St Andrew’s Church was filled to capacity on Thursday (13 December) as guests joined the Mayor of Farnham for this year’s Civic Christmas Carol Service.
Now in its sixth year, the service which is organised by Farnham Town Council and supported by the Farnham Herald, is an opportunity for the Mayor to meet members of the community and thank volunteers for all that they do throughout the year.
Farnham Youth Choir was the highlight of the evening. They gave an outstanding performance which included the world première of ‘On Yesternight I Saw a Sight’ by composer Gareth Treseder.
The choir was conducted by Joanna Tomlinson with musical accompaniment from Matthew Rickard on the piano and Brian Cotterill on the organ.
The service was led by Reverend David Uffindell and included readings from the Mayor of Farnham Councillor David Attfield, Colin Channon from Tindle Newspapers, Maya Capeling from 2ndFarnham (Hale) Scouts, Philip German District Commissioner of Farnham District Scouts and the Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey Brigadier Roger Hood QVRM TD.
Speaking after the service, Councillor David Attfield said: “It was a brilliant evening – fabulous and great to see so many people. The Choir was marvellous, and I think their performance inspired the congregation because everybody sang along with such gusto to favourite carols such as God Rest You Merry Gentlemen and Hark the Herald.
“Many people were involved in the success of the Carol Service so I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Reverend David Uffindell and his team, Sir Ray Tindle CBE DL and his team for supporting the service and organising the public ballot for tickets and the magnificent members of Farnham Youth Choir. Last, but by no means least, I would like to thank everybody who came along to the service and for their generosity. We raised a staggering £785 for my Mayoral charity which is Garner’s Goes Bananas. This is a project to extend and upgrade the Garner’s Field activity centre which is just outside Farnham. The centre has been used by generations of scout groups, Duke of Edinburgh award parties and other youth organisations since the mid-1970s and is now in need of improvement.”
After the service, everybody was invited to join the Mayor for a glass of winter warmer and mince pies.
