St Mary’s annual Christingle Service took place on Sunday 8 January attracting a large congregation of all ages. The early new year Christingle service has become a tradition at St Mary’s raising money for The Children’s Society.
This year we were pleased to welcome Jess Meade, the society’s communications officer for the West of England. In her short address Jess highlighted the plight of families in Britain today in which 4.3 million children live in poverty. That amounts to 3 in every 10 children and there has been a 107% increase in children seeking emergency food since 2020. The Children’s Society campaigns for improvements but also provides many services directly. A recent successful campaign n has led to a capping on the price of school uniforms, a measure that will come into effect shortly and aimed at ensuring that low income families have to struggle less to be able to afford uniform.
Christingle services, which use an orange a candle and sweets as symbols of God’s love, provide an essential annual boost to the societies finances.
Some members of the congregation at St Marty’s also contribute individually through home collection boxes which can be filled with loose change through the year. The total raised from the Children’s Society boxes for 2022 was £453.
If you would like a box, please contact Jenny Harris at djacharris@hotmail.com.