Liverpool Cathedral celebrates Christingle
Aiming to be the biggest Cathedral Christingle in the whole of England, around 850 pupils from 22 local primary schools will be attending the celebration at the Cathedral at 1:30 pm on Thursday, 18 January.
Liverpool Cathedral celebrates Christingle to give vulnerable children the promise of a brighter future
People in Liverpool are being urged to help transform the lives of some of the UK’s most vulnerable children by supporting a special Christingle service at Liverpool Cathedral.
The Revd Kate Bottley, known for her appearances on hit TV show Gogglebox and now on BBC Radio 2, is the guest speaker at the service, which will be led by Director of Social Justice for the Diocese of Liverpool and Canon for the Cathedral, Dr Ellen Loudon.
Christingle services include singing and storytelling for children and adults and revolve around children creating Christingles – an orange decorated with red ribbon, cocktail sticks, sweets and a candle, each highlighting different parts of the Christian story.
Across the country, around one million people attend Christingles at thousands of churches from November until Candlemas on February 2. Local people are welcome to join the festivities and money raised will go towards providing life-changing support to the vulnerable children The Children’s Society supports.
In the North West, the charity runs advocacy and befriending services in Cheshire and Warrington and also runs participation activities including a youth parliament to make sure young people feel included and their voices are heard.
Christingle has been celebrated to raise funds for The Children’s Society for 49 years and will be celebrating its 50th birthday at the end of 2018. Last year, the charity was able to work directly with more than 13,000 children with the help of the generous donations made at Christingles. It is aiming to match the £1m it raised in 2016/17 through this winter’s services.
Jemma Kinch, Regional Relationship Manager for The Children’s Society in the North West, said: “We are thrilled to be holding this Christingle service at Liverpool Cathedral and involving so many local school children.
“Not only are our Christingles a memorable spectacle, they help The Children’s Society to transform the lives of the most vulnerable children in our society, both in the North West and across the country, because no child should feel alone.
“We are enormously grateful for the support of the Church of England, local schools, members of the public, and The Revd Kate Bottley in supporting the dozens of Christingles already held this winter across the North West, and in helping us ensure this new service is a success.”
Canon Ellen Loudon, from Liverpool Cathedral, said:
“We are really excited to be hosting this Christingle service. We will be welcoming almost 1000 children and the amazing Rev Kate Bottley so it’s going to be lots of fun!
“There is a serious message, though – raising funds to support the vital work of The Children’s Society with some of the most vulnerable children and young people in our society. The Christingle candles symbolise the hope which drives their work – and our prayers to ensure no child feels alone.”
The Revd Kate Bottley said:
“By supporting children and young people in our communities who are often facing harrowing and complex issues, The Children’s Society shines a light of hope in the darkest corners, and it’s a light that goes on long after Christingle is over.
“All the family come along to Christingle services because they are so visual and exciting. For children and adults alike, going to a Christingle service may be one of their first experiences of going to church and gives people the opportunity to create warm memories that they can share together as a family.”
For more information, please call The Children’s Society’s Media team on 020 7841 4422 or email media@childrenssociety.org.uk. For out-of-hours enquiries please call 07810 796 508.