United Church Dorchester

Community and Outreach: Home & World Mission

Although called 'United Church Dorchester', we see the role of the church extending well beyond the walls of the building and out into the wider community - not just in Dorchester, but across the UK and the wider world.

For this reason, the church regularly supports a wide range of local, national and worldwide initiatives and charities. These might be one-off events (such as a coffee morning for an appeal) or extended and continuing projects (like the Dorchester Chaplaincy project, supporting workers in all sorts of businesses across the town).

Each year, the church designates a single charity as a 'World Church Project': it is The Leprosy Mission for 2025, a charity that works in areas still affected by Leprosy (aka Hansen's Disease) in the Indian sub-continent and parts of Africa. They work in partnership with organisations and research institutes in diagnosis, treatment, fighting stigma and advocating for change.

In addition, the church regularly supports these charities and initiatives: 

Fairtrade is a global movement with a strong and active presence in the UK, represented by the Fairtrade Foundation. It is a movement for change that works directly with businesses, consumers and campaigners to make trade deliver for farmers and workers. The international Fairtrade system (which the Fairtrade Foundation is a part of) represents the world's largest and most recognised fair trade system.
 
United Church Dorchester has a long-standing commitment to Fair Trade. In 2004 a group successfully put together a bid for Dorchester to become Dorset’s first Fair Trade Town. We continue to raise awareness of the importance of Fair Trade through sales in our church shop and by maintaining a presence at other events in the town. As a Fair Trade Church, we aim to use Fair Trade products at all our church meetings and social events. 

In many countries of the world people have few skills, little education and no means of earning a living. A switch from aid-dependency to self-sufficiency is impossible without help.

TWAM (Tools with a Mission) started over 25 years ago, and has since then given this help by collecting and refurbishing tools and equipment no longer required in the UK and sending them overseas.

You can help by giving local TWAM supporters any unwanted tools (carpentry, plumbing, car mechanics, electrical, etc) as well as knitting and sewing machines, and all their related accessories - material, needles, pins, buttons, zips, cottons etc. Tools can be old, as they will be refurbished, but we cannot accept anything with woodworm.

Please note: John and Wendy Hilton will be retiring from Tools with a Mission at the end of March 2025.  They have been volunteering with the charity that collects, refurbishes and sends tools out to projects in central Africa for 16 years.  Over that time over 1,000 sewing machines have passed through their house, as well as thousands of individual tools.  We don’t know if TWAM HQ will recruit another collector in this area.  If not, your nearest collectors are in Corfe Mullen (delivery only), Swanage or Tool Aid in Ringwood.   

Thank you for your support over the last 16 years.  The many tools you have donated have made a huge difference to the livelihoods of many people, especially women and families.

Christian Aid as originally founded by British and Irish churches to help refugees following the Second World War. For more than 70 years, it has provided humanitarian relief and long-term development support for poor communities worldwide, while highlighting suffering, tackling injustice and championing people’s rights.

The United Church Dorchester regularly supports campaigns and projects organised both locally and nationally, including the annual Christian Aid Week.

Action for Children was first founded by Methodist Minister Thomas Bowman Stephenson. Seeing children living rough under the arches of Waterloo station in London, he decided he had to act. A century and a half later, the spirit of this great founder remains Action for Children's inspiration. 

As an organisation, it now takes action on behalf of 301,000 children, young people, parents and carers across the UK. Our mission is to do what’s right, do what’s needed, and do what works for children.

Dorchester Food Bank, based at Dorchester Baptist Church, welcomes donations of in-date foods, including tinned and dried goods, tea, coffee, cereals and breakfast spreads, vegetarian items eg lentils, and toothpaste, soap and toilet rolls.

The United Church has a collection point for donated items in the South Street Foyer.