Christmas church services around Cuckfield

Welcome to Cuckfield Life’s churches of Cuckfield Christmas services event page. Here you will find our most recent information for everything Christmas in our churches.

See also, Cuckfield Baptist Church, Holy Trinity, Cuckfield

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Cuckfield Baptist Church

office@cuckfieldbc.com
01444 473531
www.cuckfieldbaptistchurch.com

Sunday 8th December - 6pm
Carols by candlelight

Saturday 21st December - 4pm
Family Nativity Service

Wednesday 25th December - 10.30am
Christmas Day services

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Holy Trinity Church, Cuckfield

01444 456461
www.holytrinitycuckfield.org

Sunday 8th December – 9.45am
“Worship for All” Toy Service * Celebrate the gift of giving by donating toys for children in need

Sunday 8th December – 6pm
Inspiring Angels & Evergreens - A Community Carol Service * Sing carols among the sparkling trees at the Christmas Tree Festival

Wednesday 11th December – 9pm at St Mary Magdalene, Bolney
Sung Compline for Advent A quiet, candlelit service of prayer and stillness at the close of the day

Sunday 22nd December – 6pm
Candlelit Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols Our most traditional carol service. Experience the Christmas story through traditional scripture and song, followed by festive refreshments

Wednesday 18th December – 9pm
Sung Compline for Advent A quiet, candlelit service of prayer and stillness at the close of the day

Christmas Eve 24th December
Crib Service at 2.30pm & 4pm *
A lively, family-friendly retelling of the Nativity Booking is essential, please visit our website www.holytrinitycuckfield.org/cuckfield-christmas-2024

Christmas Eve 24th December
Midnight Mass at 11.15pm - A moving celebration of Christ’s birth

Christmas Day 25th December – 9.45am
“Worship for All” Christmas Eucharist” A joyful Christmas morning service for all ages with carols and communion

Monday 6th January – 7pm
Epiphany Choral Eucharist Mark the visit of the Magi with beautiful choral music and a special supper afterwards

* Particularly suitable for Children and Families

Nadia fundraises for Ukraine in Cuckfield

Ukraine has been an independent state since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. At the time of writing, and according to data collated by the United Nations, there have already been almost 3,000 civilian casualties, more than eleven million refugees fleeing the hostilities, and over £400m given in UK aid alone. As the fighting continues, more and more doors are opening up across Britain from individuals and families welcoming those trying to escape the conflict. Dozens of charities throughout the UK have raised huge sums of money in support of the ongoing humanitarian crisis.

Social media is awash with fundraising pages illustrating ways in which we can do our bit to help. Local businesses and everyday people are all also getting involved, from sporting events and quiz nights, to auctions, charity concerts and lottery raffles. And some are baking cakes. Nadia Clay is a former Ukrainian national and at the end of March she held a bake sale in the centre of Cuckfield. She, her Slovakian friend, Zoya Karcova, and her eldest son Max helped to raise over £1,000 for the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. Apart from Zoya and her baking a lot of cakes, many were also kindly donated by local people as well as parents of pupils attending Holy Trinity school. “I have so many people to thank and don’t quite know where to start. The list is long and rather than thank people individually I’d just like to say, ‘thank you so much to everyone who got involved and to all those who turned out on the day; you know who you are’.”

Nadia has lived in the UK for over eight years now. Max went to Warden Park, her youngest son, Alex, still attends Holy Trinity School and was baptised in the local church. Also, she was married in Cuckfield, so she knows the village and the people that live here very well. But Ukraine will always be close to her heart. “There are so many people, especially in Eastern Ukraine, who have fled their homes who now face the challenge of completely rebuilding their lives and starting all over again.”

Nadia grew up in the city of Ivano-Frankivsk, 600km west of the capital, Kyiv. “I am from the Oblast Mountain region not too far from the Polish border. It is very green with many unique villages nearby. It is also very close to Bukovel, the largest ski resort in the whole of Ukraine. It is very beautiful there.” Both of Nadia’s parents still live in the Ivano-Frankivsk, and neither one of them wants to leave, even if the fighting spreads. “My father and mother are both elderly now. My dad doesn’t want to leave the home that he’s lived in all of his life. My Mum feels the same way. Every day I worry about them, about not being able to see them again, or my friends. We were supposed to be visiting them later this month but that’s not going to happen now.” The sense of helplessness Nadia feels, not only for her family, but also for the Ukrainian people as a whole is clear.

Even from our quiet corner of Mid Sussex, we must all hope for peace. Plus, of course, there are many ways to support the people of Ukraine, both practically and financially.

Update from Bolnore VIllage Community Interest Company

By Carlos Leon, director Bolnore Village CIC

Vans like this one from Sussex Coffee Vans have added a bit of colour and variety to Bolnore

In 2015 when I suggested to others that we should look into replacing the management company that developers had lumbered us for nearly 15 years just about everyone shared the frustration of not really knowing what our money was spent on, how contractors were chosen and why we had no say in how things were done.

Before long, a team of five of us had met with estate managers from around the south east, roughly figured out the legalities of taking over management, and with the help of Pembroke, who we finally settled on as the best choice for the daily nitty gritty of estate management tasks, set up the Bolnore Village Community Interest Company on behalf of all of its members (anyone who owns property in Bolnore), the first CIC—a kind of company that has many of the benefits of a charity - in the country to set up as an residents’ management company.

Four of those five founding directors of the BVCIC have now gone and in a few weeks it’ll be my turn to step down. The remaining directors: Nadine, Naomi, Jason and Paul and hopefully some new faces will continue to keep Pembroke and the councils in check, and make sure everyone who has something to do with Bolnore keeps talking (including those responsible for phases 4 & 5 of Bolnore which are confusingly managed separately).

Our AGM would normally have just taken place and been attended by some 30 residents who mostly want to know what can be done about parking or school traffic, to which every year our response would be that only the councils can do anything about it and simply asked those present to encourage people to park sensibly or use the “walking bus” between the School and the Woodside.

To others, the BVCIC is responsible for “banning” food vans from the square, “inviting” food vans to the square, making sure one part of the village looks nicer than another, dealing with anti-social neighbours or making up rules for Bolnore… none of which is true.

So, obviously, one of the things we’ve been unable to do is make clear who’s responsible for what. Only this week for example I’ve found out that Bellway Homes still owns a tiny patch of land (about 12 trees and a brook) near Whitebeam Mews, which everyone seems to have forgotten about, probably even Bellway; should be owned by MSDC and no one knows who to contact about making some overgrown poplar trees safe. The muddle of responsibilities is mindboggling and although we don’t always know the answers we’ve always tried to point people in the right direction, solve problems, explain bills or sort out the mess caused by bad planning (in its broadest sense) and constant buck-passing.

The lack of planning, especially in the way management of the village was set up when homes were first sold, the time it takes Crest Nicholson to do anything that doesn’t directly result in sales or the fact that neither West Sussex County Council or MSDC have much incentive or power to fix things have left their mark on Bolnore. I really hope councils learn from this on other big developments, but somehow doubt they will!