High flying teddy bears!

It was no picnic for teddy bears when the new hospitality facilities at St Michael and All Angels Church at Buckland Dinham were dedicated on Saturday 20th June by the Archdeacon of Bath and Wells.

While many of those who attended the ceremony were enjoying cream teas and cakes inside the church and in the church yard, teddies were parachuting from the church tower hoping to win the prize for landing closest to the target pinned in the grass 90 feet below.

And because of the blustery nature of the wind it was no simple descent with some of the brave bears having to be rescued later from the church roof. Winner was Peggy Harris, whose bear, Victoria, landed just a foot or so from the target despite the wind and even though her parachute was the very one, made from a plastic bag and string!

The aim of the new facilities in the church was, as Millie Merriden, chief funder raiser for Buckland Dinham PCC had earlier told a packed church, to help widen the range of functions and events which the church can host.

The additions consisted of a kitchen tucked away in a cupboard, toilet with disabled and extra storage space, all of which had been carefully designed and built to fit into the centuries old church while meeting the needs of the twenty first century.

Welcoming the Archdeacon, the Venerable Nicola Sullivan, to the church Millie Merriden thanked everyone who had helped in any way to raise the funds needed for the work but added that some cash still had to be raised before the project was completed.

Before cutting a ribbon to mark the official opening of the new facilities, Archdeacon Nicola also thanked everyone involved in the project, including the recently retired Mells group rector, Rev Martin Weymont, who had thrown his weight fully behind the work.