Tag Archives: Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Care

Christmas, Social Events, St George's Church

A forest of Christmas sparkle

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Get lost in a forest of sparkling, colourful trees at the Christmas Tree Festival on December 5-7 at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea.

There will be 50 trees from individuals, charities, schools and other organisations, and not all the trees will be traditional. According to festival organiser Christine Brown, there will be a tree made entirely from copper pipe, and one constructed as a teepee so that children can go inside. Tice’s Meadow has promised a tree which “celebrates the beauty of nature and is crafted from materials gathered on site’”, while John Martin from the Badshot Lea Community Garden is planning one made of flowers. “I’ll have to construct it there on the day,” he said.

Everyone will be able to vote for their favourite tree by making a donation, and half of all the money given will go to Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice while the other half will go to support the work of church in the community.

Trees are not the only attractions that weekend. Father Christmas will be flying in for an hour at 10.30am on Saturday and children can tour the trees with him and bring their letters to be taken to the North Pole. His security will bring the Naughty and Nice lists and Father Christmas will review these with the children at the end of his visit.

On Saturday there will also be craft stalls and entertainment from Duke’s Uke’s, Jackstraw Morris Dancing, Brodie Mauluka, Cajun Boogaloo, Vivaldi Singers and the church choir. There will be café all weekend and a raffle with prizes including Christmas hampers.

The festival will close with a carol service at 6pm on Sunday at the end of which the public’s favourite tree will be announced and the raffle drawn.

The festival will run on Friday, 1-6pm; Saturday 10-6pm; Sunday 12-4pm.

Art, Christmas, Craft, dance, Events, music, St George's Church

Join our Christmas Tree Festival!

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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.