floral festive cheer funded in tow law

Funding from believe housing has helped Christmas spirit bloom in Tow Law.

Hosted by the Parochial Church Council of Tow Law, the Tow Law Community Winter Festival decked the halls of the Church of St Philip and St James with festive floral arrangements.

Large flower displays took inspiration from classic carols, contemporary songs and famous festive movies. While the Tow Law Community Choir opened the festival with some Christmas songs, and the Mother’s Union provided festive refreshments with mince pies and non-alcoholic ginger wine.

The Church Council were inspired by the coronavirus pandemic and two years of lockdowns to give the village a reason to come together and combat loneliness and isolation. The festival was open to all and gave locals the chance to socialise in the church hall and come together to celebrate Christmas.

Chris Morrow from the Parochial Church Council of Tow Law said: “The last two years have been difficult for all of us, so we wanted a reason to bring people together this Christmas. We enjoyed seeing people from across Tow Law come together and start their Christmas celebrations at our Community Winter Festival.”

believe housing provided a grant of £500 to the Parochial Church Council to help make the event a reality. The funding comes from the County Durham-based housing association’s community grants programme, which assisted local groups with more than £150,000 last year.

Community Investment Coordinator at believe housing, Joanne Norman, said: “Social isolation and loneliness are two major issues that were brought on by lockdown. Supporting the Tow Law Community Winter Festival through our community grant programme was a great way to bring the community together once again and bring some Christmas cheer to those who felt isolated throughout the pandemic.”

More information on believe housing’s grant programme is available here, or by calling the Community Investment Team on 0300 1311 999.