RACE NIGHT, REAL ALE AND SCARECROWS….Meltham celebrates the Tour de Yorkshire
The parish of Christ the King, Meltham is at the heart of a celebrations to mark the first ever Tour De Yorkshire.
The Tour which starts in Bridlington on Friday May 1 and finishes in Leeds on Sunday 3 May has been dubbed the biggest and most exciting race in the UK. And Stage 3 which starts in Wakefield on Sunday 3 May passes right through the village of Meltham when it sees the peloton make a return to some of the roads raced in the 2014 Yorkshire Grand Départ of the Tour de France.
The parish of Christ the King – which includes the churches of St. Bartholomew’s, Meltham Christ Church, Helme, St James’, Meltham Mills and St Mary’s Wilshaw have organised a big weekend fundraiser which starts over the bank holiday weekend with fun for all the family –and includes the village’s much anticipated scarecrow festival which raises thousands of pounds for local charities.
The Vicar, the Revd Maureen Read said: “We have such a fantastic community here and we are right at the heart of it and wanted to put on a party for everyone to come together, watch the race and raise some funds to give something back to all those who helped us raise the money we needed to restore our clock tower and who support us faithfully week in week out.”
St Bartholomew’s Church have organised a range of fund raising events to get the community into the party spirit.
On Saturday 2nd May, the entertainment kicks off at 7pm with a Race Night in the church hall with a special first appearance by local youth band, First Generation. Guests can buy horses, have a little flutter, enjoy a supper and refreshments and be the first to sample the ‘Real Ales’ from the Festival Bar.
The Tour will come through the village on Sunday 3rd May and the cyclists are expected sometime after 12.30pm. The church hall will be screening the event live and there’s a hog roast and real ale bar.
And on Sunday evening all seven churches that make up Meltham Churches Together will hold their very own Songs of Praise in St Bartholomew’s from 5pm.
Church members have already been voting for their favourite hymns and top of the pops so far include Great is thy faithfulness , Love Divine and Can It Be.
And on Monday hundreds of scarecrows will decorate the streets, gardens, parks and church yards for the traditional scarecrow festival which is now in its sixth year and organised by the Over 60s group.
Two very special local charities will benefit from the weekend’s events, The Tom Wroe Memorial Fund and Street Bikes.
Set up by the family of Private Tom Wroe who lost his life in Afghanistan, the Tom Wroe Memorial Fund raises money for many village amenities and resources and supports projects in local schools.
The second charity that will benefit is Street Bikes. Street Bikes has recycled over 4,000 bikes and donated these to members of the Kirklees Community, who cannot afford to buy a bike for family members who are trying to address health and fitness issues, such as Cancer, depression, Autism, Stroke and other life changing issues and was chosen in memory campaigning veteran cyclist, John Radford who lost his fight for life after he was injured in an incident involving a car in Huddersfield Road, New Mill, on July 31 last year.
Any local business wanting to help support these events should contact aidan@displayit.co.uk
Race Night Tickets including supper: £7.50 Adult / £2.50 Child are available from The Flower Box, Mar