Children raise their voices to cheer elderly
ELDERLY residents of Park View and neighbouring bungalows enjoyed a Christmas lunch and festive performance from nursery school children at The Park Child and Family Centre. Adventure Hyndburn, formerly Sure Start Hyndburn, hosted the event to spread Christmas cheer and tackle isolation.
The community team made homemade soup with vegetables grown in their on-site community allotment, which warmed visitors before a performance of Christmas songs by children from Little Stars Nursery.
Singing parishioners gathered at a supermarket and pub in Great Harwood to give shoppers and patrons a little festive cheer.
Churches in the town came together at Tesco and the Victoria Hotel for the annual Lancashire Sings Christmas carol service.
They sang along to songs to well-known carols broadcast on BBC Radio Lancashire.
In a separate event in the town, around 100 people also gathered at the Town Hall square for the annual ‘Carols around the Tree’ accompanied by the Salvation Army band.
Accrington Market Hall’s annual Christmas card contest attracted hundreds of entries from children at primary schools and nurseries.
The mayor and mayoress of Hyndburn, Coun Tim O’Kane and Melanie Storey selected 10-year-old Paris Hawke’s festive depiction of Accrington Market Hall as the winner, and Paris will receive 50 cards printed with her design, plus £50 and a sweetie hamper.
The two runners-up were three-year-old Freddie Holland with his drawing of Santa, and Jack Read, age seven, who also drew Santa - stuck in a chimney. The entries are on display in the market hall.
Kindhearted pupils sent shoe boxes to people in need this Christmas.
Students at Peel Park primary school in Accrington filled 201 shoeboxes with clothing, sweets and toiletries, and they have now been sent to countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Kosovo, Moldova, Pakistan, Romania and Serbia.
It was part of a school ‘Kindness Week’ where youngsters were set tasks to help others and give out kindness cards.