News @ Gloucester Salvation Army

10 Nov 2024
Christmas Toy Appeal 2024

Every year, Salvation Army Centres throughout the UK distribute parcels to needy families at Christmas time. Last year, we distributed 982 Food Parcels and 1007 Toy Parcels through many different agencies across Gloucester and we are preparing to provide a similar number again this year. All the recipients are referred to us by Social Services and Family Centres to ensure our parcels go to the neediest families in our City. Read more...

15 Mar 2019
Gloucester Corps 140th Anniversary

2019 marks the 140th anniversary of The Salvation Army in the city of Gloucester.


Over those years, countless, faithful people have made their contribution to the service of God in this community and we shall honour that work and seek to build for the future.

Events planned for the year include:

29-30 June Music Sections Reunion Festival Weekend
28-29 September The Big Sunday School Reunion Tea Party and "Back to Church" Sunday
03 November Solid Rock Band Reunion Concert
23-24 November Anniversary Weekend led by The Territorial Commander Anthony Cotterill and Commissioner Gillian Cotterill


If you would like more information on any of these events, please contact us by emailing gloucester@salvationarmy.org.uk or telephone 01452 311332
Read more...

16 May 2016
By Your Side - CD by Gloucester Salvation Army

By Your Side was recorded live in May 2016 by the Band and Songsters of Gloucester Salvation Army in aid of the work of The Salvation Army in Athens. Members of Gloucester Salvation Army, having seen first-hand the efforts being made to support migrants, refugees and those affected by the significant economic crisis in Greece, have been raising funds to help fellow Salvationists in Athens. The work in Athens has also recently featured in the BBC documentary, Paul O'Grady: the Sally Army and Me. Read more...

20 Mar 2016
Thought for the Week: Let your light shine

A few weeks ago, I returned home late one evening and parked the car on the drive as I normally do. As I got out of the car something felt very different. I looked down the street and it did not seem as bright as it usually did, whereas around the car seemed to be much lighter. I stood for a while trying to work out what the difference was and then suddenly I realised what it was. Gloucestershire County Council had changed our street lights! I remembered I had seen a letter that had come through the door telling us they were changing our streets lights to the new LED type and during the day, whilst I was out, their engineers had clearly been busy in our street replacing all the lights. The familiar orange glow of the old street lights had gone and instead was the more direct white light from the LED lights. I understand the new lights are longer lasting and more efficient. Perhaps it is just me but I feel the old lights gave more light across a wider area whereas the new lights seem to give brighter light in the immediate area around the lamp post. We have a lamp post at the end of our drive hence our car appeared much brighter. I'm still undecided as to whether or not the new street lights are an improvement - I need a few more weeks to get used to them. Read more...

21 Feb 2016
Thought for the Week: Seeking a face

Last Monday afternoon, I heard the front door chime to alert me to the fact that someone was coming into the hall. As I looked down the foyer I saw two police officers in their vivid fluorescent jackets heading towards the office. A brief conversation made their purpose clear – they had come in to collect a copy of our hall CCTV footage relating to a theft that had taken place in our building a few weeks earlier. Jackie showed the officers footage of the suspect entering the hall and quickly departing a few minutes later. Even though the actual theft was out of the shot of the CCTV camera, the man in question was clearly up to no good and gives a good image of himself entering our hall. On seeing the footage of the man’s face one of the officers responded, “I think I’ve seen him before”. She couldn’t put a name to the face and her colleague quickly added “One of the other officers at the station might recognise him”. In this case, the suspect made the mistake of providing our cameras with a good glimpse of his face and so there is every chance he may be recognised by someone. Read more...

20 Feb 2016
One Life - What's it all about? - Christianity Explored

Christianity Explored is a seven session course which gives you time and space to consider the big questions of life and to explore the life of the person at the heart of the Christian faith - Jesus Christ. On Sunday evenings spread through February, March, April and May we will be running these sessions in place of usual Sunday evening meeting. Starting at 5:30pm, the sessions will include refreshments and will on some weeks include music from our Band and Songsters. Read more...

14 Feb 2016
Thought for the Week: Life is a box of chocolates

Today is Valentine’s Day.  Everywhere I look there's chocolate: heart shaped boxes of chocolate, heart shaped chocolates, rose shaped chocolates, chocolate on tv promising to be the perfect way of showing love.  Chocolate chocolate chocolate! It led me to remember the famous quote from Forrest Gump: "Life is like a box of chocolates...you never know what you're gonna get." (I even remembered it with his accent.) Read more...

7 Feb 2016
Thought for the Week: Move along

Such action is not unique to the authorities running San Francisco. In other cities around the world that have hosted a major sporting event, the problems of the area have been ‘hidden’ or ‘moved on’ to protect the image of the city or the event. Similar claims were made in Brazil during the last World Cup and even in our own city there were rumours of a crackdown on street homeless in Gloucester last year during the Rugby World Cup. Sometimes, there are no alternatives but to move people on. On Wednesday, I had to ask a gentleman in his sleeping bag on our hall doorstep to move as we had a funeral service taking place and so I needed our entrance clear. On other occasions it is not appropriate to be moving a problem elsewhere for someone else to resolve simply because we don’t want it on our doorstep. Read more...

1 Feb 2016
Spring is coming! (Evening meeting series)

The meetings will be varied in style and content, but will incorporate the seven week Christianity Explored course. Please get in touch if you would like to find out more about any of our events and activities. Read more...

31 Jan 2016
Thought for the Week: Don't look backwards

Today is apparently known as backward day.  A day when we are suggested to shake up the day-to-day humdrum by perhaps walking backwards, talking backwards, and doing everything the wrong way around.   I guess that would certainly shake up your day but how wise is it really to think and look backwards? Read more...

24 Jan 2016
Thought for the Week: Celebrating Children

Today we celebrate our children!  We celebrate who they are, we celebrate the joy and challenge they bring to our lives and we celebrate their presence in our church family.  We value them and we want to make sure we nurture them in all that’s good, so that they develop more and more into the people God has planned. Read more...

17 Jan 2016
Thought for the Week: Working together

I’m sure we’ve all be following the adventures of Major Tim Peake, the British astronaut who is currently on the International Space Station and is about to become the first Britain to do a spacewalk.  I loved hearing on the news about when he first went up into space and called his parents, only to get their answer machine because they were out.  I bet that message will never been deleted.  And then how he tried to call his parents again only to dial the wrong number!  That’s one wrong number call you wouldn’t have a problem getting isn’t it? Read more...

10 Jan 2016
Thought for the Week: Transformation

Last year, I was given a card by my girls. It said these simple words:

Walk alongside me, Daddy and hold my little hand
I have so many things to learn that I don’t yet understand.
Every child needs a gentle hand to guide them as they grow.
So walk alongside me, Daddy, we have a long way to go.

Read more...

29 Nov 2015
Thought for the Week: Jesus Christ is here

As we begin our season of Advent, I was stunned to read the story of a modern day nativity that happened in New York this week. Many of you will have read the same story of the new born baby found in a church nativity scene.  A member of the church heard the baby crying and found it wrapped in towels in the manger with its umbilical cord still attached. CCTV footage showed the mother arriving at the church with the baby and leaving without him. The mother has since been traced, though no charges will be brought against her. The District Attorney said, “It appears that the mother felt her newborn child would be found safely in the church and chose to place the baby in the manger because it was the warmest place in the church.” I cannot imagine how the church folk must have felt to find a real baby in their manger scene. Churches all around the world will this week be putting up nativity scenes, many of them true to scale, but inevitably featuring statues or models instead of the ‘real thing’. To find real life in the manger as you walk past must be quite overwhelming. Read more...

27 Nov 2015
Christmas Toys and Tins Appeal 2015

Every year, Salvation Army Centres throughout the UK distribute parcels to needy families at Christmas time. Last year, we distributed 390 Food Parcels and 425 Toy Parcels through many different agencies across Gloucester and we are hoping to be able to do a similar number again this year. All the recipients are referred to us by Social Services and Family Centres to ensure our parcels go to the neediest families in our City. Read more...

23 Nov 2015
Celebrate Christmas!

Join us throughout December as we celebrate Christmas! Read more...

23 Nov 2015
Messy Christmas!
(22 Dec 2015 - Messy Christmas)

Come and join us for Messy Christmas on 22nd December at 4pm! Read more...

15 Nov 2015
Thought for the Week: Give them a Glorious God!

This weekend is a weekend to celebrate giving and children!

On Friday we saw the annual Children In Need appeal come to a climax.  This is a great occasion when people all over the UK help children within our own country who are in need by giving money to support various groups who help children to thrive.  The vision of the charity is that every child in the UK has a childhood which is: safe, happy and Secure, and allows them the chance to reach their potential. Read more...

11 Nov 2015
We will remember them...

As the country stopped for two minutes at 11am on Wednesday to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom, four members of Gloucester Salvation Army Band played The Last Post at locations in and around Gloucester. Read more...

8 Nov 2015
Thought for the Week: Remembrance Sunday

Today is Remembrance Sunday. It is a day when we remember those who gave their life in war for our freedom today. This year, in particular, is the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain and we commemorate and salute those who served in this battle from munitions workers to aircraft engineers, from fighter controllers to radar operators, the aircrew of the coastal and Bombers Commands, and of course, ‘The Few’, who sought to go ‘higher, faster and stronger’! This ‘band of brothers’ retains a unique place in our history because its members did not just inspire – they saved a generation. As ACM Sir Foxley-Norris put it in his poem ‘Fighter Pilot’:
‘he was a common unconsidered man, who for a moment of eternity, held the whole future of mankind in his two sweating hands – and did not let go.’ Read more...

1 Nov 2015
Thought for the Week: All Saint's Day

Today is All Saints Day.  This is a day when we give thanks to God for the ‘Saints’ who have shaped our spiritual journey.  None of us ended up here by chance. Our parents, grandparents, friends, pastors, spouses, and others have helped to shape our understanding of who God is and what our callings are in response to the love God has shown us in Christ. Read more...

25 Oct 2015
Thought for the Week: Whosoever will may come

Last Monday, I was privileged to go along to ‘Family Mayhem’. This was an open evening for Monday Mayhem to which we were all invited. With nearly 50 people attending it was a great evening where adults and children played, worked, and worshipped together. It’s so encouraging to see the growth in Monday Mayhem; from its small beginnings of 7 or 8 children to it now topping 20 children in attendance. That’s credit to the Monday Mayhem team’s perseverance and commitment to the children and to this mission activity; and of course great credit to God! Read more...

18 Oct 2015
Thought for the Week: Freedom!

On preparing for the Over Sixties Club meeting this past week I found that every day, every month and every year has at least one specific theme to commemorate or celebrate.  So for example, yesterday was Bridge day, International Sloth Day, Sweetest Day, Wear Something Gaudy Day, Spreadsheet Day, Mulligan Day and International Day for the Eradication of Poverty!  Today is Chocolate Cupcake Day; forget about the diet, today is a great excuse to have a nice gooey, fudgy and intensely chocolate cupcake.  Excellent! Read more...

11 Oct 2015
Thought for the Week: It’s a piece of cake

It’s a simple recipe: take 12 people who like cooking, a host of kitchen hardware, plenty of eggs, flour, butter and other fancy ingredients, place them in a tent with a sweet lady and a rather fierce man, add a dash of innuendo and there you have it – the Great British Bake Off. It is addictive viewing for many and this last Wednesday evening a record audience tuned into BBC1 to see Nadiya Hussain crowned as this year’s champion. Read more...

4 Oct 2015
Thought for the Week: Money well spent

We have all heard the phrase ‘money well spent’. It’s a phrase that speaks for itself and one that we would all like to think applies to our investments or expenditure. However, more and more we hear of occasions where money has been ‘not so well spent’. This is especially the case when it comes to grants that are given to various bodies or organisations. We are left wondering whether some folk are in the ‘real world’. Read more...

27 Sep 2015
Thought for the Week: Credit where credit due

As the cricket season draws to a close, there is much to reflect on and be happy about: the Ashes have been won, Yorkshire are league champions again, and Gloucestershire are the one day tournament champions – smiles all round! And yet we hear news that would make the staunchest member of the MCC jump on his trilby – the French claim they invented the game of cricket not the English! French historians claim that a letter to King Louis XI dating from 1478 may contain the first known reference to cricket – or ‘criquet’ – almost a century before experts believe it arrived in England on a village green in Guildford. The letter, written by a young man called Estiavannet, speaks of a ball game involving a wooden post played in Liettres, Northern France. The French taking the credit for inventing cricket? Surely not! Read more...

20 Sep 2015
Thought for the Week: Spiritual Health Check

So I’ve been forty for 2 weeks and already I’ve received a letter from my Doctor’s Surgery asking me to book in for a NHS Vascular Screening Health Check which is being offered to people between the ages of 40 and 74 and will be undertaken every five years.  I’m. Barely. Even. Forty!!!! Read more...

13 Sep 2015
Thought for the Week: Roll Up, Roll Up!

When was the last time you went to the circus?  If you asked me at the beginning of the week I would have said about 30 years ago.  However, this past week I went to the circus!  It was in the playing field at Rosie’s School.  For one night only The Happy Circus came to town!  It was a great evening and I proper belly-laughed throughout it and was amazed at the skill of the various acts: the juggler juggling 5 spinning tennis rackets, the lady balancing a sword on her chin, the Spiderman acrobat, the amazing balancing man and the lady who did all sorts of acrobats through a hoop hanging from the top. Read more...

6 Sep 2015
Thought for the Week: Don't dismiss it

After our August break it’s good to be in touch with you once again through the corps bulletin. For those of you who were able to get away during the summer months, I hope you were able to enjoy the time away from your normal routine. Read more...

19 Jul 2015
Thought for the Week: God is nearer than you think

Summer is not only a time for numerous sporting tournaments, it is also a time for many other outdoor events. County and village agricultural shows are a plenty; picnics, teas and barbecues seem to happen everywhere; pop and folk festivals take place up and down the land in farmers fields and stately grounds; funfairs come to town, as will happen in Gloucester this weekend. Read more...

14 Jul 2015
Family Fun in Gloucester Park
(30 Aug 2015 - Family Fun Afternoon)

Come and join us in Gloucester Park for a free afternoon of fun and games!