Walk of Ages - a little information

Members of Helensburgh Parish Church Choir have a long association with Macmillan Cancer Support, having held a variety of fundraising events over the years. From our annual Bridge Drive to our ever-popular, Christmas "Come and Sing", we have raised over £20,000 for the charity since 2014.

We're not going to to let current restrictions curb our 2021 efforts and invite you to follow us on our 'Walk of Ages', as we virtually tread the 689 miles between the ancient Canterbury Cathedral (597) in the south east of England to our much younger home church (1853) here on the west coast of Scotland over the course of six weeks from 1st May to 6th June 2021.


Each week choir members will walk locally and tally up the miles we total, plotting these on the itinerary of cathedrals we plan to 'visit' on the way.                                                          This blog will keep you updated on our progress as we reach each new sacred building and we do hope you will regularly check back in here to support us on our journey and in our cause.                

You can also show your support for our efforts by donating on our Fundraising page.                          Please consider giving as generously as you can - we've raised over £3,500 in other fundraising efforts since Lockdown restrictions began last March and we'd love to smash our target of £5,000 with this, our latest venture. 

Later in June (if restrictions allow), we invite you to join us  in a special 'Hymnfest' to celebrate our completion and (hopefully) the joy of being able to sing, once again, in our churches; singing together some of the great hymns and praises we've missed so much over this past period of challenge within our fellowship. Watch out for more details of this and how you can request any of your particular 'favourites' within the programme of praise. 

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Mitres, the Magna Carta and a Medieval Murder...

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 Our 'journey' begins in Canterbury , site of the oldest cathedral in the UK. Established in 597AD by St Augustine, a missionary sent to England from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great, this incredible building has been a place of Christian worship since the Roman occupation of Britain and remains the oldest church in England still in use. The word 'cathedral' comes from the Greek word for seat - 'kathedra' and the Latin word for 'chair'. St Augustine established his 'chair' as the first Archbishop of Canterbury, a post held by 105 successors up to the present Most Revd Justin Welby - and head of the Anglican church. The grand Cathedral we see today is the result of many major renovations and additions, being extensively enlarged by the Saxons and following a major fire in 1070, completely rebuilt by the Normans. However, the remains of Augustine's original building lie preserved beneath the Nave. Once occupied by monks, holding substantial archi
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Training begins!

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We've been enjoying some sunny (if rather chilly) days here in the west of Scotland and Choir members have seized upon this better weather to begin their training; limbering up for our Virtual Walk which is scheduled to start on Saturday 1st May...     Keep checking back in regularly to see where we've reached by using this 'News from the Route' tab and the live tracker on the 'Track our Progress' tab! Please also follow the link to our fundraising page to show your support for our efforts:  https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/Team/HelensburghParishChurchChoir
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Musical memories from the heart of London

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