The St Marie’s Heritage Group are a team of volunteers who organise and deliver heritage events and activities in St Marie’s (formally St Marie’s Church) on Lugsdale Road in Widnes. The group are supported by the staff of Halton & St Helens VCA (the organisation which owns the building).
Their Mission Statement is as follows:
The St Marie’s Heritage Group deliver heritage events & activities which honour our beautiful building and the lives of all the congregation who came here to worship.
We want the role the Church played in our community to be remembered & celebrated and the bond between congregation members renewed.
From Left: Matthew (VCA), Pat, Peter, Maeve, Jane, Roger & Christine.
The St Marie’s Heritage Group have organised and delivered many different heritage events & activities inside St Marie’s since the building re-opened to the public in 2014.
We have organised reminiscence events on topics such as May Walking Day and the St Marie’s Primary School Rugby team where former parishioners have enthusiastically shared memories. We’ve arranged for Historians (both national & local) to come in and deliver talks on wide ranging, but relevant, topics such as Edward Pugin (the architect behind St Marie’s) and the local chemical industry. Our annual Christmas Carol Concert has become a tradition in itself and to many in our community, it is the start of Christmas.
At any of our events you’ll see old friends catching up, people laughing & chatting and the finest array of free biscuits & hot drinks in Widnes.
Halton & St Helens VCA is an infrastructure organisation that provides advice, information and development support services to voluntary, community, not-for-profit and faith organisations and volunteers in the Boroughs of St Helens and Halton.
From 2011 to 2014, Halron & St Helens VCA worked with a number of partner organisations on the redevelopment of St Marie’s and turned a derelict building into a vibrant heritage centre and office space. You can learn more about the redevelopment process (and the vital role partners played) in posts on this website.
For more information about the VCA, please visit www.haltonsthelensvca.org.uk
St Marie's Heritage Group 
I wish I were ! But I mean to enjoy the renos vicariously. 🙂
Thank you M-R. If you have questions about the redevelopment of St Marie’s, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Many thanks. Matthew
You’re very civil, Matthew ! – thank you.
“Welcoming” was the tone I was going for, but civil doesn’t sound too shabby. 🙂
Means the same, really. 😀
Grand. 🙂
Hi Mathew would like to book for the Knights of st Columbus for 2people I don’t seem to make contact with you
Hi Pat. You can book tickets by calling 01928 592 405. Hopefully hear from you soon. Matthew
As I’m sure you’re aware the mosaic over the front door was paid for by Tommy Merriman, a local businessman and philanthropist. He was raised in Ann Street, where he later had his office. He was someone I and Estelle Mather are proud to call grandad.