The "Coronation Fair" (June 2013)

On Saturday 29th June, St. John's held it's Summer Fair.
It had been billed as a "Coronation Fair" but in the event there was little to demonstrate why!

It was smaller and shorter (running from 10.00 a.m. until 1.00 p.m.) than previous fairs but nevertheless the people who came seemed to be enjoying themselves.

As always, the cake stall was very well patronised, 





and the raffle was as popular as ever.

In addition there was a plant stall, a craft stall ...


... and an opportunity to "cover the crown with silver".

However, the main attraction was the  Café, at which visitors could make new friends or catch up with old over a "cuppa" or even a delicious bacon roll!     Mouthwatering scones - for the less calorie conscious with cream and jam - were also a great "hit"!

Well done and "Thank You" to Sylvia and all who set up and ran the fair which took a much needed £1,277.37 on the day which included all that silver that people had been collecting in little boxes since Easter.

Thank you too to everybody who supported the event.

The Diamond jubilee fair

On Saturday 19th May 2012 St Johns held its Jubilee fair to celebrate the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.
Unfortunately the weather was not great - particularly in the morning so the decision was made to hold the fair inside!

However it brightened later enabling the athletic to attempt, with mixed success to "beat the goalie"!

As always, the Café was very popular. 

There were various games and activities such as face painting, badge making, bottle tombola, raffle .... 

.... tombola, and roll a 2p.    (Do you remember rolling that lovely 1d?)

In addition there were some great stalls such as .... handicrafts, fruit and veg., plants and cakes.

There was an excellent atmosphere and a good turn out.  It was lovely to see three generations of several families having fun together.


The fair raised over £1,500 which is absolutely excellent!
A big thank you to all those who worked so hard to enable the fair to happen and to all those who came to support it.  The generosity of you all is very much appreciated by the church.

26th June 2010 - St John's 120th anniversary celebrations

We were blessed with ideal weather for the St. John's 120th anniversary celebrations on Saturday. Throughout the afternoon friends of all ages visited the stalls, played games and enjoyed tea and a chat.

Inspite of his very best endeavours Tim conceded even more goals in his 90 minutes than The England team did the following day! However, it has to be said that, like England, he did face young, talented opposition.

Catching ducks by hand probably was easier than using a net. The water was lovely and cool too which was an added bonus!

Whilst many had their face or arm painted ladies very much enjoyed relaxing in the shade and having their nails "done".

When they got too hot in the sunshine (I never thought I'd be saying that!) people could go inside for tea and select delicious home made cakes to take home for later.

For a small donationt they could also sample the celebration cake!

People also enjoyed the challenge of the "church trail". Many expressed surprise at how much they discovered about the Church that they had been visiting week in and week out for years!

Throughout the day visitors were encouraged to buy a metre of ribbon which was wrapped around the church. this not only raised funds but added a colourful back drop to the proceedings - and look how far they got!

Altogether it was a lovely relaxed afternoon. In addition well over £900 was raised for the church.

Well done and "thank you" to all

who took part or contributed

in any way!

St John's Christmas Market 2009

Alongside our 4th Charity Christmas Tree Festival ran the St. John's Christmas Market. In addition to a series of interesting stalls there were various activities

- ranging from raffles and Tombolas, through children's craft activities, to face and, even nail, painting! Father Christmas (pictured below with vaious "helpers") was also there and many children had their photo taken with him.

.

The ever popular St. John's cafe also provided a place for visitors to catch up with friends and rest their feet as well as enjoy refeshment.

A good time was had by one and all and many a bargain was obtained in the process!

The Virtual Fair 2009

Once again it was decided to hold a virtual fair at St. John's and this took place on Saturday 20th June. We held our first virtual fair in 2007 but, for those of you who do not know how our virtual fair works, let me explain!

Parishioners were encouraged to consider what they might have spent had we had an actual summer fair, to come along for a strawberry tea on 20th June (between 2.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m.) and donate that amount of money. In addition, at Easter, all the children and young people associated with the church were given a box of little Easter eggs and were encoraged to use the box (after they'd eaten the eggs) to collect 10p coins. They were then asked to bring them along to the church on 20th June. Then, whilst the adults were enjoying delicious strawberries with a cup of tea, the young people laid out their 10p coins in a line. The aim was to create a longer line than we had in 2007!
The line began at the front door of the hall. In less than half an hour it stretched down the the side of the church and was extending across the front. Soon it entered the carpark and was slowly making its way along the other side of the church towards the back door of the hall. As we approached the point that we had reached last time the growth of the line got slower and slower! Just as the by now very excited kids were beginning to despair more people arrived and the line surged forward again .Then about 15 minutes before the end, to mighty cheers the line crept up the steps and in through the back door of the hall. Our new goal was to make a complete ring of 10ps - right around the church. In the end we did not quite make it as, in spite of a few late arrivals, the line eventually halted half way up the hall! Ah well it gives us something to aim for next time!! That evening Joyce, Gordon and Sall spent two hours counting the 4,370 10p coins! A fantastic result - well done to everybody who collected, donated and/or helped lay down coins!
Overall, including all those 10ps, at the time of writing, the Virtual Fair has raised an excellent £1,600 to help maintain and run our church.

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the success of this event!

St. John's Charity Christmas Tree Festival and Market 2008

It has been a very busy weekend at St. John's with hundreds of people visiting the festival and market. The 32 Christmas trees looked fantastic - all reflecting the various charities and organisations that they represented. We hope to get a slide show of the festival onto the website soon so that you can see how wonderful and varied the trees really are and share the experience with friends and relatives that live too far away to visit us.

The church was packed for the opening. Our vicar, Philip, welcomed everybody and explained the symbolism of the Christmas Trees, and the reason for the the season, before offering a few words of prayer. Karen Wright (of Claire House) gave a vote of thanks, on behalf the Charities, to the sponsors. Then David Lonsdale officially opened the Festival with a count down to the switch on before kindly spending a lot of time looking at the trees and chatting with everyone afterwards.

Throughout the weekend excellent entertainment was provided by Farnborough Road Junior School Singers, Southport Youth Band, Greenbank Voices, Farnborough Road Infants, a variety of organists and representatives of church youth organisations. The Cafe and Market were also very busy so, as well as money for all the charities, nearly £3,000 was raised towards the running of the church.

Everyone who came, young and old, seemed to enjoy themselves. There really was something for everyone - from face painting and children's craft activities to a chance to pick up the odd Christmas present or just sit down for a cuppa and a chat.





Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make the week end such a success. We hope you will be able to come back to enjoy the trees again at one of our Christmas services.

Thank you also to Jim Wright for these photos.

Getting Ready for The Charity Christmas Tree Festival!

Are you getting ready for Christmas.?

Well many people at St. John's are working hard - getting ready for the forthcoming Charity Christmas Tree Festival and Christmas Market (see events).

These young people are busy rehearsing for their part of the entertainment that you will be able to see if you are there on the morning of Saturday 6th December, at 10.00 a.m. Do come along and support them and enjoy the rest of the festival before you visit the market. Why not meet your family and friends there for lunch?

We look forward to seeing you sometime over the week-end.

The "Midsummer Fair" 2008

Looking back on the plant sale it is hard to imagine that we ever had such weather. The midsummer fair was held on 21st June - a chilly, very wet Saturday!!! The weather was so bad that everything had to take place in doors.
Nevertheless, those who came had an enjoyable time. We were splendidly entertained by the Southport Youth Band and later by the Churchtown Maypole Dancers. The cafe was popular as always and the games and stalls were well patronised. The Mini-Olympics being run by the children could have been lost but in the end the races were run, in heats of three, up amd down the aisles in the church. The enthusiastic competitors were loudly supported by their fans!

Throughout the day many people enjoyed the fun and games and over £1100 was raised for church funds.

Well done every body!

How the Christmas Fair went!

Running alongside the Christmas Tree Festival was the St. John's Christmas Fair. This also did well with visitors able to enjoy a cup of coffe or a meal whilst chatting with friends. Children (and adults for that matter) were able to meet Father Christmas who not only listened to what they wanted but told them exciting stories too! There really was fun and games for everyone with the added bonus that over £2,000 was raised for the church by the fair!

Rehearsing for The Christmas Tree Festival

The Children of St. Johns Church have been working hard, learning their words and rehearsing for their performances of “Stable Story” at the St. John’s Christmas Tree Festival and Fair. They will be performing immediately after the Mayor opens the festival at 6.00 p.m. on Friday 7th December and again at 2.00 p.m. on Saturday 8th December. They would very much appreciate your encouragement so please do come along, soak up the atmosphere, support the charities and join in the fun.

The Virtual Fair

In the past at St John’s we have always had a Summer Fair but this year we decided to try something different ….

A Virtual Fair

Everybody was encouraged to consider what they might have spent had we had an actual summer fair, to come along for a strawberry tea on 23rd June and donate that amount of money.

In addition, children were encouraged to collect 10p pieces andbring them along on 23rd June to make the longest possible line of coins.

In spite of the misgivings that many people had this turned out to be a fantastic success both socially and financially. The weather had been threatening but in the event was fine.

Some sat inside, others outside, enjoying the strawberries and each others company.

The children had collected an amazing number of 10p coins and enthusiastically stuck them on strips of sticky tape. Gradually, the line of 10ps, which started and the main entrance to the Church hall, grew. It meandered around the front of the church and we hoped that it might reach right around to the back entrance to the hall. As the line grew so did the excitement. Would we reach our target?

In the end we were just a couple of metres short, finishing just past the entrance to the choir vestry!! Nevertheless we raised a staggering £341.50 in 10p coins which brought the grand total of donations (at the moment of writing) to £2,949.89!

Well done everybody!!

I suspect there may yet be a few more donations to come in,

so we might yet break through the £3,000 mark which would be fantastic.