Gateshead: more volunteers needed at shopping centre chapel

Bishop Kevin Dunn has called for more volunteers to help staff the chapel at the MetroCentre in Gateshead. Bishop Dunn met around 20 of the current volunteers on Wednesday, July 11, and thanked them for their efforts at the chapel, which that gets more than 10,000 visitors a year. But he also made an appeal for more volunteers to come forward to help keep the chapel open for the whole time the MetroCentre is open. He said: "The chapel is a wonderful place, an oasis of peace. Thirty million people come to the MetroCentre every year and in the midst of the consumerism, there's a place that's totally counter-cultural, where people can just sit and pray. If it wasn't for those who give their time we wouldn't, be able to run such a wonderful mission. It would be a great achievement if we could maintain a presence in the chapel for the whole time the MetroCentre is open." At the moment, around 35 volunteer 'adorers' - mostly from neighbouring Catholic parishes - cover 51 hours a week out of the 71 that the shopping centre is open, which means that the chapel has to close two or three hours early each day. The age of the adorers currently ranges from 40s to 80s. Anyone interested in volunteering at the chapel should be a practising Catholic and should contact Fr David Phillips on 0191 414 2749. The chapel currently opens every day at 10am, and closes at 6pm on Mondays, 7pm Tuesdays to Saturdays, and at 5pm on Sundays. There is exposition of the Blessed Sacrament while the chapel is open and Mass every day at 12.30. Source: Naughton Media www.naughtonmedia.co.uk