Yet again, a deliciously creative and successful event!

Funds raised by the raffle, donations and our Christmas stall totalled a magnificent £762 - that's an aweful lot of coffee mornings!

Huge thanks to everyone who designed, decorated and often built-from-scratch the trees. And we have to thank the organisers, the helpers and, of course the visitors who together made this a heart warming event to kick off Christmas 2024 as only Shefford can. How blessed are we?

Every tree is a winner (trust me, if you get a space in this event you are already very special), but there is a voting system (public and judges), so, the formal results for this year are:

Public Vote

1st Place: Shefford Lower School

2nd Place: T J Plumbing

3rd Place: Shefford Toddler Group

 

Judges Childrens Tree Vote

1st Place: Shefford Lower School

2nd Place: Shefford Toddler Group

3rd Place: Childminder Tree

 

Judges Adult Tree Vote

1st Place: Shefford & Stotfold Childrens Centre

2nd Pace: T J Plumbing

3rd Place: Methodist Sunday  School

 

Shefford Lower School

Sheff Lower

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

T J Plumbing

TJ Plumbing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shefford Toddler Group

Shefford Toddler Group

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shefford Childminder Tree

Shefford Childminder Tree

Shefford & Stotfold Childrens Centre

Shefford and Stotfold Childrens Centre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Methodist Sunday School

Methodist Sunday School

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Tracey & Administrator

Date: 4th December 2024

 

 

SM New Chairs 2024We have recently purchased some chairs to allow us to make better use of the space on offer at St Michael's.

The new chairs have been placed in the north nave (where the font and creche are located) and several old and damaged pews have been removed. The south nave retains it's previous mixture of bench pews and individual chairs.

The new chairs can be arranged to allow different uses of the space including 'soft-floored pods' for our Wednesday Mini M group, the setting up of serving tables for larger parties wanting refreshments after baptisms and funerals, and we've even been able to offer space to the C K Dance Studio recently when their building was recovering from water damage.

We really must say a massive THANK YOU! to the Robert Lucas Trust who stepped in to provide funds for this transformative project after the original provider of chairs went into receivership resulting in us losing the monies already paid to them.

Source: Andrew Searle
Date: 22nd October 2024

2024 Bike and Hike Teddy Push14th September 2024 saw our intrepid fundraisers Frank Bond and Stephen Burt complete another of their famous 'Teddy Pushes' as part of the annual Bike & Hike event arranged by the Beds & Herts Historic Churches Trust.

The event raises funds to enable the Trust to give grants to Churches and Chapels throughout Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire.

Funds raised are split 50/50 with the Church or Chapel that raises the funds, so their support is both immediate and medium/long term.

This year our team managed to visit a total of 8 Churches and Chapels, and we are confident that the funds raised will be well worth their efforts!

A big thank you to Beds & Herts Historic Churches Trust for creating this annual opportunity to raise funds, and of course to Frank and Stephen for all their hard work.

As at 27th September 2024, the total amount raised by Frank and Stephen is confirmed as £332.00. Many thanks to all those who supported this amazing event.

Source: Stephen Lines

Date: 14th September 2024

Link to Hearing Advisory Service websiteOn the first Thursday of every month the Hearing Advisory Service holds a clinic at St Michael's Church (1:30 - 3:30pm) for anyone who wears an NHS hearing aid. They offer basic maintenance and battery dispensing.

If you would like to make use of this service you will need to book an appointment either by phone 01707 324582 (lines are open Tuesday to Thursday, so please leave a message at other times and they will get back to you), or online via their website at https://www.hhas.org.uk/

Link to Eco Church WebsiteAt St Michael’s we are working towards the Eco Church Bronze Award.  (And then, hopefully, silver and gold!). Eco Church is all about the care of the church for God’s Earth, and we can all be involved, both at church and at home.  In all aspects of our lives there are ways to make more caring, ecological choices in what we choose to do, use, buy.  Some things are easy, some more challenging, some you might never have thought of …

Here are some links to get you started, including an environmental lifestyle audit for you to use at home to see what differences you could make. It certainly got me thinking!

Source: Claire Searle

Date: 4th July 2023

We are currently planning for a re-ordering of our Lady Chapel. The plans will include the provision of more accessible seating and additional storage.

View of existing Lady ChapelThis image is of the Lady Chapel as it currently exists, showing the side-facing pews (one of which is not safe to sit on).

Links below are to copies of documents and plans submitted to St Albans Diocese to get a faculty for the re-ordering (similar to planning permission).

Statement of Need

Additional Information

Existing Floor Plan

Proposed Floor Plan

 

Source: Patricia Goulding

Date: 4th April 2023