Member Article

Ringtons donation helps church hall recovery

The restoration of a popular community hall which was devastated by fire has had a helping hand thanks to a donation from Newcastle-based tea and coffee company Ringtons.

St. Paul’s church hall in Winlaton, Gateshead was badly damaged in a fire in February which left the building inhabitable. As the local community rallied together to raise funds for the refurbishment of the building, Ringtons has donated a raffle prize and fine-bone china cups to replace those lost in the fire.

The fire caused damage to the roof and structure of the 100 year old building which has been a vital part of the community as home to a children’s nursery, regular coffee mornings, lunches, social events and a number of community groups including Mother’s Union and Messy Church.

The cause of the fire is still unknown and the restoration of the building is expected to take many months. Members of the church and the community who use the venue have pulled together to raise the funds to repair the damaged building.

Carol Brown, church member and Ringtons customer said: “The fire at St Paul’s was devastating – we lost everything including our recently refurbished kitchen and all of our crockery, much of which was Ringtons. The donation of replacement cups from Ringtons is very kind and will take the place of those lost in the fire when we reopen.

“To raise funds for the restoration we are holding a Mother’s Union Spring Fair on Saturday 21st May at St Anne’s Roman Catholic church hall in Winlaton where we will raffling off a hamper donated by Ringtons and prizes from other local businesses. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of local businesses and our neighbours following this devastating fire and hope that St Paul’s will be up and running again soon and taking its rightful place as a pivotal part of the community.”

Paul King, Ringtons salesperson said: “Carol is just one of my customers who is involved in St Paul’s church hall and are affected by the closure of the building. When Carol told me about the fire, the loss of the Ringtons crockery and explained that a Ringtons teapot-shaped biscuit barrel was the only thing to survive the blaze, we thought it fitting to donate some replacement cups to the church hall and a prize for the Spring Fair. We wish the residents and hall users all the best in their efforts to reopen the building and with the support of the local community who’ve rallied around to get the venue reopened, we’re sure they’ll be enjoying a cup of tea in the restored building in no time.”

Ringtons was established in 1907 by Samuel Smith who sold tea by horse and cart to doorsteps across Newcastle. Today the company is headed up by the fourth generation of the Smith family and employs over 500 staff across more than 20 sites throughout the UK including its North Tyneside factory where all of its tea and coffee is blended, roasted and packed.

The company still offers a traditional doorstep delivery service to over 250,000 customers throughout the UK as well as operating a business-to-business division, an online store and a franchise offering. The company also blends and packs tea for well-known supermarkets and private retailers.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Hayley Ford .