Over the weekend of 13th – 15th September we will be sharing our plans to modernise part of the church building, to be able to host some new community groups for the village, as well as resurrect some that have been lost over the years. Plans include creating a community café for simply catching up with friends or meeting up with bereavement groups, youth groups, and mothers and toddlers, to name just a few. We plan to offer a permanent home for the incredible village Archive, currently being stored in somebody’s loft, to enable this fascinating collection of historical documents to become more accessible to all ages. Other plans include creating a History Society, a Music & Arts Society, Widford Talks (that have already started), and perhaps Widford Walks too. All in all, lots of new possibilities and events for every age group.
This is the biggest project Widford church has undertaken since 1868, and there’s a good reason. If we don’t act now, within the next 10 years the congregation and regular donors simply won’t be able to keep up the church’s annual running costs. Therefore it’s really important that we act now to ensure our beautiful, historical church is still here, in every capacity, for future generations to enjoy too.
We are organising several events at the church over the weekend of Friday 13th – Sunday 15th September, and hope that one or more of them will be appealing, and provide the opportunity to hear more about this next phase in our church’s history and collaboration with the local community.
Friday 13th September – 7 p.m. for 7.30 p.m.
Presentation on ‘Plans to Secure the Future of Widford Church’, with light refreshments provided.
Saturday 14th September – 9.30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
A chance to look at development plans in more details with the architect.
At 10.30 a.m. informal talk on the history of the church.
Refreshments provided.
Sunday 15th September – 3 p.m. onwards.
A bell-ringing spectacle with opportunities to ring the ancient bells.
A cream tea will be served, hopefully in the tranquil grounds of the church.
At 4 p.m. the handbell ringers will perform.
At 4.30 p.m. there will be another information talk on the history of the church.
A family BBQ from 5 p.m. will finish the weekend’s celebrations!
An idea of numbers on each day will be helpful (but not essential). Please register via our Box Office (open until 11th Sept) or contact Kerry Holt, Dinah Findlay or Jill Buck (details in the Village Magazine).
Updated since first publication – updates shown in blue.