Residents turned busy bees at a Great Get Together workshop held to make items to decorate their village in the lead-up to their scarecrow festival in September.
The Great Get Together initiative sees communities teaming up throughout the UK in memory of murdered MP Jo Cox and on Saturday (June 22) High Wych villagers fully embraced the idea.
Organisers reported a record turnout since first holding the event seven years ago, with 90 residents turning up to create bees from offcuts of railway drainage pipe and plaster covered balloons.
Snails also joined the party made from sweet tubs and socks - along with upcycled plastic sunflowers with fabric scraps and hessian centres.
“Superstar knitter” Margaret Nash enlisted fellow crafters to make a whole host of adorable bugs to fill St James The Great church. Last year Margaret and her daughter Amanda Abbott made most of the church mice which were so popular with visitors.
Meanwhile outside there were ‘men at work’ making wooden signposts for the bees. Rosemary Abbott again led the children’s table and they had fun painting colourful pebbles and colouring in paper butterflies (hand-drawn by Rae Edmondson).
Organisers scatter the bees and other creations around the village to draw attention to the forthcoming scarecrow festival. The creations are also sold at the event to raise money for charity.
Organisers Janet Bellingham and Val Foster were delighted with the turnout and thanked all the “willing and wonderful” participants who came along to get creative and messy! They also were grateful to Mary Keens, Christine Smith, Edie Threadgold and the other helpers who led and inspired each table - and to Alison Nielson and Kate Clark who provided refreshments and cake.
The Great Get Together events were launched by the Jo Cox Foundation in 2017 and was inspired by the MP’s belief that we have more in common than that which divides us.
The events, held over the weekend closest to the murdered MP’s birthday, celebrate unity and reject division, bridging divides and demonstrating our shared humanity.
High Wych Scarecrow Festival will be held over the weekend of September 7 and 8.
Got a story? Contact newsdesk@stortfordindie.co.uk