St Catherine's Wickford: 150th Anniversary

St Catherine's Church in Wickford was 150 years old this year. We have enjoyed a month of celebrations during which we have also begun raised funds for Phase 3 of the restoration project for St Catherine's. This project is needed because subsidence has caused cracks in the walls requiring underpinning.

The Ladybirds Song Group kicked off the 150th anniversary celebrations with a fundraising concert. It was a lovely, well supported evening, full of uplifting songs, special ballads and sing-a-long numbers. The Ladybirds Song Group are a voluntary community group spreading joy through music, performing in care homes, community centres, and other venues. Our thanks to them for getting our Anniversary celebrations off to such a wonderful start. It was such an enjoyable evening with a great selection of songs performed with all their usual skill and enthusiasm.

We continued our celebrations with a joint service at St Catherine's which brought all our three congregations together. The preacher was former Team Rector, The Ven. David Lowman. The joint Anniversary Service can be viewed by clicking here.

We continued celebrating with a wonderful Anniversary Flower Festival featuring displays from local clubs, schools and the community. This was very well well attended as were the Coffee morning and Cream Tea afternoon which ran alongside in St Catherine's Hall. The Festival included wonderful displays and the refreshments were greatly appreciated. A wonderful time was had by all who came. Our Anniversary Eucharist on Sunday was led by the Archdeacon of Southend, The Ven. Dr, Sue Lucas, and included the Choir from Wickford Church of England School. 

Next, we enjoyed a lovely and relaxed Parish Garden Party in the Rectory Garden with food, games, stalls and conversation. Much thanks to all those who made it such an enjoyable time.

Our 150th Anniversary events came to a conclusion with a second fundraising concert. Rumatica are a Ukulele Band with a difference playing a wide range of Rock, Pop, Country, Swing, Indie, Blues and Folk Music. They provided a wonderful end to our events celebrating the 150th Annivetsary of St Catherine's Wickford while raising funds for our restoration project. We enjoyed a tremendous selection of familiar songs from the 50's, 60's and 70's played with style and panache. 

Our thanks to all who came to support St Catherine's over this period.

Fundraising Campaign - St Catherine’s Church, Wickford

Due to the long dry summer of 2022, the foundations of the NW corner of St Catherine’s Church subsided. This caused large cracks to appear in the walls. In 2023, we completed Phase 1 of our campaign involving safety and weather protection work costing £20,000, with funds raised by donations, events and grants. In 2024 we began Phase 2 involving groundwork investigations and design of an underpinning solution. This cost £13,560 and is essential to design a long-term solution. Phase 3, for which we are now raising funds, will cost £162,500.00 + VAT and will enable the NW corner of the church to be underpinned.

If you wish to contribute, please go to https://givealittle.co/c/CXlEMNUoerIeTUtbQmvYS
to donate online.

Send cheques to Wickford and Runwell PCC to The Rectory, 120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB or phone 07803 562329/email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for bank details for a transfer.

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U2 - A Celebration.