Quiet hands wanted

A handful of unhurried hours, on the same Sunday, kept for years.

We are a small trust, kept by part-time helpers. Most weeks we need one driver, one bookkeeper, and a small circle of befrienders. If you live within walking distance of St John's, we would like to write to you.

A befriender walks up a sloping terraced street in Knutsford in late afternoon light, carrying a wicker basket of shopping.

What we ask

We ask for very little, and we ask it consistently. Most volunteer roles with the trust are kept on the same Sunday or the same Tuesday evening, year after year. The Sunday Doors round in particular asks that you hold one or two households as your own, fortnightly, for as long as you can keep them — the relationships we build are what make the trust work. We would rather have ten befrienders who hold their households for ten years than fifty who pass through.

Two references are asked of every new volunteer. We carry out a DBS check at our own cost for any role that involves visiting a household. The Honorary Almoner walks every new befriender through their first three visits.

The six standing roles

Two pairs of hands across a small kitchen table, cradling stoneware mugs, a parish dispatch between them reading 'Mary Wrench Charity · Sunday Doors'.
Role · I · Sunday Doors

Befriender

Sun · 14.00–16.00 · two hours a fortnight · year-round · led by Elaine Tamkin

Visit one or two older neighbours from the Sunday Doors register every other Sunday. A half-hour or so over tea. Listening is the role. We ask for a two-year commitment.

A dark green estate car parked on a Knutsford street, the driver helping an older passenger with a seatbelt.
Role · II · coffee morning

Saturday Driver

Sat · 09.45–13.00 · one Saturday a month · led by Catherine Holding

Collect two or three older neighbours from their doorsteps and bring them to the parish-room coffee morning on the last Saturday of the month. Own car, clean licence. Mileage reimbursed at the HMRC rate.

The parish ledger and a fountain pen on the vestry desk, a brass desk-lamp casting a warm pool of light.
Role · III · honorary office

Honorary Bookkeeper

Tue eve · 19.00–21.00 · two hours a month · led by Stephen John Lee

Keep the cashbook, reconcile a single bank account, and prepare the year-end figures for the small-charity accounts. Some bookkeeping background helpful; QuickBooks not used.

A new navy school cardigan hangs on a peg in a Knutsford primary-school cloakroom.
Role · IV · Cranford School Fund

Uniform Parcel Steward

Sep, twice · 14.00–17.00 · two afternoons in early Sep · led by Catherine Holding

Help fold and label the new-term uniform parcels for the Cranford School Fund. Done in the parish room at St John's. No driving required.

The nave of St John's, candle-lit for the Annual Carol Service of Mary Wrench Charity.
Role · V · Annual Carol Service

Carol Service Steward

Sun 21 Dec 2026 · 17.30–20.30 · one evening · led by Rev. Nigel Atkinson

Set out the candles, hand out the order of service, take the offertory. We need eight stewards each year. New stewards are paired with returning ones.

The small archive shelf in the vestry of St John's, with folders labelled Mary Wrench Charity.
Role · VI · archive

Honorary Archivist

Quarterly · two hours · 19.00–21.00 · led by Elaine Tamkin

Help us keep the trust's small archive in order — folder the year's papers, index the trustees' minutes, and check the temperature and humidity of the vestry cupboard.

Write to us

A short enquiry, by way of a kitchen table.

If one of the six roles above feels yours, please fill in the form below. We are a slow correspondent — please allow up to five working days for a reply, which will come from the parish office on headed paper.

Other ways in

If volunteering is not for now, there are other quiet ways.

Give a quiet gift Come to a coffee morning