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VE Day on the 8 May was a day of celebration in the parish of Piddington with the community fully embracing the opportunity to come together and commemorate the 80th anniversary. St John the Baptist church in Piddington was located centrally to all the celebrations as the village beacon is just outside the churchyard. Local choir, ‘Just Sing’, entertained a crowd of over 200 locals with a medley of 1940s songs and everyone joined in to sing I vow to thee my country, before the village beacon was lit at precisely 9.30pm in line with other beacons across the country. As the beacon flared, everybody was treated to a spectacular firework display.
It was felt appropriate to theme the church’s contribution around ‘peace’ as the backdrop to these celebrations. The children at Hackleton CEVA Primary School each created a paper dove and all 250 doves were suspended in the church creating a moving statement. Word quickly spread about the display, so much so that many of the crowd came into the church after the fireworks and were prompted to discuss and reflect upon the loss and destruction that war brings. A local artist and member of the congregation provided a beautiful centre piece to the prayer corner which was visited often over the weeks that followed.
The beautiful display of doves for VE day highlighted the partnership between St John’s Associate Priest, Revd Mark Hurley and Hackleton CEVA Primary School. Throughout the year, Mark visits the school leading assemblies and classes as well as inviting each year group to visit the church where Gill Watson and a team of helpers deliver sessions appropriate to the children’s age, from a mock baptism for Year 1 to talking about Transitions with Year 6 as they move on to secondary school. Just recently Year 4 had an enjoyable visit to learn about the events leading up to and including Pentecost.
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