How it Began – Aldershot

On June 7^th, 1931, fifteen brethren and sisters gathered to ‘remember the Lord’ in a private house in Aldershot. They had been meeting for mid-week Bible study in the house where Mr. and Mrs. G. Hall then lived, but they had to walk several miles to break bread at Tongham.

Three months later a room was rented which had previously been a furniture-store, and willing hands soon made it suitable for the meetings. Sunday by Sunday the room was packed with children and young people, until a large Council Housing Estate was opened on the outskirts of the town and the consequent moving of population reduced the Sunday School to six scholars. This challenge was met by the commencement of two open-air Sunday Schools on the estate, which were continued for two years because no indoor accommodation could be obtained. The assembly had saved £60, and a gift of £100 enabled them to buy a plot of land, which was offered for £140 and reduced to £120 when the vendor learned the purpose for which it was wanted. Plans for the building were passed by the local Authority, and the brethren and sisters put the work in hand. They dug and laid the foundations, and in 12 months had raised the brickwork to window-level. Help then came from a source hitherto unknown. By the generosity of an honoured servant of God a contractor was employed and the hall was completed, two extra classrooms being added. The liability of the assembly was for only one-third of the cost, and that was cleared in less than four years. The building was opened on Sept. 2^nd, 1939, the day before the outbreak of war, and on the first Sunday it was full of children. Many of them have been saved and baptized and are in fellowship, and the present teachers are almost all former scholars of the school. By the end of 1946 additional accommodation was essential; a wooden hut was erected at a cost of £500, provided in the same way as the money for the main hall, and is used to accommodate 100 scholars under eight years of age. By 1951 a further extension had become necessary, so the width of the main hall was increased by nine feet and a large classroom was added. There are now about 260 scholars in the school.