An Autumn Coffee Morning organised by the Friends of St Gabriel’s took place on Saturday 14th September and extended to Parish Breakfast the following morning. We were very pleased to see lots of Friends, church people and visitors from the wider community, perhaps thanks in part to the 500 invitations posted through letterboxes in all the streets near to us. A happy atmosphere prevailed. Lots of refreshments were consumed, raffle tickets bought and prizes won, tasty treats purchased from the cake stall and gifts bought from the gift stall. The generosity of our guests enabled us to raise £528; this will enable the Friends of St Gabriel’s to contribute to future Church maintenance and development. Sincere thanks to all those who helped, baked, donated or supported this event. 

We have now received 10 copies of the words only edition of the Revised English Hymnal for use at Evensong and 10 copies of the large print edition of Anglican Hymns Old and New to use at the Parish Eucharist. These all bear book plates celebrating their donation to St Gabriel’s from the Friends, in gratitude to God for 125 years of St Gabriel’s Church, 1899 – 2024.

This year introduces a first – a St Gabriel’s Christmas Card! With the support of the PCC, Friends invited everyone at church in October and November to write a Christmas greeting. These greetings were compiled into an extended Christmas card / pamphlet which was to everyone in Church in December. The aims of this initiative include reducing the vast number of cards exchanging hands at Church, and reducing the amounts of resources, time and energy needed to produce, write and deliver these. Contributors were invited to make a donation to cover costs; the surplus will go to Friends of St Gabriel’s to further support Church development.

The first St Gabriel’s Christmas card was a great success with 58 people / groups submitting a greeting to be included and many expressing thanks that they were saved the expense, energy and time needed to send individual cards to their many friends at St Gabriel’s. Donations received covered all costs, with a surplus of about £200 being left in the Friends’ account. 

Friends of St Gabriel’s were pleased to donate £25 to St Mary Magdalene Church for kindly loaning us the display boards for the ‘125 Acts of Kindness’, part of our 125th anniversary celebrations.

I wrote to all Friends recently, to update them on our news. I invited suggestions of Acts of Kindness that we could do. It was a wonderful surprise that two of our Friends offered to pay £2,500, the full cost for the redecoration of the Vestry, and the work has now been completed. This was a very kind and most generous ‘Act of Kindness’. We are all benefitting from the finished redecoration, and very grateful to have our Vestry, which is so well used, looking much more attractive.

The 300 miniature daffodils, planted to mark the inauguration of Friends of St Gabriel’s, are growing well and we look forward to them coming into flower, an annual reminder of our existence and a welcomed sign of spring. The flowering cherry tree, planted in the Parish Centre garden as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy to commemorate Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee in the summer of 2022, is also growing well and we look forward to seeing its pink blossom in a few weeks’ time.