The Friends of Longhope Church hosted a special Christmas-themed floral demonstration event on Sunday December 5 at All Saints Church in Longhope.

The event was organised by the Friends to help raise money to repair the Church Bell Tower which is in urgent need of structural repair, with the bells sadly remaining silent this Christmas and will remain so until repair work is undertaken.

Speaking to the Gazette, a spokesperson for the Friends of Longhope Church said: "The cost for the repair work on the Bell Tower is £165,000. We have generous legacy donations to help with funding but still have a funding gap of £100,000.

"In 2022 we hope to raise the £100,000 shortfall by way of Grant aid, Friends of Longhope Church Events, and a Public Appeal."

The floral demonstration event was presented by Beryl Griffiths and Bob Harris, who retired a few years ago but humbly agreed to return to help raise much needed funds for Longhope Church tower repair. The Church was packed with 95 people eagerly wanting to watch the return of Beryl and Bob back to the Flower Demonstrating world. The event included four acts of floral demonstrations and displays - Gold and Orange, White, Pink and Purple, and finally red. For each display those present sang a Christmas song relating to the colours of the flowers to be demonstrated, including songs such as Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, Silent Night and Mistletoe and Wine. The event ended with a warm cup of tea and some delicious minced pies, managing to raise an excellent sum of £412 to go towards the Bell Tower repair work.

Speaking after the event, the Friends of Longhope Church added: "We would like to thank Bob and Beryl for sharing their floristry talents and entertaining us with their chat, Margaret Willis for arranging the music and Greenway Trees in Longhope for kindly providing us with our outside Christmas tree.

"It was a wonderful event and will raise vitally-important funds that can go to our church repair work. Thank you again and the Friends would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."