Spring 2022Easter greetings and small chocolate treats were given to the Friends as a personal thank you from me in recognition of their interest and support. On Saturday 30th April, Friends within and beyond our church congregation were invited to a Parish Ceilidh, a social event held in church and a chance to have some fun together. Dorothy, one of our Friends, most kindly offered to host a coffee morning with cake stall and raffle in May. We all enjoyed this social event which raised over £400, which was shared equally between the Flush Fund for the improvement and development of the toilets, and the relighting /rewiring project. While we must have the church rewired for safety, we are taking the opportunity to move to more practical and environmentally friendly lighting. When the new lighting is in place, it will be more versatile and enable us to use a wide variety of lighting effects for different occasions and to enhance our beautiful, historic church building.Following the success last November of the Come and Sing Faure Requiem directed by Tim Burke, Director of Music, another Come and Sing took place in St Gabriel’s on Saturday 28th May, when Tim rehearsed then led a performance with an even larger choir and also an orchestra.Friends of St Gabriel’s were delighted to support this event by providing refreshments for the performers during the morning and the afternoon rehearsal breaks as well as at lunchtime. These were greatly appreciated by the participants. We also offered general help and ensured everyone coming to sing and/or to enjoy the performance felt welcomed. The day was a wonderful musical and financial success, profits going towards Newcastle Youth Choir.Friends of St Gabriel’s donated a flowering cherry tree to be planted in the Parish Centre garden as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy. With an accompanying plaque, this tree which was planted by Junior Church commemorates the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, a unique national event celebrated over a four-day bank holiday weekend in June.
To celebrate the inauguration of our new group, Friends of St Gabriel’s, Heaton, those involved with its planning have planted 300 tete-a-tete miniature daffodil bulbs in the church garden. When coming down the main path to the front door of church, they are in the border to the left. We are most grateful to Ian Legge and John Pickering who came to help us dig holes in very dry, stony soil full of tree roots and brambles. We hope to see a mass of yellow blooms next and every spring, as well as looking forward to enjoying lots of tete-a-tete conversations with new and established Friends at events and activities.
January 2022Thanks to the generous support of our congregation and Friends, and as all production costs were met by donation, sales of Christmas cards and pens raised £600 for church funds.January began with us circulating everyone living in the Parish with a postcard inviting them to St Gabriel’s services and activities, with times and contact details. With this, we distributed a mini invitation leaflet with information about Friends. Enthusiasm to help with deliveries from the congregation and Friends was immediately forthcoming and greatly appreciated, so within a month, we had visited the letterboxes of all 6,755 homes on 138 streets, except for those declining to receive unaddressed mail. We are pleased to have reached out to so many living in our parish as one of our priorities is to ensure everyone feels included and welcomed.
