Christmas in the Village 2018

What a great day everyone had at the Christmas in the Village 2018 event on the 25th of November!

Lots of cheer, smiley faces, stands with anything from tasty doughnuts to first aid demonstrations. Children couldn't miss Santa either, who kept his promise to visit them this year too courtesy of Brady's of Shankill.

 

Among the many stands, an impressive educational value was added by three of them, namely the Suicide of Survive, Shankill & Ballybrack CFR and SAGE Shankill.

At the Suicide and Survive stand you could not only find lots of Christmas goodies for sale on a very colourful and well decorated stand, but also find out that this charity supports everyone who has had to deal with mental health, promoting an approach based on dignity and respect in their service. As a plus, you could also enter their raffle to be in with the chance to win one of the huge hampers exhibited.

The most practical stand at the event was the Shankill & Ballybrack CFR one, where everyone who wanted was shown how to provide CPR. Very useful and educational at the same time.

Did you know that you can build little houses for bees this winter and help save the planet? You can do your bit for our planet every day; this is what I learnt from the lovely volunteers at the SAGE Shankill stand. At times like this, it is good to be reminded that Christmas is not only a day for us and our families, but for our host planet, who needs us now more than ever.

These are only  a few of the great stands you could visit at Christmas in the Village 2018, but all of them provided great coverage of everything Shankill has to offer locally in a colourful and cheerful Christmassy atmosphere.

The Birds and the Teas

Shankill Football Club

Couldn't attend this event this November? Make sure you don't miss it next year. This is for the simple reason that it gets better and better every year. It's both fun and educational, so make sure that next year you have this on your to-do-for-fun list.

Ho Ho Ho, Christmas in the Village!

What a beautiful day everyone had on Sunday, 27th November, when Shankill Main Street was turned into a winter wonderland for the second edition of the already long-awaited Christmas in the Village festival.

Supported by DLR County Council and Shankill Business Group, the event was a wonderful celebration of the Christmas spirit and the result of local initiative and hard work.

A wide range of surprises, from Santa’s Grotto, the Petting Farm and the Festive Market Stalls to the Kids' Zone and live music took place from 1 p.m. until 6 p.m., marked midway by Santa's appearance driven by who else but John Brady, owner of Brady's Pub. While waiting for Santa, everyone went around the market stalls to buy Christmas gifts. The already well-known Shankill calendars, which are done every year by the award-winning Shankill Tidy Towns team and feature photos sent by the village's professional and amateur photographers, were on sale as well.

Here is a special photo we took with the permission of the Shankill Tidy Towns team. We are proud to share it with everyone and to say a big congratulations to them for their amazing work in the village, which this year brought them the overall prize winner of the 2016 Tidy Districts Competition.

All the children were extremely excited to meet with some famous Star Wars characters as well as Mickey and Minnie Mouse, who made many friends in the street and brought lots of smiles and hi-fives.

At 3:30 p.m. Santa showed up in the village and was welcomed by everyone as the rightful bringer of joy, gifts and childhood memories.

  

A huge thank you and well done to the organisers.
Now the Christmas spirit has officially arrived in the village!

The Christmas Story in Trees at St. James's Church, Crinken

From the 4th to the 6th December this year St. James's Church is welcoming everybody to their Christmas Tree Festival. The event has been very well promoted both on their social media channels as well as during the Christmas in the Village event which took place in Shankill village a week ago.

The festival is part of the church's 175th anniversary events and tells the story of the birth of Christ through Christmas trees and verses from the Scriptures. 

There are around 40 Christmas trees in the church decorated by local schools, community groups, and businesses. The beauty of the event is not only in the design of each and every tree, but also in the way all the trees have been arranged together to set the scene for what the organisers have called the "Journey to Bethlehem". 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/crinkenchurch

As you enter the church, you will be warmly welcomed by one of the church volunteers and handed a brochure, which details the story of each tree. You can then go around the church to have a look at each tree as the story of the birth of Jesus unfolds in front of you with every Christmas tree and every quote attached to each and every one of them. From natural fir trees to trees made of books and other materials, every single tree tells both the story of Christ but also the story of the community who put so much effort into preparing it for this special occasion.

 

Before you leave the church, you are invited to sample a few refreshments in the hall and share your thoughts with the other members of the community. Also, someone will most probably invite you to the Carols by the Candlelight event which is going to take place next Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

A truly inspiring event open to everybody and revealing a great sense of community overall. The admission is free, but, if you wish to make a donation, you will be happy to find out that it will be used to support the work of The Storehouse (a project to create a food bank for people in need this Christmas).

Christmas Cheer in the Village

There is nothing more beautiful than seeing a community coming together in preparation for Christmas. The colours and the joy of the season are unique every year.

Today, everybody gathered in the village for the three events that marked the beginning of the Christmas celebrations in Shankill.

 

Christmas in the Village

Although the weather was cold and rainy, the atmosphere was great on Shankill Main Street, where from 1 pm to 6 pm everyone could browse the festive stalls selling glittering gifts, cards, decorations, and crafts and warm up with mulled wine, crepes, doughnuts, mince pies and other treats.

The children could take a ride on the carousels besides Brady's Pub and also try out the obstacle course. Santa made a very special visit to Shankill bringing gifts for all the children present in the village. Street performers, jugglers and live music performed by the Bray Gospel Choir and Tumbleweed made the day even brighter and happier for everybody.

Swan Winter Craft Fair

This event was organised by SWAN (Supporting Women & Networking in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown) and took place in Stonebridge Community Facility. Lots of businesses and crafters sold their items ranging from handknitted gifts to stocking fillers for dogs and cakes.

St. Anne's Parish Christmas Fair

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. everyone could drop in to St. Anne's Resource Centre to warm up with hot food and drinks and have some pancakes and mince pies. The organisers also included a Wheel of Fortune and lots handcrafted items and cakes for sale.

To add to the overall seasonal joy, everyone could enter lots of raffles at each of the three locations with prizes from hampers and vouchers to meals, cameras and money prizes.