Care International Sponsored Cycle across Vietnam and Cambodia

After months of planning, Margriet and Charlotte Wells have embarked on this 450km ride and are several days in to the 10 day trip already. They are raising amoney and awareness for Care International, which the Wells family and the Coffee Shop have been supporting for some time.

CARE International works around the globe to save lives, defeat poverty and achieve social justice. We put women and girls in the centre because we know that we cannot overcome poverty until all people have equal rights and opportunities. To find out more about the charity, visit their website. https://www.careinternational.org.uk/

Margriet and Charlotte have been sending regular photos of their progress – below are a few of their orientation day and first few days of the ride.

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How can you help?

Firstly, please pray for stamina and safety during the ride – they have another week to go! Secondly, if you are able, please sponsor them, by visiting their Just Giving page.

We look forward to welcoming them home and hearing all about their trip at our next all age service.

Family Barbecue 2019

Sunny spells greeted our combined congregations as we met up at St Giles’ for a communion service and our annual family barbecue.

Thanks to everyone who contributed a morsel to the sumptuous feast, the catering team who put everything together and cooked all those burgers and sausages, the coffee crew and to those who created the interactive all-age service.

The Churchwardens presented Tony Bunce with a gift to thank him for 50 years of service on the PCC! Over the years, Tony has taken part in so many important projects for the church, including making our beautiful and practical altar table at St Andrew’s, which folds away at the end of each service and yet is sturdy enough to hold the sacrament safely as well as the many other demands placed on it.

Tony’s gift was a painting featuring the table, set for a service and the banner behind it on the wall of St Andrew’s, to which Tony’s wife Anne contributed as part of the Women’s Fellowship. A small token of appreciation for both their faithful service to God and the community.

As part of an ongoing plan to make sure everyone can hear during different sections of any large service at St Giles’, extra thought and preparation went in to the microphones, speakers and piano volume. The more people that are in St Giles’, the bigger the challenge to spread the sound effectively for the loud and quiet elements of the service; to keep the children involved but not hindering the proceedings and to make sure people coming for the first time can follow what’s going on as easily as the regulars and encourage them to come again. We are still working through how this can be achieved within our tight budget and what the benefits are for the cost.

It is no mean feat to do all of this without losing the essence of St Giles’: a continuous place of worship for over 900 years. Long may it continue…