The Festival ends but the trees go on!

All good things must come to an end.  So it was on Tuesday 3rd January when a team of hard workers came in to church to take down the trees and clean up the building.

The Church looked a bit sad during the process with bedraggled trees, overflowing bags of decorations and pine needles everywhere!





However the trees were moved on to be useful elsewhere.  Andy packed them all into his van and drove them to the National Trust, Formby where, in the fullness of time, they will be used to help stabilise the eroding sand dunes.

Of course all 36 did not fit in the van so he had to make three trips.

It was an extremely windy day so when he got there he could hardly open the van and was practically blown over as he carried the trees to the pile.

Nevertheless The National Trust were pleased to receive them even though they represent a lot of hard work for their staff and volunteers in the forthcoming months.

It is also good for us to know that the trees have not been wasted. 

If you get a chance to visit The National Trust look out for our trees (amongst many others) strung out across the sand dunes!

The Opening of our Charity Christmas Tree Festival, 2011

This year the festival was opened by the headteacher, Adrian Antell, and children from Farnborough Road Junior School.The children sang a mixture of traditional and more modern songs which put everyone in a Christmassy mood and set the tone for the festival brilliantly. They began with a lovely rendition of Once In Royal David’s City with the opening solo sung movingly by Harry.

Part way through the performance some children gave a seasonal recitation to enable the singers to rest their voices.

Tim opened proceedings by welcoming everybody, making the necessary safety announcements and introducing the staff and children in his own inimitable way!

When they had finished Tim thanked the children and their musical directors Sue Barton and Mandy Harrington before introducing the Rev. Peter Todd.

Peter expressed his view that the festival was very much in the spirit of Christmas before leading us in praying for everyone present and the supporters and beneficiaries of all the charities represented by the beautifully decorated trees.

Peter then introduced Mr. Antell, who thanked his staff and the children for all their hard work and time. He also thanked St. John’s for enabling his school to be involved in this community event! He professed that he had not known that he was to open the festival until just over a week earlier but, nevertheless, declared himself delighted so to do! Finally, he led the count down to the Grand Switch On, which proclaimed the festival begun and the accompanying Christmas Market and Café open. 

[A big thank you to everyone who attended the festival and participated in any way!]

THANK YOU to the Charities and their Sponsors

On Friday 28th January 2011, over 110 of the charity representatives, sponsors and helpers, who had been invited to the "Thank You Evening", gathered in the Church hall for a most enjoyable evening.

Guests were greeted with a drink and had a chance to catch up with friends, old and new, before they were officially welcomed by Clive and welcomed and sincerely thanked by the Charity Christmas Tree Festival Organiser, John Feneley. The festival had been a great success as had the Christmas Market which was functioning in the hall alongside the Festival. John was unable to tell everybody how much the charities had raised, as he had not yet received final numbers. However, he expressed the delight of everyone at St. John's at the much needed £3,000 that had been raised at the Christmas Market (which is one of our major fundraising events of the year).

The vicar, Philip, then added his thanks to those of Clive and John. He also thanked John and Andy Pugh profusely for all the hard work that they put in before, and after, as well as during the Christmas Tree Festival.

The formalities over, everyone was able to refill their glass and enjoy a sumptuous banquet!

The evening was rounded off with amazing entertainment by Julie Ann Carr and her pupils - Lucy, Laura, Sue and Corinne. This was much appreciated by all present.

It was a wonderful, relaxing evening and we look forward to catching up with everyone again next year!

The cost of the evening was covered by the anonymous donors and the St. John's lunch club. Another BIG THANK YOU goes to them; Christine, Jane and their catering team; our compere Clive: Julie Ann and her pupils and, last but by no means least, John - for organising the whole event.

St. John’s Charity Christmas Tree Festival 2010

Last Friday and Saturday (10th & 11th December) St. John’s welcomed people of all ages who had travelled from near and far to enjoy our Charity Christmas Tree Festival and Christmas Market.

The Festival was opened with entertainment by “Fisherman’s Friend” (see blog below). The Vicar, Philip, then welcomed everybody and said a prayer for the festival before Fisherman’s Friend invited young people to join them for the countdown to the great “Switch on” of the lights.

The Church itself looked, and smelled, fantastic with over 35 Christmas trees glowing and twinkling in support of 33 charities. The atmosphere was peaceful and calm as well as containing a feeling of excitement and anticipation.

Not only did the trees look marvellous but visitors were able to relax and enjoy a variety of entertainment, ably introduced by Clive Morris, throughout the weekend. (Please see separate blogs below.) They were also able to retreat from the hustle and bustle of the Christmas market to unwind whilst soaking up the atmosphere or catch up with friends old and new.

We would like to thank all the many people who worked so hard in many different ways to make the Christmas Tree Festival the success it was, and all the lovely people who came through the church - without whom it wouldn’t have been!

In particular we must thank John Feneley for masterminding the event, Andy Pugh for keeping him sane and The Mayor of Sefton, Coucillor Maureen Fearn J.P. Together with her consort Mr Frank Winrow, she took time out of her busy schedule not only to see the tree that Birkdale Library had decorated to support her charity but also to tour the festival, visit and support every stall in the Christmas Market and have her lunch in the Café.

Preparing for the 2010 Charity Christmas Tree Festival

Preparations are well underway for our Charity Christmas Tree Festival. The first tree arrived on Monday, still covered in real frost. This was followed yesterday by over thirty more trees. Now, as I type, church members and representatives of local schools and charities are busy decorating “their” trees. The church is buzzing and full of the fragrance of pine.

All the trees have been sponsored by local individuals and businesses. There will be more than thirty charities represented and by the time of the opening tomorrow (Friday) all the trees will be individually decorated.

Don’t miss the Charity Christmas Tree festival which runs from 6.00 p.m. tomorrow with entertainment from the local jazz group,
“Fisherman’s Friend”. The grand switch on will take place at 6.30 p.m. but you will need to get there in good time to be sure of a seat!

After the switch on, St. John’s Christmas Market and Café will open in the hall. This will run throughout the festival providing an opportunity to relax, and catch up with family and friends, over a cup of coffee or a seasonal snack. You will also have the opportunity to do some Christmas shopping and enjoy a variety of activities. Children can visit Father Christmas in his grotto for FREE!

If you can not manage Friday night the Festival and Market will be open from 10.00 a.m. until 3.30 p.m. on Saturday. Get Christmas off to a fantastic start by making the effort to come down to St. John’s to support the charities, have fun and relax.
Entry to the Festival, Market and Santa’s Grotto are all FREE!!!

The trees will remain in church for the rest of the Christmas season so you can enjoy them again if you attend any Christmas service at St. John’s.

We hope to see you there!

THANK YOU for the Charity Christmas Tree Festival and Christmas Market

On Friday 29th January 2010, we were delighted to welcome many of the sponsors, charity representatives and helpers that contributed their time, money and hard work to make our 4th Charity Christmas Tree Festival and Christmas Market such a success. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera, but over 50 representatives of a wide variety of organisations -local businesses and charities - joined over 50 of our own workers for an excellent buffet meal. It was fun to get together with some of the many lovely people we'd met at the event. It was a most enjoyable and convivial evening.

John Feneley thanked everybody for their help and support, without which the event could not take place, He also told us that the sponsors had provided £1,500 to pay for all the trees and that between them the charities had raised a little over £1500. In addition, the market raised more than £2000 for St. John's, for which we are extremely grateful as it is much needed to keep the church running at the level it currently does.

Note for your diary:- the next Charity Christmas Tree Festival will take place on 10th and 11th December 2010

Entertainment at the Charity Chritmas Tree Festival

As well as being able to see the beautiful trees and contribute to the wide range of charities, vistors to the festival were also entertained by a variety of local groups and individuals. These included New Dawn, who also opened the event, representatives of Farnbborough Road Junior School, John Cotterall on the organ and the Southport Youth Band on the Friday night and Children from Farnborough Road Infant School, members of the Shoreside School Choir, children from our own GAP group (God And Play), Val Warren and John Cotterall on the organ and the Southport Youth Band on the Saturday. We are very grateful to all these people for giving of their valuable time at this very busy period. Their presence greatly enchanced the festival and filled all who heard them with the finer feelings of Christmas - transporting them away from the "rat race" - if only for a short time.

Thank you all very much!

Opening of St John's Christmas Tree Festival and Fair

The church was full for the opening of the Charity Christmas Tree Festival this year. The Festival was opened by New Dawn whose engaging and moving performance was much appreciated by all. They invited children and young people to join them at the front for the countdown to the dramatic "switch on" of the lights. Following the "switch on" visitors went round to have a closer look at the trees and contribute to the charities.

They were also able to enjoy further entertainment in the church by John Cotterall on the organ, children from Farnborough Road Junior School and, later, the Southport Youth Band, as well as going through to the Christmas market. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Preparing for the 2009 Charity Christmas Tree Festival

Many people have been very busy this week preparing for the Christmas Tree Festival which will be taking place, at St John's, Birkdale, tomorrow from 6.00 p.m. to 9.00 p.m. and on Saturday, from 10.00 a.m. until 3.00 p.m.

All day today representatives of various charities have been in church decorating their trees and some performers, including John, shown below, (who will be playing the organ at 7.15 p.m. tomorrow and 11.oo a.m on Saturday) have been practising hard. New Dawn will be performing at the opening at 6.00 p.m. tomorrow and the Southport Youth Band will be in church from 7.45 p.m. tomorrow and 1.45 p.m. on Saturday. Also performing are representatives of Shoreside School (10.00 a.m. Saturday) and Farnborough Road Infants (10.30 a.m. Saturday). In addition GAP will be singing at 11.30 a.m. on Saturday and Val Warren playing the organ at 1.00 p.m.

Entry is absolutely FREE! So do come along and experience the unique atmosphere in the church and support the various charities.

There will also be a chance to meet your friends in the St. John's cafe, buy your stocking fillers at the St. John's Christmas Market and visit Father Christmas in his grotto.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Southport Scene in Flowers

On Friday 2nd, Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th October 2009 the West Lancashire Flower Club hosted their Emerald Anniversary Flower Festival in St. John's Church, Birkdale. Entrance and raffle money from this event went to support The Alzheimer's Society. The magnificent displays were not only arranged to celebrate 55 years of the society but also to celebrate aspects of Southport. The spectacular arrangements featured the Southport Coat of Arms, Lord Street, Parks and Gardens, Our Famous Golf Courses, The Arts Centre and Gallery and many other facets of the Southport Scene from the Beach, via the spectacular Millenium Bridge to the Firework Championship, Clown Convention, and Food and Drink Festival.

Visitors were also able to enjoy good, home made refreshment and St. John's hospitality at the cafe in the hall.

It was an excellent few days.