SPRED GALLOWAY

CAROL SINGING- 17TH DECEMBER 

We will be in the Ayr Central Shopping Centre between 11 am and 1.30 pm. 

It is hoped that just like last year we will be joined by Choirs from St John’s Primary and Queen Margaret Secondary. Come along and join our SPRED Galloway Choir.  Again we welcome all who want to come along and join in the fun.

ADVENT SERVICE- 4TH DECEMBER

This will take place in St Margaret’s Church Hall, beginning at 7 pm.

It is open to everyone in the SPRED Galloway Family. 

This has been a popular and well attended event.  Come along and bring someone with you. 

ADVENT DIOCESAN MASS & CHRISTMAS PARTY- SUNDAY 30TH

On Sunday we have one of the highlights of the SPRED Calendar.  It is of course our Advent Mass and Christmas Party.  I hope you are looking forward to it as much as I am!

TRANSPORT ARRANGEMENTS 

I am in the process of organising lifts for people who require them.  If for any reason you require a lift and I have not spoken to you, then please get in touch with me using my mobile number: 07306138442.  

ADVENT MASS 

The Advent Mass begins at 11:15, and while nothing is set in stone yet, I have contacted Fr Willie about adding some SPRED flavour to the Mass, allowing our Friends to participate, and, of course, adding one of our favourites, Shine Jesus Shine, to the hymn list, as well as asking for other ways we could get involved! 

CHRISTMAS PARTY 

The Christmas Party will be in the Church Hall after Mass, where there will be food, drink, music and carols, a chance to dance, games, and a special guest appearance…! 

OUR GROUPS 

At the heart of SPRED is the work done in our local groups. In the Diocese of Galloway, we have 3 Groups in Ayr, One in Kilmarnock and One in Stevenston. We want to highlight this work throughout the month of November.  

AYR MONDAY AFTERNOON GROUP 

All our Ayr Groups meet in St Margaret’s Church Hall.  A big thank you to Fr David Borland and the Parishioners for letting us use the Hall free of charge.  

Here are a few pictures that show some of what goes on in our SPRED Community Sessions: 

This is our Ayr Monday Group singing ‘Companions On The Journey,’ with the hand gestures.

This is them doing their quiet activities.

The group gathers in the Celebration Circle, where we share God’s Word.

The group sings their farewell song- ‘Shalom.’

We are also continuing our series highlighting our Community Sessions. This week it is Session 5.  

THEME: Jesus wants us to live with Him in Heaven

OBJECT: Picture of your Favourite Place

SHARING: A time when you were in your Favourite Place

MESSAGE: Jesus says to you, “come and live with me in Heaven.”

SONG: Be Thou My Vision

Please become a Follower of our new Facebook Page Spred Galloway (it’s a link!).  If you are already a Follower then can you try and persuade at least one other person to also Follow us! 

ST MARGARET’S CHRISTMAS FAIR AND CHARITY AUCTION 

The SPRED Galloway Family have been invited to St Margaret’s Christmas Fair and Auction as follows:

“Come and enjoy an evening of community spirit, laughter, and festive cheer. It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the season together, share in the joy of giving, and create happy memories with friends and family.” 

DETAILS 

Where: St Margaret’s Church Hall 

Date: Friday 28 November  

Light Switch On: 5.30 pm 

Christmas Fair: 6–8 pm 

FESTIVE FUN INCLUDES: 

Santa’s Grotto – a magical experience for children 

North Pole Post Office – send a special letter to Santa 

Creative Corner – a hands-on crafting experience 

Artisanal Stalls – browse unique gifts and local crafts 

Performances by Wellington Senior School Choir and St John’s Primary School Choir 

ENTRANCE FEES 

Free entry for children 

£2 Entry for Adults.  

All monies raised on the night will go to UNICEF & Children First charities.  

For more information or inquiries: 

Libby Crabb 

Email: rc.ayr.link@outlook.com 

Phone: 07763 593224 

APPEAL FOR FOLLOWERS

Please try and check out the website and our Facebook page once a fortnight! 

Additionally, I wish to make an appeal for you to try and encourage one other person to become a follower—our target is 100 followers which would allow us to Live Stream our sessions. 

CHOIR APPEAL: UPDATE

Hands up; we leapt before we looked. Unfortunately, when we looked into this further, it is not the fundraising opportunity we thought it was. We didn’t know that those slots were taken back in January of this year. Therefore, we will not be taking up the offer of providing a Choir for the Tesco Extra store in Whitletts Ayr this December.  We are sorry if anyone is disappointed by this decision.

However, we will look at booking a Fundraising Choir event in January next year for the Christmas Season 2026.  Watch this space! 

OSCR REPORT SUBMITTED!

Our OSCR report for 2024 has been submitted, and you can view it on the website by clicking ‘Financial’ up above, or following this link!

Above is a screenshot from OSCR’s website, and seeing how we’ve improved since Hugh took over, in plain black and white (okay blue and orange) is marvelous.

COMMISSIONING MASS 

Everyone present was delighted to welcome Fr Philip Kitchen to celebrate our Commissioning Mass as our newly appointed Chaplain. 

Our anthem Companions on the Journey and our favourite hymn Shine Jesus Shine were sung with our usual SPRED gusto. Gestures were used in both as well as during our Psalm.   

Members of various Groups both Friends and Faith Companions were involved throughout the Mass. 

After Fr Philip read the Gospel, he delivered the simple message of “Follow Me,” then led us in a Rite of Commissioning for our Catechists/Faith Companions. He then gave a Blessing to our Friends and their Family and Carers. 

During our Communion Thanksgiving Hymn we sang The Summons, which helped us to reflect on our own calling within SPRED. 

Our Commissioning Mass was both a holy and joyful celebration. 

AGM

Our AGM was held after our Commissioning Mass. The intention is that this will NOT happen next year and that we will try and hold this much earlier in the year. 

The following Reports for 2024 were considered: 

• Annual Trustee Report  

• Coordinator’s Report 

• Financial Report 

There were no nominees for election to the Board of Trustees. 

It was noted that the Constitution has been amended to allow Teams or Remote Board of Trustee Meetings. 

Questions to be addressed were raised during the Agape. 

The Annual Trustee’s Report and our Independent Examiners Report and our internal Receipts and Payments Account will be posted onto our Website during October after our Annual OSCR Return has been made.   

SPECIAL EVENTS

SCOTTISH LEARNING DISABILITY WEEK 8TH-15TH SEPTEMBER

This week is Scottish Learning Disability Week! Learn more about it by pressing this link here!

COMMISSIONING MASS AND AGM  

ST. MARGARET’S CHURCH HALL, AYR

THURSDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER: 7PM

The Commissioning Mass will be similar to last year. There will be a Rite of Commissioning for our Faith Companions/Catechists, and a blessing for our Friends and their Family/Carers.

This will then be followed by a short AGM with the usual reports.

Session booklets for our Ayr Groups and our Kilmarnock Parishes Group will be available for collection.

Please come along, as I would like as many people as possible to attend, and all Groups to be represented!

This will be Fr Philip’s first duty as our Chaplain!

 SUMMER PARTY AND MASS 

Another successful SPRED Galloway event took place last Saturday 9 August. 

It was so well attended that St Ann’s small Church Hall was bursting at the seams.  There was at least 30 people present which included representatives from all our Ayr/St Margaret’s Groups and a large contingent from the St John’s Stevenson Group.  

A fuller report will be included in a future Newsletter but in summary the afternoon was split into 3 sections: 

• Party 
• Community Singing
• Mass 

Pictures will be up in the gallery and the newsletter, but in the meantime, something to whet curious appetites;

A big SPRED thank you to the following people: 

Everyone for coming and making it such a joyful day – especially Hugh and Marie for their singing contributions. 

Fr Willie and the Parishioners of St Ann’s for being so welcoming to us. 

Denise and Julie for setting up the Hall. 

Scott for performing his DJ duties. 

Everyone who provided anything for our Agape – we could have fed the 5,000! 

NEWS UPDATE 4.08.25 

SUMMER EVENT – SATURDAY 9 AUGUST 

Plans are being finalised to have a Party and Mass event on Saturday 9 August in St Ann’s, Mossblown. The Party will take place between approximately 1.30 – 3.30 pm.  We will then celebrate Mass together at the 4 pm Vigil Mass.

PARTY & AGAPE

If you have any musical requests, please message our resident DJ, Scott. As for the Agape, feel free to bring something along; especially your favourite drink!

SUMMER GRAND RAFFLE

Thank you to everyone who took part in, donated to and helped with our Summer Grand Raffle. It was a huge success for SPRED Galloway and we could not have achieved our goal if it were not for the love and support of our community.

We are currently in the process of making sure all prizes are distributed and we will announce our final total in our upcoming newsletter!