Some history
A special service in the St Giles’ Parish Church, Wrexham, marked the official inauguration of the St Giles’ Centre on Saturday, 14 January 2012 with well-known and respected North Wales RE adviser, Gavin Craigen appointed as founding director. Working alongside local teacher-advisor colleagues and ‘faith development’ colleagues, Gavin shaped and led the St Giles’ Centre during its initial formative years.
The St Giles’ Centre has always had a close relationship with the St Giles’ Parish Church and this was marked physically from the beginning with an ambitious building project within the church itself, designed to accommodate and resource a centre for religious education and faith development (the St Giles’ Centre).
When the St Giles’ Centre was a young centre, it entered into a supportive partnership with the already established St Mary’s Centre, Wales (an Anglican research institute) and became a part of the St Mary’s and St Giles’ Centre charity. In 2016 the St Giles’ Centre became ready to embark on the next stage of its journey on its own, outside this organisational structure.
The St Giles’ Centre today
While remaining close to its roots, the St Giles’ Centre has responded proactively to both internal and external changes, and this continues to open up exciting opportunities for our work in Wrexham.
Today, our long standing and close partnership with Wrexham County Borough Council is enriched through a working relationship with Lincoln Bishop University. Lincoln Bishop University (a Cathedrals Group university with a rich history in teacher education) brings high‑quality, accurate and research‑informed contributions, underpinned by distinctive Anglican expertise. This collaboration strengthens our work and deepens its reach in Wrexham, enabling us to best serve schools, teachers, and learners.
Although the St Giles’ Centre still benefits from the facilities created for it within the St Giles’ Parish Church, it is now physically located in Wrexham County Borough Council office accommodation and the Resources Room in Ysgol Clywedog.
From the beginning, we have valued the vision, sponsorship and support of the Wrexham (Parochial) Educational Foundation, without which none of this is possible.