ST GILES FARNBOROUGH - EVENTS, NEWS AND NOTICES
Easter FlowersSunday 20th April 2025Throughout the six weeks of Lent, we have no flowers or foliage in church, apart from small arrangements on the Book of Remembrance. We celebrate the great festival of Easter by decorating our church with lilies and spring flowers. This year we will be purchasing a variety of lilies including Longiflorum, Calla and Stargazer, to enhance all our colourful floral arrangements in church. We hope you will enjoy the mixed displays over the Easter weekend and subsequent weeks. If you would like to donate towards a lily or spring flowers for St. Giles, in memory of a loved one or to celebrate Easter, we would be delighted. The cost of a lily is now around £4. Please look out for the special yellow envelopes that will be in church from late February. Alternatively, please place donations (cash or cheques) in an envelope, clearly marked Easter Lilies. All envelopes can be placed on the collection plate at church services, left for Eddie Roberts in the church pigeon-hole, or handed into the Parish Office. If you are a UK tax payer, including tax on pensions, dividends and savings, you qualify to Gift Aid your donation. Gift Aid adds an additional 25 percent to your donation and this extra amount really adds up, so please provide your name and address, where applicable. Each envelope contains a preprinted Gift Aid Slip. Please return the slip blank, if not required, so we can reuse. Please make your donations as soon as possible, as all flowers need to be ordered in advance. Please make cheques payable to ‘St. Giles PCC.’ Thank you for your support. St Giles Flower Arranging Team New Organ ScholarI'm Thomas Blew and I'm delighted to be taking up the organ scholarship at St Giles. For the last two years I've been singing in the choir here as a choral scholar, which has been a very valuable experience for learning new repertoire, learning about choral music and singing regularly. Working in such a positive and fun environment has been a real joy.I'm a student at Saint Olave's Grammar School, where I'm studying music, Latin and religious studies for my A Levels, and where I enjoy taking part in as much music as possible, particularly playing the organ and directing the Chapel Choir.  Outside of organ playing I play the viola, and I've recently joined the Junior Department of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the National Youth Orchestra, where I've been inspired by the drive to make orchestral music as accessible as possible with outreach projects and free-for-teens tickets. Playing at St Giles for the next year will help to push my playing further and to prepare me for future applications and roles, as well as being very fun, so I'm looking forward to it immensely. Charity in FocusSt Giles Centre RefurbishmentAt our PCC meeting held on Monday 13th October 2023 the PCC decided to suspend our charitable giving for the whole of 2024, with the exception of the Parish Fete. The reason for this is that we hope that work on the St. Giles Centre will begin in earnest in the summer of this year.  Latest Update  Bromley Food BankI am writing to express our heartfelt thanks to your congregation for supporting Bromley Borough Foodbank this Harvest season. Your continued support of our charity is invaluable, enabling us to assist those who are most vulnerable in our community. Please find attached your Food Bank Certificate, which you are welcome to print and display. Please accept my apologies for the delay in sending this out to you. Thank you once again for your continued support of Bromley Borough Foodbank. Many thanks and kind regards, Gabrielle Bromley Borough Foodbank |
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V.E. Day CommemorationsFlower Festival - Sponsor a WindowSat 3rd - Mon 5th May 2025We are delighted to share with you plans for a display of wonderful flower arrangements to celebrate the 80th Year Anniversary of VE (Victory Europe) DAY which falls on 8th May 2025. Our aim is to recognise the men, women and children who went through the war and contributed to the war effort and final victory.
St Giles will be open to visitors Saturday 3rd, Sunday 4th and Bank Holiday Monday 5th May, with bunting and an Afternoon Tea in the village hall. Full details to follow. Planning is now underway. If you would like to dedicate one of the 5 large or 2 smaller windows, at St Giles Church, to a member of your family, who was in the war, please consider sponsorship of a flower arrangement, in their memory Larger windows are £50 and smaller ones £25. We would love to include personal photos and memorabilia. Their name(s) will be displayed alongside the arrangement, with a suitable dedication. The flower arrangement in the window can be in colours of your choice, for example a patriotic red, white and blue or something to reflect the persons war occupation / favourite colours or flowers. Where demand is high, we can split the large windows to accommodate two bookings at £25 per half. Additionally, the Font, Porch and pedestals can be booked. For Bookings - Please Contact: If we are not able to accommodate your dedication, due to a high uptake, then we would be happy to offer you a display in memory of a loved one, on any of the following Sundays up to 2nd September which marked the official end of the Second World War. Thank you – Elizabeth Harriss Orr - St Giles Afternoon Tea: Village HallSunday 4th May 2025 2.30pm to 5.00pmCome and join us for a celebration for those who gave so much. Good food and music. Bring your family, friends and neighbours for a pleasant afternoon. Tickets: Adult £10.00 Child £5.00 Contact: Carol on carol@stgileschurch.uk or 07951725069 Or from Liz in the Parish office, Church Road (Tuesday to Friday, 9.00am to 4,00pm. Don’t forget to view the Flower Festival in St Giles along with commemorative items. Farnborough War MemorialThursday 8th May 10:45am A short service followed by two minutes of silence at 11am and
the laying of a poppy wreath will take place to mark the 80th
Anniversary of the end of war in Europe. Remembrance Photography BoardPeople are welcome to place a picture/s of relatives who
served during the course of the war on the large notice
board at the back of the church accompanied by a short
inscription. (Preferably typed). eg.. in loving memory of my
father/mother, grandfather, brother etc who served in the
Royal Artillery 1939 - 1945.
Community Larder
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Tuesdays from 10:30am |
ABOUT ST. GILES CHURCH
St. Giles Coach Trip to Brighton
Saturday 10th May 2025Fancy a day by the sea? Join us for our annual trip to Brighton. Bring your friends and family for a great day out. We will leave Farnborough Village (outside the school) at 9.00 a.m. and leave Brighton at 5.00 p.m.
Tickets always go fast. Tickets: £18.
Contact: Carol on 07951 725069 or email carol@stgileschurch.uk
St. Giles Coach Trip to Broadstairs
Saturday 12th July 2025Fancy a day by the sea? Join us for our annual trip to Broadstairs. Bring your friends and family for a great day out. We will leave Farnborough Village (outside the school) at 9.00 a.m. and leave Broadstairs at 5.30 p.m. Tickets always go fast.
Tickets: £18.
Contact: Carol on 07951 725069 or email carol@stgileschurch.uk
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St Giles Annual Summer Fete
Saturday 14th June 2025Advance Notice - Make a date in your diary for a lovely traditional day out. Enjoy great entertainment, good food and plenty of Pimm’s.
If you would like to be a sponsor for the fete, full details will be available soon. The cost of putting on a fete can be large so we appreciate any help we can get.
We value our volunteers so if you have time to help out, setting up, on the day or clearing away we are more than grateful. This is a team event. In the meantime, if you have any good quality gifts please bring them. A box will be available in the church for your donations. Please leave bottles, books and plants until nearer the day - we will let you know when we can receive them. Home-made cakes on the day are always gratefully received and prove very popular.
Contact: Carol on 07951 725069 or email carol@stgileschurch.uk