Helping Hand for Flower Festival
11/07/2012
The flower festival at St Giles' Church Durham, part of their 900th anniversary celebrations, will be particularly colourful thanks to the determination of a parishioner who lost five stones to help fund it. Trisha Hancock raised almost £300 towards the Flower Festival which starts on Friday July 13.
Trisha, who used to live in Durham and now lives in Coundon, County Durham, continues to worship at St Giles, where she is a flower arranger and has worshipped for a number of years.
She said: “In March last year, I was sixteen stone eight and felt I needed to lose some weight. I joined Weightwatchers and did more exercise, including going to the gym and swimming, and by the end of the year I had lost five stone.
I decided early on that I wanted to be sponsored to lose the weight and for the funds to go to the flower festival. I love St Giles and I wanted to support the event by allowing them to buy more flowers. I feel so much better now that I have lost the weight and the years have fallen away from me.“
Parishioner The Revd. Dorothy Wilson, who has been heavily involved in planning the event, said: "It will be the first flower festival at St Giles’ Church in 900 years, which is why we are celebrating St Giles’ down the ages. The flower arrangements will be wonderful.
St Giles became a place of regular worship more than 10 Years before Durham Cathedral so this is a very special and poignant event in the life of this Church.”
The festival runs from Friday 13th until Sunday 15th July. Called Gilesgate down the Ages, the festival will feature floral arrangements that depict a different part of not just St Giles church history but also that of the local community. The festival will be opened by Mrs Caroline Welby (wife of the Bishop Justin) at 7pm on Friday 13th July. The evening will include a concert by the Cobwebs Baroque Chamber Orchestra.
Entrance price to this special opening night is £5 for adults, £2.50 for children. The flower festival will continue over the weekend.
Opening times:
Saturday 14th July 10am until 4pm
Sunday on 15th July 2pm until 5pm.
Entrance price for the Saturday and Sunday is £2.50.
All tickets can be purchased at the door and include a programme.
Pictures By: Keith Blundy / Aegies Associates
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