Paul Linford

Sing and Shine on Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve many people in Belper like to gather in the Market Place to sing carols , a tradition that has been established over many years. This year it won’t be possible to do this and we know that many people will be missing this start to their Christmas festivities. Hope for Belper volunteers will certainly be missing the handing out of hot chocolate on the evening.

This year, to honour the tradition of carol singing in Belper and to brighten up what might be a dark and lonely Christmas Eve we invite you to Sing and Shine. So at 7pm on 24 December, let’s all gather on our doorsteps or driveways and sing Silent Night to each other. Then put a light in your window . It’s a way of showing that in the words of John’s gospel: “A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” – an appropriate verse for Christmas 2020 if ever there was one!

We can still celebrate the arrival of Jesus, the Light of the World. We can still sing into the darkness to cheer our neighbours and join together in celebration.

So Christmas Eve, 7pm. Sing Silent Night and Shine a Light.

Note: This is an edited version of an earlier post which had the time of the singing at 8pm. We have now decided to move the time so as to avoid a clash with the St Peter’s/Belper Town Council online carol concert going live at 8pm.

Could you be a Belper chaplain?

All are welcome at the next Belper Chaplaincy meeting on Tuesday October 20th at New Life Christian Centre, High Street.

Workplace Chaplaincy in Derbyshire is growing… and of course, this includes Belper!

There are already chaplains visiting the Police, Fire and Rescue, East Midlands Airport, Westfield (Intu), Vaillant, Rolls Royce, Derby County Football Club, East Midlands Trains and many more…

Churches in the town are looking at providing chaplains from across the churches in Belper for:

Retail staff in King Street
Valley CIDS Lighthouse shop
Schools
Local care homes

At least 65 people from churches all over Derbyshire attended recent Workplace Chaplaincy training at Willersley Castle. It was introduced by the Revd Paul Morris, Principal Chaplain at Derby City Centre Chaplaincy, based at St Peter’s Church in Derby.

What is a Chaplain?

A person who interacts with people for their emotional and spiritual well-being

A person who offers non-judgmental support about all aspects of life and work

Chaplains are motivated by the Christian faith from which they come to care for people and communities

They are not there to preach but to offer care and comfort and a listening ear

Could you be a Belper Chaplain?

See http://www.derbyccc.org.uk for latest information about free chaplaincy training – the next date is Monday 12th October 2015. If you’d like to attend, please ring St Peter’s Derby on 01332 360790

Hope Hampers

Once again this Christmas, Hope for Belper gathered people from across the town to provide Christmas hampers.

The Sure Start Children’s Centre and the Multi Agency Team were pleased to be able to support families in this way again this year. Once again there was overwhelming support from the local churches and individuals that raised close to £2000. This meant we could pack the twenty eight hampers that were required with a little extra in each one thanks to the amount of money donated.

This year Hope for Belper also teamed up with Christians Against Poverty (CAP) who raised £480 for the eleven hampers going to families that they support and work alongside.

A huge thank you to all those who supported this project by donating time, money and various others gifts and to ‘Inspirepac’ who donated the boxes and enabled Hope for Belper and Christians Against Poverty to deliver thirty nine hampers this Christmas.

Jo Lambourne

Free Festive Fun!

The winter beer and food festival was a fantastic success again this year, riding high no-doubt on the news that Belper had become the overall winner of the Great British High Street 2014.

One of the things that marks out these type of events is the great sense of the community enjoying rubbing shoulders with itself and others visiting from further afield.

The churches provide a small but significant facility on this particular occasion each year. The Town Council provides a couple of gazebos for us to shelter from the cold breeze, enabling tired children to enjoy free Christmas based crafts. Everything from shepherd masks to 3D Christmas trees are made and brightly decorated, whilst parents get to stand and chat or have a go themselves!

It is always very enjoyable to take part on the Hope for Belper team for this event, so as we approach next year’s festival do think about a stint on the H4B stand yourself – no special skills required just a friendly and encouraging face.

Gareth Greenwood

Hope for Belper Goes Green

The second Belper Goes Green Eco Festival hit town at the end of May just as the weather turned from very wet to beautifully sunny!

The greener fingered among the church congregations had spent the previous few weeks nurturing tomato seedlings among other things ready for the festival weekend.

The Hope marquee housed a temporary nursery, encouraging youngsters to get enthusiastic about growing things. Over the Saturday of the festival weekend around 150 children dragged willing (to varying degrees) parents in to our tent and got their hands in to some lovely compost, repotting the seedlings in to larger plant pots and taking them away in the hope of juicy tomatoes to come.

We also had an excellent array of fair trade products for sale and a display about what goes in to one of ‘The Basic Idea’ food parcels.

Particular mention should go to Gareth Stoddart for rescuing us with the erection and dismantling of the Hope marquee – one of these days we’ll actually make sense of the labelling. Thank you also to all those who helped out on the day (in particular our very own Percy Thrower in Kate Greenwood), but also to all who had a go at the growing.