for St Paul’s church and Bedford Hospital Charity & Friends
The Magic of Christmas, Bedford’s annual Tree Festival at St Paul’s, raised a further £23,000 for Bedford Hospital Charity & Friends and St Paul’s Church bringing the total raised over 25 years, since its inception, to an astonishing £250,000 towards the work of both charities.
Margaret Oakley, Festival Chair said:
“We are utterly delighted at the continued success of this community event which brings in so many visitors to support such an important fundraiser. Many of the tree decorators, whether schools, charities or local community groups take such pride in creating the thematic decorations. The 2024 People’s Trophy for best adult tree was again awarded to Lemon & Ginger – Knit • Crochet • Sew while the junior award was given to Scott Primary School“.
Margaret added that such enthusiasm is shown by voting visitors that the Festival Committee is also publicising runners up- for adult trees, this was Aragon Lace closely followed by Youth Inspired while for the juniors, Edith Cavell Primary School was the runner up, followed closely by Bromham Livingstone Cub Scouts. Many congratulations to all!
2025 marks the Silver Jubilee since the first Christmas Tree Festival at St Paul’s. To celebrate this landmark year, the theme for 2025 is to be ‘Christmas Past, Present & Future’ and will again run for five days 3-7 December. Decorators will be invited to apply for a tree in September when they can email: treefestival@stpaulschurchbedford.org.uk
The funds raised are always divided equally between the two charities. Those for St Paul’s go towards its work of keeping the church open for worship and welcome and for its support of the vulnerable in Bedford. The Hospital Charity’s efforts will go towards refurbishing two dedicated cancer care rooms on the children’s Riverbank Ward, enabling patients to receive specialist treatment locally without needing to travel afar.
These funds come from many sources, including sponsorship, the evening concert and the raffle. The daily 42 choirs and performers help to bring in 1000s of visitors (footfall roughly 7,500) while the team of volunteers is indispensable.
