Summer Fete 10th July

Our annual Summer Fete took place on 10th July in the grounds of St Michael’s School.  The weather was lovely throughout the whole afternoon and well over four hundred adults and children came to take part in all the activities available.  There were displays from children from various Colehill schools, a brass band and for the first time we had Ferret Racing (which proved very popular) and “Extreme Tractor Rides” for the children. It looks as though we will have raised over £2500 from this event.  Click here to view Gallery

Art Exhibition 1st to 10th June

Approximately 1,000 people visited the Art Exhibition held at St Michaels Church.  Once again there was a huge variety of work on display, made by the students of Penny Balding, who holds classes at St Michaels Church Centre. This year this was part of the Dorset Art Weeks festival. The commission from the work which was sold was put towards a bursary given to one of the students who gained a place to study full time at Weymouth Art College.  Click here to view Gallery

Plant Sale 8th May

Our annual Plant Sale was held on Saturday 8th May, organised by Margaret Guillingham ably assisted by Paul Groves and others. This year buyers were keen to obtain the many bargains on offer and we rapidly sold out most of the plants available. This is a popular annual event and next year we will try to ensure a greater supply of plants for sale. The sale raised a further £425 for Church funds. Click here to view Gallery

Website Launch 21st April

The evening of Wednesday 21st April saw the official launch of our new website. Members of our congregation together with representatives from many of the organisations which use the Church and the Church Centre gathered for a social evening to mark this occasion. We were delighted to be able to welcome Kirstie Looms from Sarum Web Design who has built the website for us. It had been a great pleasure to work closely over a number of months with Kirstie who brought her significant design and technical skills and

suggestions to the project.

This is an important initiative as far as our outreach is concerned and we hope it will become a useful access point for Colehill and the wider world. Click here to view Gallery

Parish Lunch 18th April

Another parish lunch was held on April 18 in the Church Centre. This was provided by Jill Laybourne, with the help of her friends and consisted of a choice of roast pork or salmon for the main course. Some fifty parishioners fell upon these with an enthusiasm fully matched by the superb quality that is the Laybourne trademark. Jill had let it be known that she would welcome pudding contributions from anyone who wished to help. Typically of this Church, this resulted in an influx of sweets on a massive scale so that even the mightier

gourmands among us had to reluctantly admit defeat before they’d tried them all. Another culinary triumph was generally hailed and, as we waddled off for an afternoon of eyelid contemplation, it was with the reassuring thought that we had raised £394.

Italian Evening- 13th March

Another “Italian Evening" took place in the Church Centre on Saturday, 13th March when the girls of Colehill Guides and Rangers prepared and served a four course meal to over eighty lucky parishioners under the guidance of the ubiquitous Sheila Soper and Jill Beech. With more than twenty girls present, service was not only enthusiastic but even competitive. To leave a plate unattended for more than thirty seconds was to risk losing it to the washing machine!

There was an enormous raffle with only the truly unlucky failing to win something, and a sum of over £100 was raised. This went towards the sponsorship of two of the guides who have been chosen to represent their Group at “Guiding 100”, a Centenary Celebration of the movement to be held in British Columbia later this year. Contributions for the meal at the end of the evening totalled £725, which, the girls have decided, will be divided between the Church Funds, Beaucroft School and Riding for the Disabled.

Sunday Lunch - 28th February

On Sunday 28 February about 50 people sat down to a lunch of roast turkey with all the trimmings and a choice from the sweet trolley, all created by Sheila Soper and Jill Beech with “additional help”. The proceeds amounting to nearly £600 have been given to assist various projects which are currently going on within the Yambio diocese of the Sudan.

Musical Entertainment - 21st February

Sunday afternoon on 21 February, a group of talented young musicians entertained friends and members of the congregation. They were ably supported by Chris Dowie on the piano, who accompanied some of them and performed a few solo items himself. The youngsters are all supported by a local charity run by Richard Ely, who is one of our parishioners. Afterwards we enjoyed a feast of tea and cakes in the Church Centre and £164 was raised for church funds.

Christmas Market - 28th November

On Saturday 28 November, the Church was transformed into a colourful Christmas Market with a whole variety of stalls filling the main body of the Church and in the Church Centre. There was a Gingerbread House and Gingerbread Person Competition, a variety of foods and beverages were also available and the hot soup did particularly well as the weather was horrendous – the rain didn’t stop for a moment. However a really good time was had by those who had ventured out and £1400 was raised for Church and Charitable Funds