Louise at the helm of ‘shining’ Lamplighter
It’s business as usual at the Lamplighter Christian café, bookshop and community space in Bishopston after covid restrictions were eased across Wales, and there’s a new volunteer co-ordinator at the helm.
The Lamplighter, which recently celebrated its 28th anniversary, was the brainchild of then-vicar of St Teilo’s Chris Lee and his wife Tessa and is named after a verse in St Matthew’s gospel where Jesus calls us to be “a light in the world and that light should shine just like a lamp that is put on a lampstand, so that it will be seen”.
New co-ordinator Louise Rigdon said that light was needed more than ever during the pandemic.
“The Lamplighter is that lamp. It is that shining place, especially through covid, where people knew to go to ask for help and advice and to access different community projects. It’s a cwtch, basically, within the community. It was open through lockdown for an hour a day as a community hub and was very much visible in the community.”
Louise is a familiar face at the Lamplighter having been a volunteer there for 18 months before taking up her new role.
“I was looking for a job and I wanted to volunteer somewhere. I’ve been a Christian all my life so I wanted to do something where I felt I’d be serving,” she said. “I’d heard about the Lamplighter and I knew it was local to the school my son was about to start attending so I thought maybe I might be able to start volunteering there a couple of hours every other week. I knew Sian Parkhouse (children, youth and families officer for Greater Gower) and I asked her if I’d be able to volunteer. She said they were desperate for volunteers so I’d been volunteering here for 18 months. Then last October I was approached by Peter Brooks to see if I’d be interested in being the temporary co-ordinator of the Lamplighter because we’re in the process of being bought out.”
The Lamplighter offers something for people of all ages, from its craft group to Little Lamplighters. It also hosts a weekly Celtic Communion.
“We really could not run without the dedication and support of our servant-hearted volunteers,” Louise said. “We have Celtic Communion which happens every Thursday morning, the Tuesday craft group and our mums and tots group, which we’ve renamed Little Lamplighters, started back in April. We’re a food bank hub as well.”
The Lamplighter is open Tuesdays from 10am to 3.30pm, Wednesdays to Fridays from 11am to 3.30pm and Saturdays from 10am to midday. Celtic Communion is held every Thursday at 9:30am.