This year the 4 churches and 2 primary schools in Sharnford & Sapcote ran an initiative called ‘Hope@Christmas 2021’. 2021 continued to be financially challenging for many and some individuals and families were struggling to afford a Christmas dinner and gifts. ‘Hope @ Christmas’ endeavoured to share and show Christ’s love for all by delivering Christmas parcels to those in need in our communities of Sapcote & Sharnford. The parcel contained food, vouchers, crackers and a gift/gifts for the family members. Nominations for those who live on their own were also encouraged to show that they were being thought of during this time as well.Di Harrold & Rachel Chamberlain reported that: 20 hampers were put together for families & individuals through HOPE@Christmas. There were also 77 cracker, flower and card gifts delivered to individuals, nominated by neighbours and churches, as an expression of their love and thoughtfulness at Christmas. Hope@Christmas was so pleased to support this number of people. All those involved in the process of packing and delivering felt a great sense of togetherness. They felt privileged and humbled to be involved. We hope that these families & individuals in the villages felt the warmth of God’s love, care and provision over Christmas and that their village was supporting them. Grateful comments from recipients seemed to reflect this.Thanks were also expressed to all the local agencies, organisations and individuals who donated the gifts/ vouchers/ cards/ food & crackers.Please continue to uphold all these families & individuals in prayer that they may know God loves them.
Thank you to everyone who came out to Carol sing and collect on Monday evening, Dec 13th. There were 20 of us in all. Despite warnings of rain, it was a still, dry and warmish evening - perfect for voices to be carried along the streets. 20 carollers sang their way along the Crescents and Closes off Grace Road and were very warmly received. Many people stood in doorways to listen and join in. It was a lovely sound with excellent 4 part harmony and brilliant co-ordination between collectors. We raised £281.01 for Cancer Research UK. Merry Christmas!! Thank you again. Dave and Di Harrold.
Even though both churches are now open Sapcote villagers can also deposit donations at 18 Mill Close who are willing to accept them, and from there they will be collected and taken to the Hinckley Area Food Bank warehouse.Also, donations of food can be made at the Hinckley Superstores of ASDA/Morrisons/Sainsburys/Tesco or financially through: www.hinckleyarea.foodbank.org.uk (click on ‘red Donate banner’ which will take you through to the giving page of HCCA, the charity that oversees Hinckley Area Foodbank).For further information/ queries contact Jim Matthews on 079 059 329 88 or email to 1956jmatt@gmail.com
The LE8 FIVE Brass Quintet and FOURPLAY a cappella quartet concert held on Friday 1st October in church was a huge success. The playing and singing was exceptional and the quality of the performance was commented on by many. The quintet played a wide selection of pieces ranging from sleepy pieces such as "Black Sam" written for the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, arrangements of jazz classics, e.g. Satin Doll, and even classical, such as "Trepak" from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite. The quartet sang a range of popular pieces cleverly arranged for close harmony by themselves. The concert finished with, as an encore, a rousing arrangement of "Bring Me Sunshine" for brass and voices, arranged by Garry Sleath. 84 people attended (the audience was limited to 85 to allow some social distancing) and we raised £346.52 for the organ fund. It was great to see many people who wouldn't usually come to our church. I'd like to thank a lot of people who helped: Christine Dixon on ticket sales and collecting at the door; Di, Jill, Jim, Richard and Christine for helping with refreshments and at the door, and Ralph for helping to sort out sound checks and solve problems; plus the performers themselves.
