Treefest
Thursday 5 - Sunday 8 December
Thursday: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Friday and Saturday: 10:00am - 8:00pm
Sunday: 12:00noon - 4:00pm
What is Treefest?
Treefest is a spectacular festive display of Christmas trees held within the splendid gothic church of St Mary Redcliffe.
Treefest is an opportunity for local people, schools, businesses, charities, community groups and other organisations to decorate a tree and display it in the atmospheric gothic surrounds of St Mary Redcliffe. It's a good opportunity to tell our 1000s of visitors about your organisation for free, while helping to raise money for local charities.
Musical performances
We have a wonderful festive music programme to entertain you during Treefest, featuring a variety of local musical performers.
Download our Treefest leaflet for this year's programme (available in November)
Treefest market
Better Events will be bringing a taste of local to Christmas again this year, with their festive market in the Undercroft at St Mary Redcliffe. Running from 6-8 December during Treefest, come and join us for Bristol-based artists, craftspeople and gifts, plus a bite to eat! We will be running every day with around 20 stalls, plus workshops and Santa might even pop in to say hi!
Christmas shop
Be sure to visit Jackie in our church shop for a range of cards, jewellery, gifts, books, decorations and festive treats!
Get involved
If you would like to enter a Christmas tree, please let us know by filling out our online form
This year's charities
Sixty One
Sixty -One is a Bristol-based charity that supports people with a criminal conviction to lead meaningful crime-free lives. Drawing our inspiration from the Christian faith and the verses found in Isaiah 61, we inspire, enable and support the local community to provide the relational and practical support people need on leaving prison.
Our Projects:
MentorMe – Trains and equips volunteer mentors from local churches to safely support prison-leavers. The team meet in prison and in the community with men and women who are seeking to make positive life changes away from crime. We match them with a trained volunteer mentor and they continue to meet up regularly in the community to work towards their goals. A lifeline for people leaving prison, last year our mentoring programme achieved a 95% reduction in reoffending rates.
Christmas and Easter Gift Bag Projects - With the support of the local community, churches, mentors and volunteers, we enable all 1,800 residents of our four local prisons to receive a bag of thoughtful gifts. Through these projects we are also able to promote our other support services available to people in, and leaving prison.
Rehabilitative Hubs - Sixty-One’s partner church Hubs provide a community-based meeting place where people with a conviction are welcomed and can find a place of acceptance and belonging. Hubs offer food, friendship and support as well as a space where people can volunteer, attend courses, and receive support.
Partnerships – We work in partnership with local organisations, charities, churches and individuals. In this way, we can deliver programmes in prison as well as referring and advising across a range of interventions such as housing, employment, education, arts, music, volunteering, mental health and addiction.
Quotes:
“You have supported me so much since leaving prison and re-establishing in the community. Having someone there each week is such a comfort to me … and it’s helped me to stay clean and away from substances. It is a brilliant scheme helping ex-offenders rebuild their lives.” – A mentee
“Thank you for not forgetting us!” – A recipient of the Easter Gift Project
“When I first came out of prison, I didn’t feel like I was able to fit into society and I didn’t know whether I was going to actually be able to get back into a normal sort of life. […] I’m not quite as depressed as I was and it also got me out of my comfort zone by helping me get out and about a lot more.” - Mentee and Hub attendee
The Hub
The Hub is a community centre on Redcliffe Hill, near St Mary Redcliffe, that’s operated by the church.
We employ a team of three community workers which operates from The Hub providing key services and facilities to local people:
The team consists of:
David Cousins Youth & Community Manager
Andy Carruthers Community Development Officer
Katie Bignell Youth Worker
Services provided include:
Community space and meeting rooms
Free IT and internet access
Information and advice on local services
Homework club
Lunch club
Your donation will help support this important work.
