Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Margaret Harper and Jo Cotton, over 90 parishioners met on Friday 17th February for a shared dinner to mark the reopening of Fendall Hall.

For Yvette and me, it gave us a chance to really serve the parish as well, dishing up some great food! VIPs who worked on the refurbishment were also invited. Among them, previous Vicar Archdeacon Mark Chamberlain gave a blessing, read out a message from the Bishop, and 'cut the ribbon' with some of the youngest of the parish and with one of our elders, Valerie Beckwith, who remembers when the hall was first opened in the 1940s. The dinner was a wonderful occasion to mark the hard work of many. All enjoyed getting to know such a mix of people from across the congregations and while there won't be another hall to re-open, we're already looking forward to the next shared dinner!   

By Andrew Butcher - Senior Associate Lay Minister