Month: April 2026

Woking Community Grocery – The Official Opening

/ Steve Petch / 1 Comment

This morning I had the joy of attending the official opening of the Woking Community Grocery, based in our Church Gate building. We’ve been working towards this moment, in partnership with The Message Trust, for a few years, so today was a cause for real celebration.

Alongside many from Welcome Church, there was a great gathering of community and business leaders. Representatives attended from The Message Trust, Woking Borough Council, Surrey County Council, BBC Radio Surrey, Woking Mosque, and a number of local businesses and charities. These included Nomad Foods (who have stocked our freezers with their Birds Eye brand), Porky Whites (providing sausages), and Boz’s Fruit and Veg (our fruit and veg supplier).

We were also joined by representatives from Jobcentre Plus, The Lighthouse, Barnardo’s Family Centre, Woking Chamber of Commerce, Ilford Community Grocery, and many other valued supporters. It was especially good to welcome the Mayor, Cllr Amanda Boote, the Leader of the Council, Cllr Ann-Marie Barker, and our local MP, Will Forster, who continues to be a great encouragement to us.

We’ve been featured several times today on BBC Radio Surrey and also made it onto the BBC News website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgrel6e6evo

There were four short speeches:

  • Dub, our Outreach Pastor, shared the heart behind the project and the journey to get here
  • Will Forster MP spoke warmly about the work we do as a church to support those in need
  • Darren Green, our Grocery Manager, shared his passion for the project (he spoke brilliantly)
  • Juliea Morris, Team Manager from Barnardo’s Woking Family Centre, spoke about some families already benefiting and the impact being seen after just one week

After this, Will Forster cut the ribbon and the Community Grocery was officially declared ‘open’

Why are we doing this?

Rising living costs are putting increasing pressure on households across Woking, making it harder for many families to make ends meet. Two wards in Woking are now among the 20% most deprived in the UK, with one ranked as the most deprived in Surrey. The growing queues at the door each morning are clear evidence of this need.

Woking Community Grocery has been established to provide long-term, reliable access to affordable food for those experiencing food insecurity. Alongside discounted grocery shopping, members can access the wider support available through Welcome Church, including job clubs, life skills courses, debt counselling, the Money Course, Kintsugi Hope, and more.

As Christians, we believe we are called to care for those in need, and this is one practical way we can put that into action in our community.

If you’d like to find out more, you can visit the grocery webpage here: https://www.welcomechurch.uk/communitygrocery

Or read more about the heart behind this project here: https://stevepetch.blog/2025/11/24/welcome-church-community-grocery-latest-news/

After the official opening, the Grocery returned to business as usual, with many new people signing up to join. We have welcomed over 100 new families today, taking our total to over 350 members in less than 2 weeks. Sign-ups have already far exceeded our expectation, and the team has been working hard to keep up. Seeing it all in action was quite emotional 🥲

Church Gate Open Day

Church Gate is about much more than just the Community Grocery. The space will now be used for a wide range of social action courses and events, and it’s also already well used by our children and youth—especially on Sunday mornings. It’s their space too!

With this in mind, we’re renaming Church Gate (which, if we’re honest, does sound a bit like a church-related scandal!)

Going forward, the building will be known as:

The Welcome Church Community Hub

Or simply:

‘The Community Hub’

The majority of the funding for this has come from sacrificial giving within Welcome Church, and this Sunday afternoon (26th April) we’re hosting an Open Day for everyone who is part of Welcome Church. This is an opportunity to look around the building and see what has been achieved now that the redevelopment is complete.

If you’d like to attend the open day, you can book a slot for between 1:30pm and 4pm here: https://welcome.churchsuite.com/events/hvlhs3ee

There may even be a cup of tea or coffee waiting for you.

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Thank You For Your Patience!

/ Steve Petch / 2 Comments

This is my first blog post since January, when I shared news of my cancer diagnosis and upcoming treatment. You can read that post here.

I’ve been out of circulation for a while due to surgery and recovery, but I’m delighted to say that I’m now beginning a gradual return to my role at Welcome Church. I even spent some time back in the office this week. It was great to be with the team and to be with several new staff members who started during my absence.

In terms of my health…

I’m pleased to say that I’m slowly recovering, and I can see progress from week to week. I’m currently nine weeks post-surgery, and the physiotherapist estimates that I’ve regained about 90% of the movement in my arm—so now I’m working on that final 10%.

I’m still using painkillers fairly regularly and need to be careful not to overdo things. I’ve been told that the minimum healing time for this kind of surgery is around three months, and possibly up to 18 months. I’m aiming for the lower end of that range, and life is gradually returning to a new kind of normal.

I want to take a moment to say a heartfelt thank you to my wife, Jo. She has been absolutely incredible throughout this whole journey—patient, kind, and endlessly supportive. From the early days of diagnosis, through surgery, and into recovery, she has cared for me so faithfully and sacrificially. I’m deeply grateful for her love, strength, and encouragement, and I honestly couldn’t have got through this season in the way I have without her.

I also want to say a sincere thank you to everyone in the church who has looked out for me and the family during this time. So many of you have been incredibly kind—through your prayers, messages, encouragement, and practical support. It has meant more than I can properly express. I’ve felt very cared for and upheld, and I’m deeply grateful to be part of such a loving church family.

Looking ahead, I’ll have another MRI scan in late August to check on my progress. If all is well, I expect to be fully discharged from the Royal Marsden Hospital’s care in September. The Sarcoma Team have been superb, by the way—it’s such a privilege to receive this level of care through our NHS.

Returning to my role

I’m delighted to have been back in the office for three mornings this week.

In discussion with Occupational Health, I’ll be undertaking a “phased return” over the next few weeks. This means working reduced hours and days while I continue to recover physically. I’m looking forward to being back at full strength, but in the meantime — thank you for your patience.

This season also gives a good opportunity to reflect on what I should pick up again and what is best left with others who have so faithfully covered things during my absence. One thing I’m especially looking forward to is preaching again. My first Sunday back will be on 26th April, when I’ll be speaking from Acts 2 as part of our new series on Acts. Christopher has designed the series, and I’m really looking forward to it.

In my absence

The Welcome Church team have done an outstanding job during my time away, and I want to say a heartfelt thank you to them all.

While I’ve been out, they’ve completed the development of Church Gate, opened the Community Grocery, welcomed four new staff members, reorganised the church offices, moved the children’s and youth work into Church Gate, run a fantastic Alpha Course, recorded the highest-ever Sunday attendance in our 147-year history (more than 1,400 people on Easter Sunday!), and changed our Sunday meeting times—a shift that’s already made a significant difference.

Hopefully, there are still a few things left for me to do!

The most noticeable change on my return, though, was when I sat down at my desk. Christopher had been using it in my absence, and—after a few moments of wondering why it felt “different”—I realised he’d lowered it to what I can only describe as “child height.” Now, if I can just find the right Allen key…

See you on Sunday!

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