This Week in Abingdon: Where Agnostics come before Darwin, Vet, Blondie and Barn Dance

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Agnostics Anonymous will be asking the question at St Helen’s Church, ‘Is Christian language too male?’

The Abingdon Naturalists have a talk on the Darwin Tree of LIfe, a project aimed at sequencing the genomes of all eukaryotic species (having cells with a nucleus) in Britain and Ireland.

At Abingdon Library, Andrew Bartholomew will be telling people about his book ‘It did happen to this vet.’

Totally Blondie are bringing their tribute show to Northcourt Music, featuring vocalist Chloe Buswell who is a lookalike and soundalike of Debbie Harry, once the heartthrob of millions.

There will also be a barn dance at St Helen Church.

Lease For Sale with Stock

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The Abingdon Supermarket opened last year but closed for a while towards the end of the year. They left a note saying they’d be back mid December. They brought in more stock as if they were planning to reopen, but I haven’t seen that happen.

There’s a sign that says ‘Lease For Sale: Takeaway & Shop (With all Stock and Assets).’ It seems like they had to give up for some reason. So that’s sad.

Continuing the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity: More Abingdon Groups Share Their Work

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Following on from the Monday and Tuesday blog reports, Wednesday to Friday introduced more groups to tell us about their work in Abingdon.

Wednesday: Revd David Masters from Peachcroft Christian Centre introduced Tanya from Homes for Good. Tanya’s talk focused on the importance of fostering and adoption with the goal of reducing the number of children in care. She shared her personal experiences as a foster parent and provided information about the charity’s work.

(By the way, Saturday 25th January is Burns Night and Peachcroft Christian Centre have a Burns Night Supper and Quiz.)

Thursday: Ellie Ball, a pastor at the Abingdon Vineyard Church (who meet at Preston Road Community Centre), introduced Victoria from The Archway Foundation. The Archway Foundation host social groups for people experiencing isolation and loneliness in Abingdon (at 35 Ock Street) and Oxford. They also provide telephone befriending and other services. Founded in the 1980s, the foundation relies on volunteers who donate their time to listen and offer companionship.

Friday: Revd Dr AKM Adam introduced speakers from two Abingdon organisations that give sanctuary. Berny represented Open Doors, an initiative that developed out of the government’s warm spaces program in January 2023. Open Doors provides a safe and welcoming space for people to meet at Our Lady and St Edmunds Parish Hall.

Fiona represented the Abingdon Compassionate Cafe, a new initiative at St Ethelwold’s House that offers a safe space for people to meet who are bereaved or have a difficult diagnosis or are caring for a loved one near the end of life.

And finally for this week, there was an inter-church quiz at Abingdon Baptist Church on Friday night which Abingdon Baptist Church won.

Abbey Hall Roof Repairs & Cinema Update

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An update from Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council has been issued at https://www.abingdon.gov.uk/news/update-on-the-abbey-hall

Work to fix the roof of the Abbey Hall will start in early February to ensure the building’s safety. It has been closed with Asbestos and Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) issues since 2nd October 2024. The Asbestos has already been made safe and so the RAAC work needs doing.

The Abbey Cinema can continue operating rent-free from the Old Magistrate’s Court until 31st March 2025. This is a smaller venue with cheaper tickets.

After the roof is fixed, the auditorium will be ‘decorated to make good’ and the town council says, ‘It is hoped that the Abbey Cinema will then be back in the auditorium and that their normal service will be resumed.’

It was said before Christmas, ‘The cost of the measures so far has been £180,000 and
the Council has been advised that the cost of a full renovation of Abbey Hall would be £2,500,000, which is beyond the Council’s financial resources.’