SPRED GALLOWAY

SPRED GALLOWAY SUMMER NEWSLETTER

… Well, better late than never! Here’s our bumper Summer Newsletter, and there are a lot of events to cover, so let’s get started. 

EASTER PRAISE AND PARTY- THURSDAY 29TH MAY 

Unfortunately, we could not use St Margaret’s Church Hall this year due to a clash with the preparation for the First Communion Parish celebration. However, we managed to secure the use of St Quivox Church Hall in Prestwick instead. As usual this event was well supported by our groups. The Easter Prayer Service had an outline that included the following:  

  • Welcome 
  • Companions on the Journey 
  • Symbolic Object: Paschal Candle 
  • Preparation of the Table of God’s Word 
  • A series of Readings, Prayers and Hymns accompanied by the completion of a Resurrection scene.  
  • It finished with a Praise Medley.  

We then enjoyed a time of Agape and Party fun – Song, dance, and the usual Pass the Parcel.

SUMMER FETE STALL- 21ST JUNE 

Around 10 people came and helped with our double Summer Fete stall at the Low Green in Ayr. We had slimmed down what we offered but one thing that has become popular over the last couple of years is the Handprints ‘service’ offered by Helena. As a result of a variety of issues, we did not have a bottle stall. There was a Toy Tombola run by Hilary and although it was successful, it was mildly hampered by the fact that there was another stall right beside us that was doing the same thing. Morag and Rosemary ran a stall that included some painted stones and lucky bags for boys and girls. We even had a white elephant stall where we sold a variety of ‘interesting objects.’ Several of our local Friends- namely, Nicola, Margaret Rose, Jason and Billy- came along to help. One of our other local Faith Companions, Denise, was also a helping hand in a variety of tasks.  A young man by the name of Paul – our ICT Administrator – came along after a night shift to help set up. With everyone’s help, we raised a total of £265. 

Thank you so much to everyone who came along! More pictures of the event can be found in the gallery.

DIOCESAN MASS- 22ND JUNE 

Our final Diocesan Mass of the SPRED year was held in St John’s in Stevenson, on Sunday 22 June. Liz Petrie and the St John’s Group worked with Canon Martin Poland to organise this Mass. As a result, members of SPRED Galloway representing most of our Groups got involved in a variety of ways during the Liturgy as follows: 

  • Mimes for both the readings  
  • Provided gestures for the Psalm 
  • Dressing of the Altar and the Procession of Gifts.  

As usual we were warmly welcomed at the 11.30 am Parish Mass and enjoyed a lovingly prepared Agape in the hall afterwards. There was a surprise cake presentation made to the local St John’s Group marking their 25th anniversary. It was the first time we’ve had occasion to use our pop-up banner. To ensure that the day ended with a touch of added excitement, we held our Summer Grand Raffle Draw which went into extra time in a small side room. 

SUMMER GRAND RAFFLE- 22ND JUNE 

This was a hugely successful fundraising event that raised over a thousand pounds!  

All our groups, their extended family members- even the wider public, embraced and supported the event and SPRED’s cause. 

We hope that this will become a regular event on our fundraising calendar. This really did exceed my expectations. 

LOURDES PILGRIMAGE- 7-14TH JULY 

Two of our SPRED Family, Scott O’Hare and Marie Wilkie, joined the Galloway Lourdes Pilgrimage this July. Liz Petrie from the St John’s Group made a special Candle that Scott took with him to light in Lourdes. He also brought back a lovely statue of Our Lady that he has presented to the SPRED Family in Galloway. 

Summer Get-together – Kilmarnock Parishes- MONDAY 21ST JULY 

A report by Kathleen Jones 

Kilmarnock Parishes Group arranged to meet in Dean Castle Country Park. The day dawned a disappointing dull and drizzly one but by the time we met up in the early afternoon, God had blessed us with some lovely sunshine! 

Friends and Faith Companions enjoyed a visit to the Dean Castle where they learned about the history of the castle and saw many interesting artefacts. Some people even climbed the 45 steep spiral stairs to the top of the keep and were rewarded by having fun dressing up in the medieval style costumes, which reminded us of the dance event that one of the Friends had taken part in, earlier in the summer.  

A walk in the gardens and by the river followed before the Group visited the cafe for tea and delicious cakes.  

All present enjoyed the opportunity to meet up during the summer break and are looking forward to the start of the new session.

SUMMER PARTY AND MASS- SATURDAY 9TH AUGUST

Just earlier this month we had another lovely event which was held in St Ann’s Church and Hall. A big thank you to Denise for all her hard work in ensuring the Hall was ready. Around 30 people gathered to party!  We did this in style with some individual and community singing, interactive dancing and games. We had a ball! Our Agape spread was truly substantial and as I reported in a recent news page that we could have fed the 5,000. As we moved from our Party to our Mass we sang some of our favourite SPRED hymns together. We were welcomed by Fr. Willie and the parishioners of St Ann’s. Although it was not strictly a SPRED Mass, we were allowed to provide people from the Ayr Thursday evening and St. John’s groups for the procession of gifts, with Billy Hendren acting as altar server. A great day was had by all.

NEW APPOINTMENTS 

CLERICAL ASSISTANT PLACEMENT- ADAM ROBERTSON 

A big hello to Adam, who has joined SPRED on a 26 Week placement beginning on Monday 4 August!

CHAPLAIN – FR PHILIP KITCHEN  

I am delighted to announce that Fr. Philip Kitchen has been appointed by the Bishop as the Chaplain to SPRED Galloway. His appointment begins at the beginning of the SPRED year in September 2025. 

A big welcome from all the SPRED Family. 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

COMMISSIONING MASS AND AGM – THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 11 

This will take place on Thursday 11 September. This will be Fr. Philip’s first public involvement as our Chaplain. Please invite not only members of your Group both Faith companions/Catechists and Friends but also their Family or Carer as well as any other personal friends or parishioners- everyone is welcome! It would be great if we can have as large a turnout as possible.

POSSIBLE SEPTEMBER PILGRIM WALK

Over the Pentecost Weekend of Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 May 2024 we held a successful Sponsored Pilgrim Walk and raised around £800.  However, the Summer Grand Raffle this year was the focus of our Fundraising from Easter to June and led to me postponing it. I am considering two possibilities for this event to take place during this coming SPRED Year. 

Either we could have our Pilgrim Walk this September on the Weekend of Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 just before the Feast of St Ninian on Tuesday 16 September. 

Or we could try and hold it over the Pentecost Weekend next year Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 May 2026 

This was a good source of Fundraising and raising the profile of SPRED in 2024 so I would not want to lose out on this type of event going forward. 

Please let me know any thoughts you might have about this, including if any other time of year may be a possibility.