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St Mary's Church
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News Round-Up for 2019 |
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Poppy Display
We would like to thank everyone who crafted poppies for our church Remembrance display this year, it was a tremendous effort and looked amazing, from the arch over the main door to the Dove of Peace Banner and the cascade of purple poppies inside the door all were stunning. A big thank you too to the Friends of Fairford Church who footed the bill for the construction. Thanks also go to Freda and Margaret and the happy band of helpers for putting it all together, it involved some challenges and last minute changes, a lot of glue, stitching and pins, however it was worth it. Our thanks also go to John Lang and Murdoch Frazer for erecting the display over the door which involved chicken wire, ladders and who knows what else. Baby Memorial Book and Service
At February's family service, Rev'd Symcox presented and dedicated Fairford's new remembrance book especially for babies. The Baby Memorial Book now stands on the altar in the Corpus Christi chapel so that anyone visiting the church can make an entry in memory of a baby lost at any age or stage of pregnancy. If you have experienced the loss of a baby there can be too few opportunities to write about them and no obvious places to go to remember. The Baby Memorial Book hopes to offer both residents and visitors a chance to record and remember their baby's precious life, however short. A week later, on 2nd March, Fairford's first Baby Memorial Service took place. Embrace, the local baby loss support group, and the team at St Mary's Church worked together to create a service that provided a much-needed space to speak about baby loss and to share in grief and longing, while also bringing hope into the situation. A really special part of the service was Howard Ewan sharing the story of the miscarriage he and his wife Janet experienced just over a year ago. Howard bravely and beautifully shared a story that many could relate to and, as a man, also offered a little heard perspective on the experience of miscarriage. The service was well attended and hugely valued by the congregation, many of whom stayed afterwards for delicious refreshments and to discuss and share their experiences. Church Visitors
Where do our visitors come from? The only ones we have records of are those who have signed the Visitors’ Book. From that we do know for sure that, in just under a year, visitors from the following 42 countries have definitely visited our church: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China [plus Macau], Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dubai, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Luxemburg, Malta, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Ukraine, Zambia. We have also welcomed visitors from 34 of the states of the USA. It is not always easy to decipher the handwriting. I puzzled over the handwriting of one entry : perhaps it was from some exotic third-world country?
I eventually decided that it said “Betterton’s Close” Charities supported over the YearJanuary: People for You
News December 2019 |
Fundraising for St Mary'sSt Mary's is most grateful for all those who attended and donated to the various fundraising events over the year which are essential for the upkeep and maintenance of our lovely church. The Christmas Gathering 7th December Music at St Mary'sThe 4th Fairford Festival of Choirs
Saturday March 23rd Several local choirs took part along with individual items by instrumentalists. All proceeds went to charities chosen by the Choirs. Music in Country Churches
24th and 25th May St.Mary’s church in Fairford is fortunate to have many concerts during the year. We are particularly fortunate this year to have had a further visit from ‘Music in Country Churches’. This is a Charitable Trust set up in 1989 with the active support of HRH The Prince of Wales, with the aim of supplying music of exceptional quality in beautiful rural churches. This year on 24th and 25th May we had two evening concerts with world class artists and soloists. The main focus this year was to help the church in Down Ampney. Friday Flutes
St. Mary's Church Friday 31st May A lovely way to end the week Clemency Rubinstein and Chloe Carter - flute The Brilliant Classical Guitar of Alan Brinley Shaw
Saturday June 15th at 7pm Mr Shaw gave a wonderful classical guitar recital, playing works by Albeniz, Villa Lobos and Piazzolla. The Cotswold Voices Choir
Saturday 22nd June The concert supported those affected by Pancreatic cancer. The charity invests in ground breaking research, lobbies for greater recognition of pancreatic cancer, and is a voice for everyone involved in the fight. Together we are taking on pancreatic cancer. pancreaticcancer.org.uk. Fairford & District Choral Society’s Christmas concert
Saturday 7th December The choir sang Poulenc’s Gloria, Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols and an assortment of advent and Christmas carols. The conductor was Jessi Pywell, and the concert was accompanied on the organ by Sam Bayliss and Evie Perfect Cello; the soloists were Jack Bowtell (baritone) and Lucy Mellors (soprano). |
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