After school on Friday 6^thDecember, St.John’s church was filled with over 40 children and their parents. There was a lot of noise and a lot of fun!

A large craft table was a hive of activity with children making beautiful Christmas tree decorations – sparkly wooden hearts, and memory lanterns, on which the children wrote happy memories.

Party games also ensued, such as fancy dress relay races and the children tying themselves in a human knot. Hannah Barber led an awesome drumming session for many keen young drummers (just in case it wasn’t noisy enough). Meanwhile babies and toddlers tried to enjoy a more peaceful moment, if that was possible, towards the end of the church.

Then the food arrived – and it was spectacular. Nora Haywood, Katherine Impey, Vanessa Rosewell and Lavinia Owen had prepared the most incredible creations – from cucumber and carrot Christmas trees to strawberry and cream Father Christmases. They were easily Michelin star quality. For a short while there was relative peace whilst all the children enjoyed feasting, finished off with mince pies and ice cream.

The evening drew to a close with Julia Wright sharing a short message on “The Greatest Gift of All”, where she drew a parallel between Jesus and an iPhone – a potentially life changing gift, but only if we know how to switch it on, or in Jesus’s case, ask Him into our hearts.

Every family who came to the party brought with them a gift, which have been donated to The Salvation Army. They will distribute these gifts to children who would otherwise be without presents this Christmas.

All in all it was a great success. Noisy and chaotic perhaps, but definitely a lot of fun, with many smiles, great conversations, and much laughter. For some people it was their first time inside St.John’s church, so it was wonderful to give them such a lively and warm welcome.

The party wouldn’t have happened without Tim Clapp masterminding and orchestrating the whole thing. And we would like to say a huge thank you to many others who also made amazing contributions: Katherine Impey, Vanessa Rosewell, Nora Haywood and Lavinia Owen for their Michelin star food; Karen Clapp, Claire Hunt and Sally Parker for their wonderful craft table; Hannah Barber for her genius drumming (and being a human climbing frame to 40 children); Vernon Tottle for being so accommodating and helping with the logistics; Beccy Clark for her legendary admin skills and flyer creations; and lastly to St.John’s DCC for having the vision to create such a fantastic space. And of course thank you to God for His blessing and protection over the evening.

Julia Wright

Thank you to everyone who put this amazing Christmas party together – just incredible and wonderful for the children of the parish.  Thank you in particular to Tim for leading it all with his customary enthusiasm and Julia with her talent for engaging with young people.  Maybe we should be doing something like this in the afternoon more regularly…..

Revd. Alex Pease