It’s not only the young who enjoy a Summer Holiday Club! St Paul’s once again hosted their annual Holiday at Home, supported by their Roman Catholic friends. They welcomed older people from both churches and from the wider community to enjoy fun, food and fellowship for three days at the beginning of August.
The programme was called “Out of the Ark” and each day a different narrative from the beginning of Genesis was explored. Throughout the event there were games, quizzes and other entertainments. In true St Paul’s style, the food was good and plentiful and there was time to relax and chat to friends old and new.
On the first day, aptly themed “In the beginning”, they took time to marvel at the wonder of God’s creation and to get creative themselves, producing some great artwork (see pictures). The next day was entitled “Nearer to God in the Garden”, recalling the story of Adam and Eve in a garden full of trees, when they celebrated all that is to be enjoyed in the natural world as well as learning some very interesting facts about local trees from their local tree wardens! And it was definitely “All Hands on Deck” on the last day, as they thought about Noah’s ark and our current age of climate change, exploring how we might all care for God’s creation and particularly the wildlife in our parks and gardens. Participants are now all much better informed about looking out for small creatures, especially hedgehogs, after a very interesting talk from a volunteer at the Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue Centre at Windlesham.
As in other years, there was a raffle with contributions to a home produce stall and over the three days, holiday guests raised a total of £135 which was donated to “OPERATION SMILE UK”, a charity helping children with cleft palates. All in all, Holiday at Home provided a very enjoyable and successful few days, making happy memories of journeying together.
Photo Credits: Revd Janet Franck, St Paul’s Egham Hythe