“Stewarding is extremely rewarding—meeting, engaging, and creating bonds with people from all over the world”
That’s why being part of the volunteering team at St Mary’s—and now part of the Friends—means so much to me.
One of the first things I noted whilst stewarding was that the visitor booklet from the 1980s really needed a bit of love—it was black and white, and not commercially printed, though it had some fantastic line drawings. I decided to give it a refresh with colour, commercially printed and a few of my own photos, whilst retaining some of the previous contents. I was encouraged by Mr Ronald Brock, to whom I was most grateful, and he also introduced me to, and gave me a set of the wonderful Friends’ Reports. Using those and doing many hours of online research, I put together a revised version of the booklet. I also created some one-page colour handouts of the main monuments for visitors to take with them—hopefully encouraging a few donations along the way. I funded the commercial printing myself, just happy to contribute in a small way.
As time has passed, our knowledge and interpretations of items within the church have evolved, and so the welcome leaflet I first put together in 2015, was revised in 2017, and is due an overhaul after the latest conservation project – work in progress.
During the recent conservation projects at the church, I wasn’t able to help hands-on because of work, but I did my best to assist the team in other ways—mainly with moral support, sharing some research, and blackberry ice cream! The conservators were brilliant—always happy to chat and share their knowledge during their rare breaks. Those moments are precious memories for me.
A bit about my background: I joined the Royal Air Force in 1980 and trained as a flight simulator engineer. I served for 17 years, both in the UK and Germany, before being made redundant under Options for Change, returning to west Swindon in 1997, getting involved in the community and congregation at St Mary’s. Since then, I’ve continued working in the same field, still supporting the RAF today.
Since joining St Mary’s, I’ve been confirmed and have supported different projects through donations—such as the stable room roof tiles, where I made dedications in memory of several people including Eddy Sinclair and Ron Brock.
I hope to see you at Lydiard—please do say hello!