St Nicholas & St Barnabas Churches Kenilworth

"Reaching out for God with love and encouragement"

This page is updated with news of past fund raising events and general progress being made with the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.  If you have any news to share, please contact us for it to be published here, photos are also welcome.  In the meantime, read below to see what great things have been done so far.

'The Earth Laughs in Flowers' is the title of a specially produced calendar for 2009. Each month is illustrated with two photographs showing seasonal flowers or plants in beautiful Warwickshire locations along with interesting information of a historical, literary and botanical nature. The calendar has been created and printed in Kenilworth and all proceeds will go towards the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. You can order yours now by clicking on the link below!

Site Link: Warwickshire Calendar 2009

A concert on Sunday evening, 27th July, was given by The Columbia Choral Ensemble, a choir from America who get together about every 3 years and tour Europe. Before coming to St Nicholas on Sunday evening they had been in London in the morning and Oxford in the afternoon. They were staying in Honily before travelling to York on Monday. Later they were going to Edinburgh to sing in St Giles Cathedral. We were delighted they asked to come to Kenilworth as part of their busy itinerary. They sang a variety of short pieces of sacred music, including some very well known hymns such as "Yes, Jesus loves me" and Psalm 121 but using a modern setting. They also sang a group of "spirituals" and a newer work by Page "Creation will be at Peace". The beautiful singing and pure harmony was greatly appreciated by the audience. A retiring collection in aid of the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal amounted to £328.10.

During and after Kenilworth Carnival on Saturday 5th July, members of the Flower Guild served refreshments in church. These were particularly enjoyed by many people grateful to find shelter during the heavy showers. As usual the cup of tea was welcomed but it was the delicious cakes that drew the customers in. Members of the Flower Guild had decorated the church beautifully and there were lovely arrangements on all the tables.

Thank you to all who supported the Priory Theatre visit on Monday 30th June. The cast and production crew did a great job on the well known farce "See How They Run". Ridiculous situations getting crazier by the minute as you would expect. The evening raised £585 towards the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. Heather Alford

We had a successful event on Saturday 21st June playing sponsored table tennis for 12 hours from 9.00am to 9.00pm. The event raised over £1,700 for Guide Dogs for the Blind and the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. A very big thank you to everyone who supported the event. In particular Heather Alford and Sue Draper and the members of the Warwick Avon Rotary Club. The only downside was being beaten at table tennis by both the vicar and the Bishop. Francis Arnold

Fathers Day was celebrated by a good number of people by enjoying a cream tea at St Nicholas Church. Tea tables were laden with home made scones, jam and cream and the members of the Foyer Groups served the guests. Over £120 was raised during the afternoon from the teas. At the same time the St Nicholas "100 Club" was launched, giving you the chance of winning a prize every month and raise funds for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal at the same time! Find out more by following the link below.

Site Link:  100 Club

St Michael's Singers concert on Saturday 17th May was wonderful! The programme was a varied selection of music which was enjoyed by all who came to listen. The first half featured sacred music mainly from English composers, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Henry Purcell and Edward Elgar. The second half contained lighter works and finished with the rousing "Swingin' with the Saints". Sarah Falkland introduced the pieces and the composers. She was also entertaining with her reminiscences of her early days in Kenilworth from childhood to her work on the Kenilworth Weekly News. Over £1,500 has been added to the appeal fund from the evening.

Well done to the Brownies who held a very successful Beetle Drive on Saturday 26th April. The beetles were enthusiastically played for and the refreshments were enjoyed with equal relish. They supported the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal with another £140.55 which is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Over two years ago the church council agreed in principle to sell Stanley House. At its last meeting the council decided to proceed with the sale on the basis that the church received £75,000 and that the remainder of the sale is used for the restoration of the Parochial Hall. If you would like further information about this, do speak to the churchwardens, or the vicar or to Graham Wright the chairman of the Buildings and Finance Committee. Richard Awre

Thank you to all the brave souls who took part in the sponsored walk to raise funds for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal on Saturday 5th April. There were 3 routes, a 2 mile walk within the Abbey Fields, a 3 mile stroll around the Castle and a 5 mile Millennium Trail walk. The total raised so far is about £1,000. Thank you also to Jennifer Higgins and her "refreshment makers" who were a welcome sight after such a wet and cold walk.

The Warwickshire Singers provided a delightful evening of music on 8th March which was enjoyed by the whole audience. The first half was devoted to sacred music to reflect the season of Lent which included Aaron Copeland's "In the Beginning" with the solo mezzo-soprano Barbara Rodway. The second half was traditional English folk songs in settings by John Rutter and Shakespearian sonnets in modern settings by George Shearing. The concert raised £200 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.

Thank you to Volker Betz and James Bichard for the beautiful recital they gave on 1st March of "Songs from the Romantic Period". The concert was greatly appreciated by those present and raised £360 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.

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We presented our third Parish Cabaret on Saturday 2nd February. The event was a sell out with the Parochial Hall filled with a one hundred and thirty strong audience. The show comprised sixteen acts and forty people of all ages from our congregations. The evening was a great success and raised £600 in aid of the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.

Click here for a full report and pictures...

In December we heard from National Lottery Funding that they would not be awarding any money to help with the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. Whilst disappointing, we can still make many changes and improvements. Obviously, there will need to be some revision of the original plans which will take place over the next few weeks and agreed by the Parochial Church Council before they can be announced. You can read more here.

The total raised locally is now £66,500 which is an amazing amount to have been realised within a year. Most recently, the Kenilworth Runners donated £2,000 being the proceeds from the half marathon organised in October, and the evening entitled 'Kenilworth of Long Ago' held on Saturday 19th January raised a grand total of £791.65. Thank you to everyone for their support.

Sponsored Bell Ringing in 2007 raised just over £700 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.  At the Bell Ringers' AGM on Tuesday 8th January, Tower Captain Peter Spencer presented Curate, Craig Groocock with a cheque for monies raised from sponsored ringing. You can sponsor the Sunday ringing to celebrate a birth, special birthday, an anniversary or as a memorial to someone special. Monies raised in 2008 will be donated to CORD (Christian Outreach, Relief and Development).

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The Scout Group recently raised money for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal mostly by bag packing at Sainsbury's on a Saturday in November when we raised £884 in a single day. The photo shows Beaver John, Cub Eddie and Scout Robert presenting the cheque to Richard at church on Sunday 9th December. Apart from this huge amount the Scout Group have also raised £260 for the charity Dogs for the Disabled which was presented to Lexus a black puppy in training and his trainer in October. We hope to present more money towards the end of 2008. Kaye S. Prentice, Group Scout Leader

A commemorative mug has been produced in aid of the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. This fine bone china mug features artwork by local artist Jeff Platten, showing the changing scenes of the Parochial Hall over the past 100 years. Each mug costs £7.50, or £8.00 gift boxed. You can also buy in packs of four at a discounted price of £28.00.  The mug is available now, but stocks are limited so make sure you don't miss out by ordering yours today!  Follow the link for more details.

Site Link:  Parochial Hall Commemorative Mugs

The Dinner Dance held at The De Montfort Hotel on Saturday 24th November, has boosted the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal funds by £3,150. This was enjoyed by 70 guests and included a few fun, fund raising 'games' such as "Heads and Tails" and "Knights, Horses & Cavaliers" as well as a raffle. The 3-course meal with wine, was followed by dancing to music from a live dance band. It was great to see lots of new faces as well as some familiar ones, supporting this event. Thanks to all who came along. Sue & Mark Draper

Click here for more pictures...

An evening in the company of screenwriter Andrew Davies, organised by the St Nicholas Wives' Group, was a "sell out". Andrew Davies gave a lively and informative talk about his work in developing classic novels for the screen. His speech was peppered with amusing anecdotes about his work. The evening raised £1,531 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.

Harvest Festival at St Nicholas Church was also a special Gift Day for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.  Over 3,500 letters had been distributed by volunteers asking local residents to help parishioners in their efforts to raise a substantial sum and by the end of the day just under £30,000 had been raised before Gift Aid. Since January over £16,000 had already been raised so the Gift Day was a vital ingredient in the fund raising effort. Thank you to all those who have given so generously.

On Friday 21st September, 70 people gathered at Henley Golf and Country Club to enjoy a very good meal and wine. The dinner was followed by an excellent and entertaining talk given by Mrs Marion Canning who is one of the few lady toastmasters attending corporate events, dinners and weddings. Her tales were many and varied of the things that can, and do, go wrong "behind the scenes" of which the host and hostess must be kept blissfully unaware. Her briefcase carried all manner of items that might be needed in an "emergency" from safety pins, nail files and sticky tape to a tiny screwdriver to tighten the screw on a pair of spectacles (and, of course, a magnet to find the screw!). Altogether a fun evening which raised over £680 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. Thanks to the Social Committee who organised the event so well. Heather Alford

After a slow start in the morning the Flower Guild's effort at serving teas in the church on Carnival Day was a great success. It was lovely having the church buzzing and we raised £271.40 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal, that is a lot of teas! A big thank you to Jean Bunce and to all the members of The Guild for their help and support for baking cakes and for serving the teas, it was a very enjoyable day well worth repeating in the future. Many thanks to all those members of the congregation for their support. Barbara Sheppard

The Thursday Evening Home Group "guess the weight of the cake" at Rudfyn Manor Open Gardens raised £100.57 whilst John and Lesley Bausor's supper evening raised £420.  Thanks to the organisers and to everyone who gave their support.

Thank you to Andrew and Carol Overton for opening their garden for us on June 16th.  Thank you also to all those who came to support the event and to all who worked so hard to make it a success.  Over £1,500 was raised for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.  Congratulations to Christine Frost who was the winner of the Treasure Hunt. Her efforts in rather inclement weather were rewarded with a bottle of champagne.

Thank you to everyone who supported our Bring and Buy Plant Sale Coffee Morning on 6th June.  We raised £150 for The Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.
Rosemary Wiggins

Thank you to everyone who supported the Fashion Show on Thursday 24th May which raised £861.  We were overwhelmed with how the tickets went and do apologise to all those of you who were disappointed. (We shall have to have another one!) A big thank you to all our fantastic models you did a great job. 
Barbara Sheppard

Click here for a page full of photos...

Imagination, ingenuity and skill have been displayed by all those who took up the challenge to use their Talents during Lent. We have seen so many ideas from dog sitting to maths tuition, from cake making to cake eating. There were beautiful Easter cards, notelets, prayer cards, postcards and souvenirs of St Nicholas Church to buy.  The fund has been swelled by the buying and selling of shares and the profits from a car boot and e-bay sales. Bread making and all kinds of home produce in the form of jams, marmalades and chutneys have all been popular. Guess the weight of the simnel cake was particularly apt for the Easter season.  The total collected to date is more than £2,500. Thank you to all who took part in the challenge and to all who have supported them. Our special thanks go to Rosemary Grice who coordinated the event and encouraged so many people to take part.
Heather Alford

The second cooking show was another success!  28 people attended and enjoyed a glass of wine, while watching a Creamy Crab Tart and Curried Chicken Stir Fry Salad being created!  The commission from sale of goods and ticket money amounts to £230, this makes a grand total from both events of £407.  I would like to thank all those who came to both events and help make them such a success.  Sue Draper

Sue Draper presented the first of two Pampered Chef Cooking Shows today in aid of the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal. The demonstration was a fun gathering with 19 people attending. A Pear and Marzipan Jalousie was cooked and homemade cookies were served with coffee. As a result of the commission from sales and ticket price, today's donation is £177. The second show takes place on 27th March at 7.30pm, please contact us or speak to Sue if you would like tickets.

Members of the St Nicks Over Twenties raised just over £30 from donations at their Pancake Party on Shrove Tuesday.  Not quite as impressive as the Bridge Lunch, but every little helps!!

A magnificent bridge drive was held at the Bridge Club in Kenilworth on Friday 9th February which raised £765.09 for the Parochial Hall Restoration Appeal.  Lunch was served in the middle of the day and play took place both in the morning and the afternoon.  Many thanks to everyone who came along to support this event which has helped get fund raising off to an excellent start.

The winners are pictured here, they were Molly Barber and Barbara Wigmore and Jim Seddon and John Shaw.