Special Christmas service at St. Cuthbert’s Centre United Reformed Church
Wednesday 24th December 10am Christmas Eve Communion
Dear Friends
As we enter the season of Advent and look forward to celebrating the birth of Jesus, so it is both a time
to look forward and a time to reflect.
We look back on a busy year when, for much of the time, we have been able to offer many visitors a
short time of peace and quiet, away from the hustle and bustle around the centre of the village and the
main tourist attractions of the island. In addition, our various Artist in Residence events, workshops and
other activities have drawn people to St Cuthbert’s for those purposes and, we believe, they have often
found a lot more than they expected.
Since our last newsletter in September, we have had our final Artist in Residence, in the shape of Gail Curry’s “Drawn to the Light” exhibition. Gail facilitated the creation of a community artwork over her time with us and was also kind enough to paint a picture of the Centre which she has gifted to us.
At the end of October, we were pleased to welcome back our Troubadour, singer-songwriter Gareth Davies-Jones, who shared an evening of songs and stories tracing his musical pilgrimage back in June, from Holy Island to Durham Cathedral. It was a unique and special evening.
Following our Open Garden Event and completion of our Community Mosaic, interest in the Garden Trail has been high. Our initial printing of
leaflets lasted about a month! We have now had a new supply of 500 printed professionally which we hope will last us for most of next year.
These leaflets, along with those for our walks of awareness around the island seem to be appreciated and it is encouraging to note an increase in donations which help cover the costs of providing these resources to support the mission of the Centre.
The Bothy continues to provide accommodation to support individual guests on a time of personal retreat on the island. All our guests seem to value both the accommodation and the opportunity to get away from their busy routines elsewhere. Although we are already heavily booked through 2026, if a stay at the Bothy is of interest to you then check our website and get in touch with our Bookings Administrator, Kay Keen.
Looking further ahead, into 2026, we are already busy agreeing dates for events and, particularly, a range of Artists in Residence exhibitions. Most of those coming in 2026 are new to St Cuthbert’s and we will share full details once we have everything finalised.
Also in 2026, we are looking at re-launching a slightly more formal “Friends of St Cuthbert’s Centre” programme early in 2026. Some of our readers may have been part of the old scheme which faded out quite a few years ago now and we are looking at how we can start something like this again to help you to feel engaged with the exciting opportunities for mission which are going on at St Cuthbert’s. Look out for an update on this early in 2026.
We wish you a peaceful and blessed Christmas and thank you for all your prayerful support through
2025 – it has been an exciting year and 2026 looks like being just as busy!
Revd Kay Blackwell and the Management Group – Jean, Lucy, Sheila, Kay K, and Alison
