There is a loyal band of flower arrangers in each of our churches and if you’ve ever fancied giving it a go, we’d love to welcome you along, even if you’ve never tried it before.

We always try to use fresh flowers and greenery, avoiding dyed and artificial whenever possible and one pair of us will arrange the flowers one week, which should last for a fortnight, with topping up and dead heading in the second week.  However, for Christmas, Harvest and Easter, it’s all hands on deck with various areas being allocated to all available arrangers.  Certain times of year have allocated colours, such as red and white for Christmas, yellow and white for Easter, white for Ascension, red and white for Pentecost, and autumn colours for Harvest with produce sometimes included.

There are two periods when churches traditionally do not have flowers – during Advent and Lent.  This is to enhance the penitential feeling, as do the purple cloths covering pictures and people observing periods of fasting or abstinence.  These periods then seem to emphasise the contrast with the times of celebration that follow!

We would always welcome new members to our team:  church goers or not, any gender, age or ability, and we offer support to get people started if needed.  If you’d be interested in helping, contact us, and ask to be put in touch with Noreen (St Nicholas’) or Jane (St Barnabas’).