The Finance

The Parish Council were very generous in providing grants to help cover the costs of the ‘free’ events and in participating in organising some events. They submitted an application to the National Lottery ‘Awards for All’ Fund for a grant to cover various aspects of heritage and community activity. The Celebrate 2008 treasurer was instrumental in the form-filling and the grant was received in full.

Well done, Taunton Deane!

We recognised in the early stages that there would be huge amounts of paperwork to do and we needed someone who could plough their way through legislation. It was anticipated that two events in particular would attract significant crowds and compliance with local health and safety, insurance, licences and other legislation was daunting. However Taunton Deane - our local authority - was very supportive and it proves that with determination and co-operation, modern day red tape can be overcome!

The Preparation

In the autumn of 2007 every house in the village received a free, high quality calendar depicting all aspects of life in Bishop's Hull. It was produced with the help of sponsorship from local businesses as well as Awards for All. It was personally delivered to every house in the village in 2007 by people knocking on doors and informing the householders about all the coming events. It was received with much appreciation. The process of gathering volunteers - an estimated 200 - also began at this time. A month before the June festival, every household was visited again with a full programme of the week’s activities including free tickets for local residents.

A ‘Living History’ project was undertaken as part of the Celebrations, with the production of a high quality DVD where young people from the church and the community interviewed a number of elderly residents about their memories of village life in the past. This was produced with professional assistance, took a year to make and established long term relationships across the generations. The profit so far from the sale of the DVD is over £200 and the young people have chosen to give it to ‘Open Door’, a charity for the homeless in Taunton.

The Week

As many venues as possible were used for the festival week. This included two of the nursing homes. The Manor Nursing Home is housed in the oldest building in the village and opened its doors daily to the public with an art and local history exhibition. Bishop's Hull House (now South –West Learning) were persuaded to host a pig roast (by the local butcher) and a Barbershop evening, and the school participated all week. The pub held a breakfast for local businesses, the mayor of Taunton and the festival organisers. The Meryan Hotel held two breakfasts in the week - one with the M.P. and senior students from the secondary school and the other with the Bishop of Taunton and a large midweek 8am congregation.

The church itself hosted events that surprised everyone. For the Celebrate 2008 events the church installed blackout curtains and purchased a projector. A film day was held with three separate performances, one for the elderly residents in the morning, another for the school children in the afternoon and a third for the rest of the village in the evening. The church was packed for a Lecture on Bishop's Hull in the 17^th Century given by a retired County Historian.

The village youth group (average age eleven) performed a play in the church, specially written by a local storyteller for the occasion. This was followed by a performance by the newly-formed hand-bell ringers (average age 71). On the Friday evening the Church was taken over for a black- tie Ritz and Glitz dinner event where 90 people from all walks of the village attended a fabulous evening of dinner and dancing, story telling and a live jazz band. The young people of the church acted as waiters and waitresses.

The Bishop of Taunton, Peter Maurice, unveiled the new Heritage Trail and walked part of it with local children. A tithe map of the village dating back to the 1700’s has been produced and a large copy is now displayed in the church.

On the final Sunday an outdoor service was held in the park, accompanied by Taunton Concert Band and attended by over 200 villagers. The week concluded with a Festival Evening Service led by the United Reformed Church minister, with the Archdeacon of Taunton preaching.

Other events were a barn-dance and a cricket match in which an invited cricket team (including the archdeacon and local clergy, captained by a former Somerset player) played against Bishop's Hull cricket club. Sealed Knot battles took place on the final Saturday and Sunday, staged on fields just outside the village generously made available by a local farmer. The Civil War was of course of the same epoch as the casting of our bells!

On the Saturday evening 1000 villagers came to the Party in the Park with their picnics and every generation danced together to local bands. The evening finished with fireworks. The vicar asked the crowd if we should do it again. The cry of ‘yes’ was loud and clear.

Conclusion

The events of the week were designed to improve the community spirit of the village through emphasising our heritage, history and encompassing all aspects of our village life. Events that could be shared by all generations were high on the agenda. What became clear over the two years of planning and during the festival week was that the church community has by its very nature a lot of experience of bringing people together, working with volunteers and organising events that are designed for others. They are used to getting things done and working towards a common goal.

Being involved in a project like this meant working alongside and relying on people from all sections of the community and of every temperament and keeping them all on board. It was the church who had to keep the enthusiasm and momentum going during the down times and it was a steep learning curve for us all. A number of other villages and organisations have asked us how we achieved what we did and we are in the process of putting a document together covering the practicalities.

The Way Ahead

Letters and comments of appreciation were received from local residents, the parish council and other organisations recognising the positive impact the celebrations had on the community spirit of the whole village.

It was essential that the goodwill generated should be harnessed to promote the future of community and village events and another committee has been formed and plans are well underway for a special weekend in July this year. Although ‘Celebrate 2008’ did not set out with the objective of making a profit, a surplus was made which enabled £1,000 to be handed on to the new committee. Grants were also made to two local charities, as well as small donations to village groups such as the Youth Group, Brownies, Flower Show etc.

Over the course of last two or three years the church has increasingly been used as a venue for social and charity events. The 2008 celebrations clarified the potential of our church building and its importance as a centre of gathering for the whole community. To that end the Parochial Church Council are looking to improve the facilities of the church so that, whilst still retaining its ‘holy space’, it becomes a building that is available throughout the week and one that fosters the building up of community. We envisage the cost to be in the region of £100,000.