The very popular auction in aid of the Updale Reading Room was held in the Coach House Inn on Saturday evening. As usual, the event was packed out and became livelier and the bidding more extravagant as the night went on! The magnificent sum of £2010 was raised, the most this event has ever achieved.

The organisers would like to express heartfelt thanks to Sue Foster for all her work in helping set the event up in what was a very trying time for her. Also thanks to Dave Oakey and his great team at the Coach House and to Dave Seller, Lori Westwood, Ena Dent and Trevor and Lorraine Dale for running the auction. And, of course, to all those who donated lots for the auction and who gave so freely in bidding for them.

The standard has been set high this year, so the challenge is to do even better in 2019!

The now customary singing of carols, quaffing mulled cider and munching on mince pies in aid of the Yorkshire Air Ambulance will take place on the village green from 6.30pm on Saturday 22 December.

Please note the event for your diaries and pass the time and date around your friends. This is an important charity for us here in the dale and the Air Ambulance needs our best support.

From Lori Westwood:

The famous Rosedale Christmas Auction in aid of the Updale Reading Room/Village Hall will be held in the Coach House Inn on Saturday 24 November 2018 starting at 8.30pm sharp. The Coach House will be open for donations of auction items from 6.00pm.

All are very welcome to join us on this fun evening, when you can top up on your Christmas presents and contribute to local charitable causes by competing to pay outrageous prices for bottles of pickled onions, for example!

The Angel on the Celestial Ladder on the side of St Mary and St Lawrence Church has been moved up a notch as a result of the outstanding £5000 raised at the the recent Flower Festival.

The fund raising effort continues as can be seen from the height of the ladder. Cards, notebooks and the Rosedale 2019 Calendar are available from the Abbey Stores, Graze on The Green tearooms, the Coach House Inn, Gillies Jones Glass and the Caravan Club site shop. Also keep a look out on this site and on social media for further news about fundraising events for this vitally important cause.

Some more images from the festival in St Mary and St Lawrence Church, which has now concluded after a very successful ten days, as indicated in the amounts raised below:

So far over £4800 (and rising) has been raised through donations and sales, a tremendous result and a fitting tribute to all the hard work of the volunteers who set up and helped throughout the festival and especially to the astonishing generosity of all who donated money to the Appeal – it is hoped that the Angel can now be raised a few notches up to the £20,000 mark on the Celestial Ladder (see the exterior wall at the east end of the church).

A preview evening was held for the Flower Festival on Friday 14 September 2018 in aid of the Save Rosedale Abbey Church Appeal. Close to a hundred people, visitors and locals, attended and enjoyed a very convivial event and were royally entertained by the Eskuleles ukelele band.

Over £600 pounds was raised from donations and sales of Appeal related merchandise, an excellent effort by all involved. Thanks go to all who helped set up the the displays and who who contributed to the Appeal on the evening.

Please remember the church will be open to view the wonderful displays by local groups from 10.00am to 5.00pm each day through to Sunday 23 September, with the Harvest Service followed by a Bring-and-Share supper on Saturday 22 September starting at 6.00pm. All are very welcome to St Mary and St Lawrence Church.

Those of you passing by the church recently will have seen the ‘Stairway To Heaven’ fixed to the east wall which is intended to chart the upward progress of our Save Rosedale Abbey Church Appeal. As will be seen by the angel, the appeal has already reached the £15,000 mark – onwards and upwards!

A reminder that the Rosedale Flower Festival in aid of the Appeal starts this coming Saturday 15 September from 10.00 am and goes on each day until Sunday 23 September – entrance is free. Also there will be a Harvest Service at 6.00pm on Saturday 22 September followed by a Bring-and-Share supper. Again all are most welcome to come.

As part of the Save Rosedale Abbey Church Appeal, there will be a flower festival held in St Mary and St Lawrence Church from Saturday 15 September to Sunday 23 September. Entry, which is free, will be from 10.00 am to 5pm each day.

There will be a Preview Evening in the church on Friday 14 September from 6.30pm – join us for a glass of wine and a chance to see the church in all its floral splendour.

On Saturday 22 September there will be a Harvest Service at 6.00pm followed by a ‘Bring and Share’ Supper.

All are welcome to these events. Over £90,000 is needed to make our church safe and secure for the future and you can help the appeal by making a donation while enjoying your visit to our beautifully decorated church.

On Show Day, the church tea and cake tent made £2074 for church funds, with additional donations and sales of cards, calendars and roof slate sponsoring bringing in another £655 for the Save Rosedale Abbey Church Appeal – a terrific result all round.

Congratulations to all the community volunteers who baked a seemingly endless supply of delicious cakes and helped to raise so much money for the church and our appeal.

Please note for your diaries, the Rosedale Flower Festival on 15 to 23 September, with the Harvest Service on Saturday 22 September at 6.00pm followed by a bring and share supper. More details here and on social media.