Carole and Douglas Aspinall visit Cape Town and Breadline Africa - And visit the Library Container that St Michael's has helped to fund.

Carole and Douglas Aspinal were kind enough to take a number of bags of knitted items from the St Michael's nimble knitters to Breadline Africa in Cape Town. The container that St Michael's has helped fund is now in place and has been designated as a library. Unfortunately, whilst the library is in place, there is now a shortage of books to fill the shelves. If you have any books suitable for children up to age 12 and would like to donate them, please speak to Doug or Carole.

  
 

Above are photographs of some of the children who have received the knitted items we have sent to Breadline Africa,

St Michael's Bell Ringers At the end of a full peal (5040 changes) in 3 hours 9 minutes in joyful celebration of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth IIs diamond jubilee.

From left to right: David Bardwell, Jo Druce, Jo Shepherd, Colin Cairns, Giles Winter, Rosa Bardwell, Chris Johnson, Eunice Wark.

This was the first full peal by a local Tilehurst band since 1994 and the very first Peal for Chris Johnson.

St Michael's Royal Tea Party held in the Church Hall was an enjoyable event.

Preparing the Church for the Christmas season A picture display of the flower arrangers and the specially made Christmas banners.

   

     

Harvest Celebration - 25th September 2011: St Michael's welcomed the Right Reverend Andrew Proud, Bishop of Reading who led our service of celebration.

  
The Right Reverend Andrew Proud, Bishop of Reading

   
The procession led by the Church choir, the Rector and the Churchwardens.

After the service there was a Parish Lunch in the Morlais room where 50 lucky parishioners and the Bishop tucked in to a hearty traditional sunday lunch of roast pork and all the trimmings followed by a fresh fruit salad. Once again the culinary expertise of Jackie Chappell and her team were excellent as usual.

The Church was once again adorned with the Harvest banners inspired by Marie-Teresa Harvey and they gave the whole church a vivid display of colour. In every corner and crevice of the Church were the many tins of meat, stews, coffee etc that had been donated by parishioners for the Churches in Reading Drop In Centre (CiRDC)

   

   

Mothers' Union Evening Walk -18th July: The Mothers'Union evening walk took place around the lake near the Fox and Hounds pub in Theale. Although the weather was not too kind to those that took part a good time was had by all in the Pub later on!

  

Mothers' Union Coffee Morning - 19th July: The Rectory garden was the location for the 2011 Mothers' Union Coffee Morning. Sunny weather and fine company and all the MU knitters were available for some of these photos.

  

Parish BBQ - 30th July: The Rector hosted this event in the Rectory Garden. Three sets of cooks made sure that everyone got something from the menu - even Digby, the Rectors dog could be heard barking for more!!!!.

Everyone enjoyed the event - some of the bellringers having just returned from a trip to the Channel Islands came along to show off their suntans!!.

        

Confirmation at St Catherines -12th June: A number of young people were confirmed by the Bishop Of Reading at St Catherine's, Tilehurst.

The Big Lunch - 5th June:The Big Lunch took place in the Morlais room and was part of a nationwide event aimed at getting the community together. This was a forerunner to next years event when it will be held to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.Over 40 people joined in the fun and enjoyed an excellent meal. Many thanks to Jackie and Dianne (and anyone else who helped in any way) for their hard work in preparing the food and setting a fine table.

  

Quiz Night - 14th May All agreed this was a rip roaring success. The Questions were set by "The Rolleys" (Claire and Tony that is) and was on a Royal theme in keeping with the times. The Morlais room was packed and were duly fed with a fish and chip supper. The teams were evenly matched throughout but some were undone by the round on "The King" of pop questions and lost points for incorrect answers. The evening finished with "The Wisest Fools", led by Sally Cairns, narrowly beating "Cambridge Royal", led by Jo Druce, to become the winners.

  

Royal Wedding Tea Party Celebrating the Royal Wedding at the Tea Party in St Michael's Church Hall on the 29th April 2011. Everyone enjoyed the atmosphere and tea.

  

Lent Lunches: This years Lent Lunches were a resounding success. Several times more table places had to be laid as parishioners turned up in good numbers. This year we were supporting Breadline Africa and some £900 was raised for this charity. Many thanks to all who came and supported these lunches.

  

Church Cleaning: Over 30 people turned up this year to help clean the Church from top to bottom. A great effort all round. Many cobwebs were removed and rather a lot of chewing gum stuck to the floor between the pews and underneath the pews themselves. The pictures below show everyone hard at work and all gathered together for a refreshing cup of tea and a hot cross bun.

  

Bell repairs: During April 2011 the bearing on the second had to be replaced due to wear on one side. St Michael's Ringers provided some of the labour to reduce the overall costs whilst the Whitechapel Bell Foundry provided the skilled engineer to supervise the lifting of the bell from the frame and replacement of the actual bearing