A big thank you to everyone who helped to make Christmas at our church such a success this winter. We had almost 90 people at the Carol Service and 25 on Christmas morning!

We, the local community, are “The Church” in these parts, and its future is very much in our hands. The Parochial Church Committee can do their bit to try to raise funds and keep the building in one piece – but the rest is up to us! If we can build on the support shown at Christmas  - all should be well!

Firstly we should acknowledge the dedication of Alison Rogers, our vicar, for turning up in spite of a broken leg! Well done her.   

So, with all the above in mind, may we say a big thank you to all of you who helped to make the Carol Service such a memorable event this (I mean “last”), year. Thank you, Clare, for organising the bellringers, and thank you to the ringers themselves for calling everyone to the church on the evening of the service.  Thank you to Jill for all her hard work getting the nativity costumes sorted, and for organising the readers, kings, shepherds and angels (not necessarily that order of course).

Many have commented that one of the highlights of the Carol Service was seeing so many children (of all ages!) joining in and having so much fun. They were so keen to play their part, and many immediately asked whether they could do it again this year! What a great endorsement of the evening!

Thank you to Keith, Sharon and her team for getting the donkeys (Chocolate and Lemoney), to the church on time and for the spontaneous offerings they left at various places! The children especially loved seeing them. Thank you to the flower-team for some lovely arrangements, and thank you to all who helped on the night to serve food and beverages.  (We thought we should change the story of the Three Wise Men to say that that they arrived bearing gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Port!!)

Thank you to Murray for setting up the “special effects” for the service – and also for installing the PS system which made the service more enjoyable as it allowed everyone to hear what was going on. We hope to build on the success of the various sound and lighting effects next year to produce an even more exciting and “immersive” Christmas experience!

Well done Stella and Helen for organising the Christmas party in the Village Hall after the Carol Service - it worked very well and made the evening really special.

We have a lot going on at the church this year, as we hope to have the bells repaired and pew-heating installed, as well as getting the tower-roof repaired etc. So please do keep checking on this page for updates. We hope to get the “green-light” for the bell-repairs later this month, in which case work might start in May. When the bells are lowered, we hope to have them on display for a while before they go to Loughborough for repairs.

A big thank you again, and a very happy New Year to you all,

Caro Hammick

Churchwarden