A huge thank you to the 31 local organisations that took part in this year’s Christmas Tree Festival, by supplying and creatively decorating a Christmas tree – without the support of these fantastic organisations, there would be no Christmas Tree festival! Thank you also to everyone who showed their support by visiting St Paul’s on the night to vote for their favourite Christmas Trees, despite the terrible weather!
The votes have been counted and verified and we can now reveal this year’s winners…
1st Place
Shipley Recorders & Wycliffe CE Primary Recorder Club
Shipley Recorders comprises the Shipley Recorder Trio and the Shipley Recorder Quartet, two ensembles of secondary-aged recorder students who rehearse and perform advanced repertoire and who are this year fundraising for two new giant recorders! All are former members of the Wycliffe CE Primary Recorder Club, which currently contains 19 members aged between 5 and 10, who enjoy learning recorder together!
The two groups have collaborated to produce this tree, which represents their enjoyment of music.
We have respected the environment in making our tree! All the sheet music is over 50 years old and no longer of use. The sapling needed to be felled in any case, because of its location.
2nd Place
Wycliffe CE Primary School
The Wycliffe Christmas tree is is based on the Christian value ‘Love’ and how we can express love and care to our planet Earth. They have created a tree which represents each of the four elements of nature (earth, air, fire and water) – each with a festive spin on them!
The Year 6 students discussed how essential these four elements are for the survival of life on earth. They came up with some beautiful ideas to look after these four elements, which you can enjoy reading on their tree.
- The candle baubles represent fire.
- The angel baubles represent air.
- The snowflake baubles represent water.
- The Christmas wreaths represent earth.
3rd Place
Leelas Ladybirds Private Day Nursery
Leelas Ladybirds is a family run nursery based next door to Wycliffe CE Primary School.
The theme for the Leelas Ladybirds tree this year is the ‘The Universe’.
Our planet Earth is included in one of the most fascinating solar systems in the universe. Because our children are asleep when some of the most spectacular sightings come out, the nursery are teaching the children all about the different aspects of our night sky and beyond. The children have enjoyed helping to reflect all the different happenings that do and maybe go on above us. All of the decorations are bio-degradable and recyclable.
Many congratulations to our three winners, who will each receive a certificate and a cash prize of:
1st Place – £80
2nd Place – £50
3rd Place – £25
The prize fund is made up of the £5 that each organisation paid to sponsor a tree at the festival.
We would like to give honourable mentions to The Children’s Society Saltaire Bookshop and Scraptastic, who narrowly missed out, placing 4th and 5th respectively. Here are a few more photos showcasing this year’s wonderful trees:
This year’s Christmas trees will remain in church until the New Year, where they will be lit up at selected services throughout the Advent and Christmas season, so if you didn’t get a chance to come along to the festival, perhaps you can see them at one of the upcoming services or events listed below.
