Bedminster Christmas Cheer
There has been a varied programme of Christmas related fun in Bedminster this month. The annual Tinsel & Mince pie walk took place on Tuesday 8th December with walkers adorning themselves in festive garb for their morning stroll around Victoria Park. The walk ended at St Michael’s & All Angels Church where the local LinkAge team were there to welcome them with a delicious hot buffet and mulled wine to warm the cockles. The walkers were also joined by a group of LinkAge volunteers who were invited as a thank you for their contribution throughout the year. Entertainment was provided by walk Leader Margaret Johnson, who ran a festive quiz and a game of pass the parcel before choosing the winner of the best festive dressed. We would like to say a big thank you to Margaret, for organising the activities and to Claire for helping out on the day.
Running concurrently was the Ashton Silver Social Christmas meal. The group hired a minibus for the day and headed out to a country pub for a celebratory meal. Its was a fun excursion by all accounts and LinkAge would like to send a special thank you to Tina Dowden, not only for organising the outing, but for helping to volunteer to run the group over the last year.
A few days before these festivities, the recently formed Bedminster New Age Kurling group also organised their own Christmas meal. The group headed down to East Street in Bedminster, to a local pub for Turkey and all the trimmings. Considering the group has only been running since September, the meal was attended by all of the regular participants, showing the great spirit that has formed within the group during this short time. They have great fun Kurling in the Elephant House every Friday and the laughs were ever present at the Christmas Lunch. A huge thank you to Doug & Tina for their hard work in organising the celebrations.
Stockwood Christmas Cheer
Stockwood may be nestled on the edge of the big city that is Bristol, but the city lights were shining bright in Stockwood this Christmas. Kicking off the season was the annual LinkAge Christmas Quiz at the Whitchurch & Pensford British Legion on Friday 11th December. Almost 90 people attended this fantastic afternoon of quizzing, eating and raffling and everyone went away with a merry Christmas glow. The winning team achieved an amazing 105/120 to grab the top cash prize, as well as the 2nd and 3rd teams also winning cash prizes. The raffle also saw many other winners walking away with spectacular prizes. All this hungry work was quickly rewarded with a huge catered buffet and some unscheduled magic tricks that saw the trays of cakes disappear in a matter of seconds! We'd like to say a festive LinkAge thank you to quiz master Roy and the LinkAge advisory group who helped organise and set up on the day. Although we only just missed our target of 100, we will be sure to top this attendance next year…
The LinkAge Happy Notes Choir’s Christmas Carol Concert was next, and this fantastic event saw another large gathering at Christ the Servant Church on the 15th December. Around 80 people attended this free event and were treated to a magical repertoire of harmonious Christmas song. It seems that the choir get better and better with each performance, and many in the audience were soon to agree on how much they have improved over the last year. It really was a treat to attend this event and everyone undoubtedly had their souls lifted for the afternoon. As well as being entertained, the audience were encouraged to sing-a-long before being treated to a sumptuous home cooked buffet. There were rumours in the air that the trifle contained over 6 tablespoons of sherry! Merry Christmas to all!
A huge thank you to Rachael who leads the choir and has done a really fantastic job of polishing their performances up this year. Thank you also to those who helped out on the day, whether it was laying out tables, cooking food, serving tea/coffee or tidying up. It was great to see everyone sing-a-long together and working together to make this a fantastic heart-warming afternoon.
If you'd like to find out more about activities and events that are taking place in the Stockwood and Bedminster, Southville & Ashton area of Bristol, then please contact Community Development Worker Dan Lewin on 07970 159 974.