Beverley Minster Hosts Christmas Tree Festival Showcasing Community Stories

Preparations are nearing completion for one of the United Kingdom’s largest Christmas tree festivals. Featuring 150 adorned trees, the event at Beverley Minster is believed to be the biggest of its kind hosted within a church. The medieval structure provides a stunning backdrop, with trees arranged along almost all its interior walls. The festival is scheduled to run daily through Sunday. It represents a significant community undertaking, engaging schools, charitable organizations, and local families. Each tree on display conveys a unique narrative, with certain exhibits holding particularly poignant significance. Katy and Paul Cowell have adorned a fir tree with golden angels crafted from sculpted wire. Every angel bears a star inscribed with the name of a child who has passed away. This display aims to increase awareness for Abbie’s Fund, a charity established by the couple in memory of their daughter. Mrs Cowell stated: “Our tree this year is called ‘Feathers Appear When Angels Are Near’.“We set Abbie’s Fund up 14 years ago in memory of our daughter, who was born sleeping at 38 weeks gestation, and we’ve had a tree here every year since the festival started.“She was a beautiful little girl, but she just didn’t survive.” A significant portion of the charity’s efforts involves assembling memory boxes for families grieving the loss of infants, children, and parents. Ms Cowell described the act of decorating the tree with children’s names as “a privilege”. She added: “Parents always fear that their babies are going to be forgotten. And this is a way to remember them.” Karen Simpkin is participating in the event for the first time. Her tree features decorations of fresh flowers and baubles containing petal confetti. Some of the floral elements originated from a donated bridal bouquet, while others were contributed by a son and daughter from their mother’s funeral. Ms Simpkin, who operates the Flower Box, commented: “It’s a representation of the community on this tree.” All the flowers utilized have been upcycled, preventing some from potentially being discarded into animal feed or rubbish bins. Ms Simpkin said: “We get donations from people and from supermarkets. I’m out early or late picking up rescued flowers so we can turn them round very quickly.“They would just wither, they would be left to fade away. When you look at a fair trade rose from Ethiopia in Africa, how can it go to animal feed?” Sarah Lacy and Claire Raper are also contributing a tree. They had to step outside to check on their goats. The three trainee therapy goats were not permitted inside the minster during the decoration process, but they garnered considerable interest from people passing by. Ms Lacy chuckled, asking: “Why bring the goats? Why not?” Their charitable organization, Ascend, supports individuals with special educational needs and those experiencing mental health challenges, including anxiety. The charity maintains several therapy animals. Sarah elaborated: “We’ve also got horses, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens.” While embracing the goats, she further commented: “A lot of children in inner cities and more socially deprived areas aren’t quite sure what these animals are. “We’ve been asked if they’re dogs, if they’re big cats – things like that. So it’s nice for the children to know about all the different animals.” The Beverley Christmas Tree Festival is open daily until Sunday. Opening times are: Admission costs £5 at the door, payable by cash or card. Children accompanied by an adult are admitted free of charge. The final entry is permitted 30 minutes prior to closing. For highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire, listeners can access BBC Sounds; the latest episode of Look North is available for viewing; or story suggestions can be submitted via this platform. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content of external sites. Details regarding its approach to external linking are provided.