Churches together in Cricklade, Ashton Keynes, Latton and Leigh are pleased to announce the return of Lent talks. After a period of rest enforced by the Pandemic, it has been decided to resurrect these talks.

This year we are pleased to have an eclectic mix of guests that will be talking about how their faith impacts their lives.

The line up this year is as follows:

Friday February 16 – Danny Kruger MP. Danny, the son of Prue Leith, is Conservative MP for the Devizes Constituency. Much of his career has been spent working in the community. In 2006, with his wife Emma they founded Only Connect, a project working in prisons to stop criminals re-offending, which he ran for 10 years and now chair.

Saturday February 24 – Tony Jarrett. Tony is a former Olympic Hurdler, having many medals including a gold from the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur. Tony made several media appearances including, BBC Breakfast, he coached Ant and Dec for their Saturday Night Takeaway show. Although he had already won 12 medals during his career the gold medal had always eluded him. It wasn't until he became a Christian that he finally won his first gold medal at senior level.

Friday March 1 – Professor Andrew Briggs. Andrew is the inaugural holder of the Chair of Nanomaterials at the University of Oxford. He has more than 650 publications, with over 28,000 citations. He is the author of several books: Human Flourishing: Scientific insight and spiritual wisdom in uncertain times (2023 ISSR book prize winner.)

Saturday March 9 – JB Gill. JB rose to fame as a member of one of the UK’s biggest boybands – JLS. They dominated the charts for five years, boasting 5 number 1 singles, over 10 million record sales worldwide and a multitude of awards. JLS reformed in 2020 and in the autumn of 2021 had a sell-out UK tour, as well as releasing a new single and album. Now a farmer in Kent and presenter on BBC Countryfile, Songs of Praise and appearances on a number of other TV programmes.

Thursday March 14 – Bishop Neil Warwick. Newly appointed Bishop Swindon, Originally from Surrey, Neil worked in the transport industry in the Midlands in the 1980’s and then in overseas development with World Vision.

It was on a trip to Zambia in 2000 that the Neil first sensed God's call to the church, he was ordained in 2005 at Peterborough Cathedral. In 2009 he became the Vicar of St Nicolas Earley, a busy suburban church. Neil became Archdeacon of Bristol in 2019 and Bishop of Swindon in late 2023.

All meetings will be held in St. Sampson’s Church, Cricklade and will commence at 7.00pm

Tickets, which are free, are obtainable from Graham Light – email: grahamdlight77@gmail.com or telephone 07733305519,