600 celebrate 50 years of the Church of the Ascension, Woolston – Gary Skentelbery

MORE than 600 people attended Ascension Fest a five-hour festival at The Church of the Ascension at Woolston, Warrington.

There were fairground rides, a makers market, games and entertainment from Community Objectives, Tanya from the Singing Kettle, young artists and Radio Warrington.All the acts, businesses and organisations that took part were local and the vicar, Rev Rebecca said: After such a challenging year for so many businesses it was good to be able to provide an opportunity to support our local business and creative community.

It was in January last year that the Church of the Ascension was awarded funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to repair the building and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church with 18 months worth of community events.Then in March 2020 the whole world locked down and the plans were thrown into chaos.Determined to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the church and its place in the local community, the team at The Ascension led by heritage engagement officer, Nickie Blondon and pioneer team vicar, Rev Roberts, set about revising the plans to develop a series of online events and covid secure in-person events for the times when restrictions were eased.Events have included a giant Lego model of the church made by Steve Guinness (who last year made the Golden Gates in Lego, and won Brickmasters in 2017), party bags, large scale photos on display outdoors, work with Fox Wood School, a community Christmas tree and light festival, and were rounded off with Ascension Fest.Rev Rebecca said: Despite all of the challenges of the project because of Covid, it has been a real success. Bringing people together is always a very special thing, but after the last year it was particularly special to see so many members of the local community out celebrating together in a safe way.As the 50th anniversary celebrations draw to a close The Ascension hopes it can build on these events in the years to come and use the resources it has gained to further benefit the local community of Woolston, she added.Pictured below: More scenes from Ascension Fest

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600 celebrate 50 years of the Church of the Ascension, Woolston - Gary Skentelbery