Outreach to the Local Community

Bestwood Park Church is located in the heart of the local community, close to the shopping precinct and Co-op Store - the hub of the area. Almost all our members live locally and most within walking distance of the church. Our local community is important to us and we are keen to reach out and support it.

Local Schools

We work with all three primary schools in our parish area and are always happy to receive requests for visits, occasional assemblies and other areas of involvement.

Glade Hill Primary School

We work closely with staff and pupils at this school. Our previous Pioneer Missioner ran a Creative Christian Club after school each week. We are about to appoint a new Missioner to take this work forward

We regularly welcome children from Glade Hill School to our church for services and assemblies at speical seasons of the year. We also host classes of children who come to our church as part of their RS programme.

Robin Hood Primary School

We ran a competition with the school to design our church Christmas card in 2008. The card was delivered to hundreds of homes in the parish. We have also held Christingle services for local children from this and other schools.

Southglade Primary & Nursery School

Southglade were our 2009 partners for the Christmas card competition. The winning design, shown on the left, was delivered to several hundred homes in the parish. Foundation and Key Stage 1 children make regular visits to the church to learn about Worship, Baptism and Weddings. Pupils' work is often displayed in church.

Friends & Neighbours

We have organised a number of fun events to enable us to get to know our local community.

Carols Around the Crib

Some 45 people joined us for Carols around the crib, followed by games and refreshments, on Christmas Eve. Everyone seemed to have a great time as we came together as a community to sing favourite carols & listen to the Christmas Story with some of the children dressed as characters from the Nativity.

Free Family Fun Day

This event in August was a great day out for everyone from tots to grandparents. About 300 people visited and enjoyed a range of free fun activities (based loosely on a 1950's holiday camp theme - hence the postcard image!) including giant inflatables, games, competitions, face-painting and crafts plus free refreshments. We hope to repeat the event next year.

Thirstquenchers

Children & families, visiting Chediston Vale Park and green gym, were treated to free juice and water and enjoyed a chat with church members during the Summer school holidays.

Food for Body, Mind & Spirit

In response to Reducing Health Inequalities in Nottingham Area 2 Neighbourhood and PCT meetings: We ran a six week course exploring healthy eating, weight reduction and how we feel about ourselves in a Christian context during the Autumn.

Nottingham City Council Area 2

We have developed links and a good relationship with our City Councillors, Neighbourhood Management Team and local service departments (Youth, Health, Under-5s, Extended Schools and Parks). Notable partnership Events:

Christmas Cracker

Wednesday 2nd December 2009 - Following the success of last year's event, we hosted the celebration to mark the turning on of the Christmas lights. The event this year was called "Christmas Cracker". The weather was warmer (but wetter) and there was more to do. Hundreds of people came to support the event and share in the excitement. The Christmas lights in the street and on the tree were impressive. Marquees housed a Christmas Market with stalls from local schools and community organisations offering quality Christmas items. There was spicy punch, free mince pies and hot food available. A group of children from Glade Hill School gave a stunning performance of the nativity and their choir sounded angelic. We all enjoyed singing Carols and listening to the band from People's Church. Santa had huge queues. (It was a good job that we had the real Santa as such a work-load could have overwhelmed a mere human stand-in). There was even a magic show.

This was a great way to begin our celebrations to mark the Birth of Jesus. We are very grateful for the support of the council, for all who gave of their time and resources and especially for all the hard work of Area 2 Neighbourhood Management Team.

We had planned to repeat this event in December 2010 but, unfortunately the heavy snowfall we had around that time forced us to cancel. We hope things will turn out a bit better this year.

The Big-Turn On

In December 2008, the church provided the venue for "The Big Turn On" a huge community event to celebrate the inaugural turning on of the Christmas Lights around Bestwood Park shopping precinct. It was a superb event with parades, choirs, stilt walkers and lots of other entertainment. The church served hot punch and other refreshments to the hundreds who turned out despite a bitterly cold day.