items that are currently most needed:
Vegetable soup, tinned tomatoes, dog food (NB you can also drop off dog food at Blue Cross shop in Egham), shaving foam, size 5& 6 nappies, jam, coffee, custard, sponge pudding and juice.
We have a Foodbank drop off point in our foyer for donations. Many thanks for your help! It makes such a difference and is truly appreciated.
CITIZENS ADVICE
Citizens Advice will visit the Food Bank sessions at The Village Centre on 29 January and 26 February, so do come along if you need to speak with them.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our community and volunteers! 🎄
We will be back open on Monday January 6th 🎄
At the last Monday Lunch Club of the year, our guests tucked into bacon wrapped turkey breast, braised greens, honey spiced roasted carrots, herb stuffing, pigs in blankets and roast baby potatoes. For pudding we served a mincemeat trifle.
We’ll be back in 2025. Thank you for joining us this year!
