There will be a concert given by Lytham Proms Orchestra on Friday December 16th at 7.30 pm in church. Tickets are available from the Parish Office (Tel.no.722736) or can be purchased on the night of the concert on the door. Prices are £5 for adults, £2 for children, and £12 for a family ticket. The price includes interval drinks.

Well done to Harry Wiseman, the latest of our younger ringers who has now started ringing for Sunday Service.

Two quarter peals have been successfully rung recently, with the bells half-muffled, the first prior to the All Souls Eucharist and the second prior to Evensong on Remembrance Sunday. 

Our tower, along with St. Cuthbert’s Lytham was used to host the Fylde Branch Training Day in November. The event attracted many ringers from around the Fylde, with good progress made by all the students.

As another year draws to a close, I would like to thank all our ringers for their loyal support and effort, especially Linda Phoenix for all her work teaching our latest group of enthusiastic learners and also Jim Wharton who makes sure that the clock is wound up each week. All our ringers efforts have ensured that the bells have continued to ring out regularly throughout the year, for Sunday Service and special services, helping to signify the life and presence of our Church to our town.
 
Finally, on behalf of all the bellringers, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our listeners!

Stuart Newton

The concert by the Lancashire Youth and Schools Symphony Orchestra on Sunday 11th December at 7.30 pm, as advertised in the December edition of The See, has been cancelled as the orchestra are unable to attend.

On Saturday 24th September we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the foundation of Our Lady of Walsingham Cell at St Annes with a special Eucahrist. The preacher at the Eucharist was Fr Damian Porter.Lots of friends came to celebrate with us. It was a great service and a super lunch. More photos are in the picture gallery.

The Annual Dinner Dance will be held at the Bedford Hotel, Clifton Drive, St Annes on Saturday 14th January 2012. Tickets are £25. Names and a £5 deposit to Josie Wilkinson please.

On the 11th September 2011 the Bishop of Lancaster‚ The Rt Revd Geoff Pearson, confirmed  a group of 5 adults and 5 children as full members of our church family.  This was a great and joyous occasion both for them & their families and for the whole congregation.  We keep them all in our prayers and truly welcome them as fellow members of the Body of Christ in this place.

The Centre is very appreciative of our support. Their present need if for tinned meat, fish and potted paste suitable for sanwich fillings, also tinned potatoes and vegetables suitable for soup making. Thank you to all who contribute.
Harry Wincott

To raise funds the Men's Fellowship are collecting unwanted metal objects. If you have any brass, copper or pewter ornamentss you no longer love (or maybe always hated!) please bring them to our box at the back of Church or ask Colin Miller to pick them up.

Members of the congregation are invited to submit their suggestions for Charities (local, national and international) for consideration by the PCC for Charitable Giving in 2011. Please forward your nominations, with brief details of the Charity and its work FAO PCC Secretary by Friday 26th August 2011.
Angela Astley

The Men's Fellowship hosted a Parish BBQ in the Vicarage gardens on Monday 20th June. As you can see from the photos a good time was had by all, despite the fact the heavens opened shortly after these pictures were taken!

Saturday 18th June 2011, Parish Trip to Chester or Chester Zoo  

Leaving the Parish Rooms at 9am and returning there for 6pm. Adult £10, children £5.See Josie for tickets.

At the Annual Parochial Church meeting on Sunday 10th April the following elections took place:-

• Joan Johnson and Eric Roberts were re-elected as Church Wardens.
• Hilary Smith, Ken Foster and Kath Hall were elected to serve on the PCC.
• Gerald Wilson, Susan McMahon and Patricia Ward were elected to serve on the Deanery Synod.
  

At the APCM on Sunday 10th April there will be several members of the current PCC standing down for their fallow year. Nomination Forms will be posted in the Church Porch on Sunday 20th March. This year is also the Deanery Synod elections and we need to elect 5 members to the Synod. Please consider standing for either of these worthwhile roles. If you have any questions, speak to Fr David, the Churchwardens, members of the PCC or those who are currently on the Deanery Synod. (Details of current members are on the PCC page.)

The Grand Opening of this year's Tree Festival took place at 1pm on 11th December. It was opened by  the Mayor of St Annes on Sea, Cllr Tony Ford JP, accompanied by the St Annes Carnival Queen.

The Children's Church took part in the Remembrance Day service by laying a wreath at the war memorial this was done on behalf of all the children belonging to St Annes Parish Church. The children were not just remembering the past dead but also remembering the more recent deaths of soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We have an outing to Blackburn Cathedral planned for 19th December, when we will be met by a guide who will explain what the Cathedral means in keeping with our Church.

From next January the Children's Church will meet every first and third Sunday of the month except during school holidays. We are still in need of help and as I am well past my sell by date, a person to take charge is truly needed to look after a wonderful bunch of happy children.

The Men’s Fellowship unfortunately has had a long break since our last meeting. Our October meeting is postponed until the 8th November when in true Scottish tradition we shall have a Whisky Tasting evening complete with Haggis, Mash and Neeps.
Everyone is already looking forward to our Christmas dinner, which will be held at the Old Links Golf Club on Monday December 13th .We would like all men from the church to join us, just fill in the menu (available at the back of the church). When completed your menu can be given to Colin Miller or Roger Sparrow. the cost is £17.50. (payment by December 6th.)                                 

Next years Fellowship programme is only one month short of being complete, details will be in next month's magazine. In June 2011 we will again hold a barbecue, however this year will be open to everyone in the church (£5.00 entry) and the monies raised will go towards refurbishing the Parish Rooms. The barbecue will be in the Vicarage garden if Father David and Brenda gives us their permission.

Again we are taking part in the Christmas Tree Festival. Our charity this year being RCDM (Royal Centre for Defence Medicine) the rehabilitation hospital for soldiers injured in Afghanistan.

We don’t have a membership in the Fellowship as it is open to all men of our church and their friends. The 2011 programme will be published in the next magazine. Join us for interesting evenings each month, only costing £3.00 for a hot meal plus a beer and great friendship.

• Monday 13th -Windmill Ladies Chorus
• Tuesday 14th - Heyhouses School
• Wednesday 15th - Handbell Ringers
• Thursday 16th - Flower arranging with Jos Hoyle
• Friday 17th - Shepherd Lodge Nursery
• Saturday 18th - A visit by Father Christmas!

At our 10:30 service today the Eucharist was celebrated with the Rt Rev'd Nicholas Reade, Bishop of Blackburn. The photograph below shows Bishop Nicholas and Fr David with the servers after the service.

 

Lancashire County Council are undertaking a review of primary school places in Lytham St Annes. You can see their consultation document HERE. The Council are proposing to extend Lytham Hall Park Primary school to cater for increased demand in the area. Details of how to respond are in the consultation document.

The proposal does not address the demand for places  in St Annes. Heyhouses has been substantially oversubscribed for a number of years resulting in overcrowding, particularly in the Junior Department. This causes health and safety issues due to cramming 37/38 children into classrooms that are not large enough to cope and also 37/38 children in one class makes it much harder to teach effectively. Heyhouses is the oldest school in St Annes and aside from the additional space it needs to alleviate the current overcrowding, it needs extensive building work to make it suitable for 21^st Century education and to address the Health and Safety issues which currently exist.  Please consider responding to the consultation to support our Church school. The deadline for responding is November 19th 2010.

There will be a day coach trip to York on Saturday 13th November 2010. The trip is organised by St Nicholas, Fleetwood for the Bishop of Beverley's Northern Provincial Eucharist in York Minster at 12 noon and/or Christmas shopping! Pick up at St Annes at 7:15am, return 5pm (arriving home at approximately 8pm). Cost £20 (or less depending on numbers). If interested please contact Gerald Wilson.

The Annual Dinner Dance will be held at the Bedford Hotel, Clifton Drive, St Annes on Saturday 15th January 2011. Tickets are £25. Names and a £5 deposit to Josie please.

On Sunday 26th September Fr Stephen Smith lead his final Parish Eucharist at St Annes. We also said farewell to his wife Diane who has been a valued member of our choir. At the end of the service Fr Stephen and Diane were presented with numerous gifts from many Church groups and the congregation as a whole. Below is a picture of the children presenting a model they had made of our Church.  Thank you to both of you for your work in this Parish & for your friendship, we will miss you.

Fr Stephen and Diane presented the Church with two beautiful cross stitch pictures one of an Angel & one of the Last Supper. A big thank you Diane for the many hours of work it must have taken to complete them, we will treasure them.

Fr Stephen's final service at St Annes is the Solemn Eucharist on Wednesday 29th September, to mark the Feast of Michael & All Angels.

We all wish Fr Stephen and Diane well with their new adventures, our thoughts and prayers go with you.

On Sunday 19th September we said farewell to our Children and Families Worker; Lisa Shaw; who has been with us for the past three and a half years. Lisa was presented with various gifts from the children and then Gerry Stokes presented her with gifts from the whole Church. We are very grateful for all the hard work Lisa has done both  in developing and improving our activities for children and families and also supporting our Baptism families. We all wish Lisa well in her new role with Surestart.

On Saturday 16th October we will be holding a Fashion Extravaganza by Carlla Harris Models at 3-5pm in the Parish Rooms. Tickets are £5 including afternoon tea and are available from the Parish Office or members of the Social Committee. Carlla Harris Models will be showcasing clothes and accessories by Bon Marche, St Annes Sports and 1st Class Kids.

We held our barbecue on the evening of Monday 26^th July in the Vicarage Garden, (thanks to Father David and Brenda).  Everyone had a wonderful night and although I was thanked for organising it I feel the evenings success was greatly helped by Alistair and Jonathan Brown who carried all the tables and chairs from the Parish Rooms then set up the large Gazebo. Brenda Lyon turned the church barbecues from dirty unclean metal grills into sparkling ones fit for royalty, thank you Mrs Lyon and a big thank you to your Auntie Joyce who worked extremely hard putting the chairs round the tables and blowing up balloons. Our Chancellor Roger Sparrow, and our Chefs Stewart Brown, Jonathan Strothers and David Kay (not forgetting Maureen Rogers who made the excellent baked potatoes) and the games masters Gerry Stokes and Bethany Strothers, all played their part in making this a night to remember, thank you all. Last but not least thanks to Father David who must know someone on high who gave us a rain free evening after such a wet start to the day. Next year it would nice to see a repeat of this evening but making it available to the whole church.

Colin Miller

Visiting bellringers are always welcome in the tower at St Annes, but rarely do they travel half the world and the whole of the alphabet to get here.  However, Anne, a recent visitor had come all the way from Zimbabwe to St Annes to visit friends in the parish.  She was given a warm welcome by the bellringers as she joined in their ringing for Evensong.

This year's Harvest Social will take place on Friday 1st October at 7:30pm in the Parish Rooms. There will be a Hotpot supper & a Beetle Drive. Tickets are £5 Adults, £2 Children or £12 for a family ticket.

The Most Revd Thabo Mekgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town, will be in dialogue with Canon Chivers and Anjim Anwar MBE onThursday 20th May in Blackburn Cathedral at 7:30pm. The Archbishop is a leading figure in the Anglican Communion and Primate of the province which contains our link diocese of the Free State. The dialogue will allow for an extended period of questions from the floor. All are encouraged to attend this unique opportunity.

After the success of the Young People's Lent course, we have decided to do a monthly worship group for children in school year 5 or above. There will be talks & discussions, focussed activities and creative prayers. The first session will be on Monday 10th May 7-8pm in Church. All welcome.

The next meeting of the Men's Fellowship is on Monday 17th May at 7:30pm in the Parish Rooms. The evening will consist of : Hot Pot supper, usual refreshments, surprise speaker, Ten Pin Prize Bowling, Prize Dominoes & other table top games. All men welcome. Cost £3. Please put your name on the list at the back of Church or see Colin Miller.

The next family pilgrimage to Walsingham will take place on Friday 12th to Sunday 14th November. Adults £102, children 5+ £15, under 5s free. For further details contact Lisa Shaw.

At the Annual Parochial Church Meeting on the 25th April the annual elections took place.

Joan Johnson was re-elected as Church Warden and Eric Roberts was elected as new Church Warden to replace Harry Wincott who is retiring from the post. It is anticipated that Eric will be sworn into office on the 27th May during the Bishop's Visitation at St Thomas' Church.

PCC elections also took place and a full list of members has been added to the PCC page.

The Mens Fellowship met on Monday 29th March. The evening started with a sausage and mash supper including a very tasty onion gravy. Our attendance was our highest (thirty two). The meal was cooked and served by Enid Roberts who along with her husband David supplied all the food free so that the Fellowship can contribute towards the re-decoration of the Parish Rooms fund. Following the meal we had a most interesting talk by Geoff Sage the General Manager of the Blackpool Tower. Our next meeting will be held on Monday 17th May at 7.30pm. The supper will be home made Hot Pot. For further information contact Colin Miller.

The fair will be held on Saturday 24th April in the Nursery grounds (off Clarendon Road North), from 11:30am - 2pm. Entry is free. There will be a Grand Prize Draw with many amazing prizes. Please see Caroline Bird or Denise Brown to purchase raffle tickets at £1 per ticket. There will be a Chocolate Tombola, Plant Stall, Hook a Duck, Face Painting, BBQ food, Emergency Service Vehicles and many more exciting stalls.

This year's Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM)  will be on the 25th April. If anyone has any questions they wish to be raised at the APCM, please submit to Denise Brown in writing by Monday 12th April. At the AMPC there will be several members of the current PCC standing down for their fallow year and there will be two vacancies for one year only (to cover resignations in 2009). Nomination forms will be posted in the Church porch on Sunday 11th April. Please consider standing for this worthwhile role. If you have any questions please speak to the clergy, church wardens or members of the PCC.

There will be a Table Top sale on Saturday 15th May from 10:30am -12:30pm in the Parish Rooms. Come & pick up a bargain!Refreshments available. To book a table (cost £10) please ring the Parish Office on 722736. Admission is free.

The next PCC meeting will take place on Monday 22nd March, there will be a Mass at 7pm, followed by the meeting at 7:30pm. All PCC members are encouraged to attend the Mass to give a prayerful focus to the meeting.

At the next AMPC there will be several members of the current PCC standing down for their fallow year and there will be two vacancies for one year only (to cover resignations in 2009). Nomination forms will be posted in the Church porch on Sunday 11th April. Please consider standing for this worthwhile role. If you have any questions please speak to the clergy, church wardens or members of the PCC.

The next meeting will be on Monday 29th March at 7:30pm in the Parish Rooms. The General Manager of Blackpool Tower will speak & the evening will start with a sausage & mash supper & refreshments. All men welcome, cost is £3. Please sign the list at the back of Church or see Colin Miller.

This year's parish pilgrimage will take place during the school holidays and will be from Monday August 23rd to Thursday August 26th. The approximate cost including half board accommodation at the shrine and coach travel will be £175 for adults, £75 for children under 16, and under 5s free. Please get your booking forms from Margaret Garner and return them to her with a £20 deposit. The pilgrimage is open to all and new pilgrims are especially welcome. For more information please speak to Margaret.

St Annes Parish Operatic Society presents "Songs from the Shows", in Church on Saturday 17th April at 7:30pm, Admission is £5 for adults, children are free (includes refreshments). Tickets are available from the Parish Office, members of the Social Committee, or pay on the door. 

On Saturday 5th June there is a Parish Trip to Boundary Mill plus  a cruise on the canal (with lunch). Approximate cost is £20. If interested please contact Josie ASAP

Note change of date/venue for final session

 We have specifically designed three special sessions to help young people think about, and explore Lent, Holy Week and Easter. These are ideal sessions for those who have been Confirmed or children aged between 10-16years who wish to explore the Christian faith. Each session will consist of a short talk with the opportunity for discussion and group work and reflection and prayer activities.

The dates for the Young People’s Lent Course will be:

Monday March 1st, Monday March 15th, and Monday March 29th (Parish rooms meeting room - Parish Office entrance).

The sessions are from 7-8pm in Church.

On the 9th February 2010 the Bishop of Lancaster‚ The Rt Revd Geoff Pearson, licensed Fr David Lyon as our new Priest-in-Charge.  We  keep Fr David and his wife Brenda our prayers and truly welcome them to our church. We hope their time at St Annes will be long and happy. Further pictures from the event are available here : http://www.johnmcvitie.com/St%20Annes%20Vicar.htm

On the 7th February 2010 the Bishop of Lancaster‚ The Rt Revd Geoff Pearson, confirmed 14 people‚ both adults and children‚ as full members of our church family.  This was a great and joyous occasion both for them and for the whole congregation.  We keep them all in our prayers and truly welcome them as fellow members of the Body of Christ in this place.

The Mens Fellowship met on Monday evening the 1st February.

The evening began with a traditional Haggis Supper which was washed down with a little Scottish nectar. The speaker was our ex-curate Father Keith Fenton who talked about his visits to many countries including Russia and Cuba. What he told us about Cuba was most interesting and informative.
 
The evening was well attended with thirty plus men all enjoying the opportunity to talk about how to solve the problems of the world.
 
The following persons were elected to our committee.
Mr Tom Westall                  Honorary President.
Stewart Brown                    Chairman
Roger Sparrow                    Treasurer (Safe Hands)
Colin Miller                         Secretary Tel.01253 761958
Jed Bird & David Roberts    Committee members.
 
We now have a complete programme for this year.
Next meeting Monday March 29th. The evening will commence with a sausage & mash supper followed by an excellent speaker who is the General Manager of Blackpool Tower.