COMMUNITY ACTION

Gateway House, formerly known as the Woolwich Coronet Cinema was built in 1937 as an Odeon Cinema. Today, it is the best surviving example of ‘Odeon’ style architecture in the UK It is a Grade 2 listed building.

New Wine Church completed purchase in December 1999 and reopened it as Gateway House on 24th December 2000.

The refurbishment of the building is being carried out in four phases; the first three of which have been completed over a period of twenty months.

New Wine Church was founded in July 1993 and met at the West Greenwich Community and Arts Centre from July 1993 to December 2000

We have grown from an initial congregation of 25 to approximately 1500 Congregation come from all across London and some from outside the M25 Circle. Members came from places like:
Ashford
Birmingham
Canterbury
Luton
Sittingbourne

There are over 30 nationalities represented in the church

As a local church, New Wine Church is passionately committed to serving the local community.

Community Survey

In March 2002, launched a campaign titled “We’re Here to Serve You!” Started with a survey targeted at 10,000 households in the Woolwich area asking the simple question “how can we serve you better?”

Out of this survey has come several community based programmes sponsored by the Church

Feed the Hungry Campaign

In July 2002, the church launched a Feed the Hungry Campaign in which 2,700 people were fed on the streets of Woolwich over a six-day period. This project was financed by members of the church who skipped lunch; and donated their lunch money for the entire month of June.

Christmas Hamper Campaign

In December 2002, members of the church gave out 1000 Christmas hampers to single parent and low-income families in the community. Each hamper contained everything required for a delicious Christmas dinner including a 5kg turkey.

New Wine Career Builders

The church also runs New Wine Career Builders – an initiative, which assists people in maximising their career potential. To date, over 600 people have been trained by New Wine Career Builders, of which over 200 have found fulfilling work.

Youth Service

More than 200 young people between the ages of 13 and 25 gather for a youth programme at Gateway House every week.

Kids Summer Club

Also this summer a Kids’ Summer Club was run at Gateway House for children aged 5 to 12.

Book Donation

The church has also donated over 250 books to five primary schools in the borough. These books were specifically designed to help prepare primary school leavers for life in secondary school.

Mayor's Charity Appeal

On Easter Sunday – 20th April 2003, the church made a £2,500.00 donation to the Mayor’s Appeal Charity in support of cystic fibrosis and youth work in the community. The then Mayor, Councillor Don Austen remarked that this was the largest donation to the Mayor’s charity in that Mayoral year.

Ministry to Belmarsh Prison

New Wine Church is already working in Belmarsh prison as well as several other prisons around the country; and has been instrumental in providing mentoring for several ex offenders. The church has also helped in the rehabilitation of about six former inmates.

Senior Citizen's Club

Other initiatives to be launched in Spring include “Befriend a Senior” in which members of the church will be encouraged to befriend an elderly person in the community, call them from time to time to remind them of things like hospital appointments, help with shopping and visit them as required.

In a community with such a vast array of needs the possibilities for service are endless. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve in the little way that we can and for the beautiful building which gives us a base to operate from.