All Saints Church in Helmsley to host Christmas Tree Festival
All Saints Church in Helmsley will once again be filled with light and imagination for the Christmas Tree Festival, which runs from November 29 to December 13.
The festival has become a much loved part of the season.
Charities, schools and local groups each bring a decorated tree to stand beneath the arches of the ancient church, and together they create something both joyful and beautiful.
This year there is an extra layer of creativity with the arrival of the Angels of Hope.
Since May a group of crafters has been meeting in Helmsley to knit, crochet and share ideas.
Their gatherings have been full of tea, cake, conversation and laughter, and the number of angels has grown quickly.
In July, thanks to gifts from friends and strangers, including a parcel of thirty crocheted angels sent by Sue from Cheshire after visiting the church, the group counted more than four hundred Angels of Hope.
By mid-November the number of angels hadgrown to over 1,500!
The project took on a particularly Yorkshire character when the crafters began making fleece angels from the soft Texel wool provided by Manor Farm in Scawton.
One memorable moment came when the farmer herself sat in the pews of All Saints, crafting an angel from her own sheep’s fleece.
It is an image that captures the weaving together of land, community and faith.
The angels are being made with the hope that they can be shared with visitors to the festival, small tokens of encouragement to take home, carrying a message of comfort into the dark days of winter.
Alongside the knitted, crocheted and fleece creations there will be card and cut paper angels, each carrying words of hope.
Together they will form a gentle cascade of blessings, offered freely to those who come to All Saints during the festival.
The festival begins on Friday November 28, with the Light Switch On in the Market Place at 5.30pm, followed by an exclusive opening service in All Saints at 6pm with Helmsley Community Primary School (tickets £5).
From then until 13 December the church will be open every day.
Entry is free, with donations supporting the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Helmsley Together, and All Saints PCC.