Over sixty beautifully decorated Christmas trees will be filling Beverley Minster on the 6th, 7th and 8th December.
This year will see the third Christmas Tree Festival, which sees the eight foot high trees sponsored and decorated by local community groups, charities and businesses.
One of the groups decorating a tree for the Festival is Hull and East Riding Breast Friends. Eileen O’Grady, a member and trustee of Hull and East Riding Breast Friends said;
“I find Christmas a very spiritual time of the year, and a six year mile stone in my recovery from breast cancer.”
“I was pleased to volunteer to help plan and make decorations for the Christmas tree.”
“Making Christmas tree decorations is a time when volunteers can come together, not only to make the decorations, but for us to have fun and use our creative abilities to inform other people in a positive way about HER Breast Friends.”
Children from Garton on the Wolds Junior School will be helping decorating a tree on behalf of the Scope Charity Shop in Beverley. Louise Smallwood of Scope said;
“Our theme this year is ‘Reach for the Stars’ because it symbolises Scope’s vision that there should be no limit on anyone’s potential.”
“Each child from class five in Garton on the Wolds School will decorate a star with their photo and a message about how they see disability, and the students from our open evening workshops will decorate it with a photo and explain how disability affects their life.”
“So we can see through the eyes of both children and disabled people.”
The Revd Jeremy Fletcher, vicar of Beverley Minster said;
“The Christmas Tree Festival is a great opportunity for everyone in Beverley to come together as we prepare to celebrate Christmas.”
“We love hosting the Festival, and allowing people from Beverley and visitors to get in the Christmas sprit, and help local groups and charities spread the message of the work they do.”
“The Festival will end with a closing service at 5.30pm, which is a celebration of the spirit of the festival, and includes carols, readings and prayers to prepare us for Christmas, thanksgiving for all the gifts and talents people have offered to make the festival such an amazing event, and, of course, the award of the prize for the most popular tree.”
Helen Watson, Town Clerk of Beverley Council, added;
“Beverley Town Council and the ‘From Field to Table’, local food project are delighted to sponsor Christmas Trees at the Beverley Minster Christmas Tree Festival.”
“This is a fantastic opportunity to see the Minster beautifully decorated with 60 trees from local organisations. It shows a real community spirit of Christmas within the town for residents and visitors to enjoy.”
“The Christmas Tree Festival launches our Christmas festivities in our beautiful medieval market town.”
This year, there will be a puppet making workshop for 7 to 11 year olds on Saturday 7 December from 3pm to 5pm. The puppets created will be used in the Family Carol Concert on Saturday evening at 7pm, which will also feature performances by the Minster Choir and the Barton Town Band.
The Beverley Minster Christmas Tree Festival will be open from 10am to 5pm on Friday 6th and Saturday 7th December, and from 12pm to 5.30pm on Sunday 8th December.
Entry to the festival is £2 for adults, under 16s free of charge. The Beverley Minster Catering Team will also be providing a running menu of hot meals throughout the three days of the festival.
