Hundreds flocked to The Old Town Autumn Fayre at Christ Church on Saturday 20^th September and discovered the free to enter event was going with a swing.

The Bill Bailey Jazz band lent a jaunty atmosphere to the afternoon and quantities of real ale, copious tea and cakes and a huge variety of stalls and activities kept people coming back for more. Traditional games and vintage rides were a great hit with the children as well as climbing the church tower to do a spot of bell ringing! A big thank you is due to Old Town businesses and other private donors, too many to name individually, who made the day such a success. The quantity and quality of gifts, prizes and services to support the event was fantastic.

Special thanks also to the wonderful volunteers from Waitrose in Swindon who gamely manned the children’s activities and ensured they were a non-stop attraction.

Bill Bailey Jazz Band

Christ Church Swindon is holding a vintage style Old Town Autumn Fayre in the church grounds and new Community Centre on Saturday 20^th September 12noon – 4pm.   With delicious food outlets and live music from the superb Bill Bailey Jazz Band, vintage swing boats and traditional games from Hoopla to Beat the Goalie, there is something to entertain the whole family in this free to enter event.   Enjoy the real ale and cider tent, or indulge in a gorgeous cake in the decorative Tea Garden. If you fancy hot and savoury there will be a barbeque with locally sourced burgers and sausages and African street food dishes.   If a spell in the stocks isn’t your thing, there’ll be craft and heritage stalls, plants to brighten up your garden and local produce to purchase.   You can try your hand at bell ringing a mere 46 steps up into the church tower, win a ride in a fabulous vintage car, enjoy Commonweal School A Cappella Singers and discover more about Swindon and the 1^st World War with a fascinating display of artefacts and costumes.   Event Organiser Daphne Hardwick said: “We are delighted that so many organisations are keen to take part in this local community event. It’s going to be great fun and we look forward to seeing lots of people on the day.  The new Community Centre @Christ Church opened by Nick Hewer earlier this year has already proved a massive hit with local groups and has provided a lovely new venue to support the Old Town Autumn Fayre.”

Commemorative Evensong marking the beginning of World War One: We are delighted to offer a special Evensong this Monday, 4th August 7.30pm led by the Christ Church choir. The Bible readings are Joel 2.1-3 and 12-13 and Mark 13.3- 8 and will be read by our South Swindon MP the Right Honourable Robert Buckland, now Solicitor General for the Government; and our Deputy Mayor, Councillor Andrew Bennett. The choir will be singing “For the fallen” – words by Laurence Binyon, music by Douglas Guest as the introit. Sumsion responses, Philip Moore Third Service and “Holy is the true light” (Harris) as the anthem. Please support this very important occasion if possible and pass the word around.

You can read about Bishop Lee’s progress on his blog page on the Diocesan website here.

If you haven’t already done so and would like to sponsor Bishop Lee to reach his target you can do it on the Virgin Giving page