Across the Archdiocese of Liverpool, we have 33 parish centres, each of which are located in the heart of the community and provide hospitality, activities and support for the local community.

In a new series, we are visiting each parish centre and highlighting their work, first up is St Mary’s parish centre in Billinge. Lying in the village that separates St Helens and Wigan, Billinge has a thriving community.

On average, the parish centre has at least one event on every single day. From line dancing and salsa to fitness classes, there is more than enough to keep manager Adele Ritson on her toes.

The parish centre is a hive of activity at the weekend. Every Friday night they host charity events and the club waives the booking fee as their contribution to charity. Saturdays are typically dominated by private functions – catering for birthday parties for all ages, anniversaries and special celebrations.  Sundays are usually booked for baptisms.

The parish centre also has strong connections with local businesses and sports teams.

Adele said: “We work very closely with the parish and the schools in the area. Offering our facilities for committee meetings and any fundraising they would like to do.

“We have also raised money for each school in the village from the Thursday cabarets we host at the centre.

“We sponsor a number of sports clubs including Billinge Juniors, and they use our facilities for presentation events.”

“We also have strong bonds with the Billinge residents’ association and our local MP. They both use our function room for community events including children’s Christmas party and over 60’s Christmas meal.

“Local business JJ’s Ice Cream often uses our car park. Although few come in for a drink, they use the toilet and have a nosey at our rooms and come back to book or recommend us.

“JJ has a massive following and him plastering our name and location on his social media works well.”

When asked about her own social media for the parish centre, she added: “I am very proactive on social media.

“I’m a member of all of the local Facebook groups and share my posts in them. I create competitions for free tickets to get the posts shared, which really helps us reach more people.

“When we host an event, I make sure I take the time to make my way around the club saying hello to people, you always get a walm welcome from St Mary’s!

“In the heatwave, I shared a post on Facebook saying that I would put air-con on for anyone that was struggling to pop in and cool down- making us very community orientated is my main goal.”

Adele has more ideas about what she wants to do in the future to achieve her aim of becoming more community orientated.

She said: “I’m looking at targeting families with family- friendly afternoon tributes, outdoor cinema, picnic on the grass, children’s bowling, snooker, darts.”

If you want to find out more about St Mary’s, follow them on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/p/StMarys-Club-Billinge-100016047401167/