It’s never to early to think about decorating your Christmas tree!

That’s the message from the parish as we are calling for entries for the Christmas Tree Festival which will run at St George’s over the weekend of December 5th-7th, in aid of Phyllis Tuckwell, Hospice Care.

Individuals, organisations, schools, charities, businesses, anyone is welcome to enter, and it is totally free to enter. Any size is welcome – large or tiny or anything in the middle, but please let us know dimensions to help our planning. It doesn’t have to be a traditional tree and the only restriction is that the base is no wider than 4ft. It can have lights – battery or mains, but not musical – and let us know when you reserve your space which type you will be using so we can organise a socket for you.

On the Saturday morning, both the Town Cryer and Father Christmas will visit to inspect the trees and encourage donations. There will also be live music, refreshments, Morris dancing and craft stalls.

It’s being organised by Christine Brown who said: “This should be a lovely community event for all and we are planning for 40 trees, but please sign up quickly as those spaces are going fast.

“There will be donation boxes next to every tree so that people can put money into the boxes of their favourite trees. There will be a prize for the tree with the highest amount donated and half of all the money raised from the donations will go to Phyllis Tuckwell to support the wonderful work they do for our community.”

The prize will be awarded at St George’s Christmas carol service on Sunday, December 7th at 6pm. Rev’d Lexi Russell, will not only present a trophy but also announce the amount raised during the festival.

Entry forms are available from Christine Brown, and should be returned by November 14th, though once all the spaces are filled entries will be closed.