Winchester church community day attracts more than 1,200 visitors

The church was transformed into a village fete with a mix of inside and outdoor activities, all organised and performed by members of the local parish and community.

Infants of St Paul’s Pre-school put on a performance, while Florian School of Dance and Interg8 Dance impressed the crowd with their moves.

St Paul’s Barbers, Jelvis, Southern Voices, Huckleberry Twins and Boru Beats delighted music lovers of all ages, whilst inside St Paul’s, the Fulflood Community Strings performed popular classics.

There were various attractions both outside and in (Image: St Paul's Church)

READ MORE: Winchester church community day attracted more than 1,000 people

Other attractions included the animal farm, bouncy castle, splat the rat, chocolate tombola, nail and face painting and Hampshire police car, alongside a barbeque.

All cups used to serve drinks were eco friendly and made from plants.

Several bakers had spent days preparing cakes for the big day. Last but not least, pooches of all shapes and sizes had their moment to shine at the dog show.

The community day attracted faces both new and old.

There were cakes aplenty! (Image: St Paul's Church)

Vicki Tibbitts, Children and Youth Ministry leader, said: "Our Community Day offers opportunity for children to be a bit more independent from their parents and carers, whether that's their own management of spending their tokens on the games and body art available or whether it's our young people running the stalls themselves. It was also great to celebrate the success of many children and youth through their performances on the day, from our youngest performers from St Paul's Preschool to the talented preteens and teens at Integr8 Dance and Florian Dance Company. And when the children weren't performing, bouncing on the bouncy castle or winning prizes on the games stalls, it was lovely to see families relaxing together playing the various games we had freely available around the site.”

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Rev Dr Jonathan Rowe, Rector, said: “The parish loves hosting Community Day at St Paul's and it was great to see everyone enjoying themselves and having so much fun in our wonderful church.”

Bill Lucas, a churchwarden and one of the main organisers, said: “This has been one of our best Community Days to date with many visiting St Paul’s for the first time. The event strapline, ‘All are welcome’, applies equally to everything we do in the parish.”

Steve Brine, MP for Winchester and Chandler’s Ford, added: “Barely 24-hours after first being elected, in May 2010, I attended the Community Day at St Paul’s and my dear late friend Peter Seal suggested I might take a turn in the stocks as a wet welcome. And so my adventure with your church began and, strangely, I’ve attended every Community Day since.

Steve Brine with Rev. Dr Jonathan Rowe (Image: Steve Brine)

“This year – my last as our MP – was no different and my son William and I had a great time on Saturday chatting with constituents while eating/drinking pretty much all on offer.”

To see a gallery of photos from the event, click the image at the top of the article.