"St Mary's Church, Hitchin fundraising committee is delighted to announce the launch of our Christmas 2015 'Bag for Life' . We need to 'Keep St Mary's Thriving' and we hope the funds raised from selling these specially designed jute shopping bags will help to do just that.
The high-quality large shopping bags have our new 'brand' image on one side, and carry the logos of the 20 local businesses who have helped to cover the initial production costs on the reverse. They are smartly printed in red and black by The Natural Bag Company in Dundee, using ethically and sustainably sourced jute from Calcutta. They will cost £7 each, and there will also be a limited edition Christmas gift bag version arriving soon, priced at £5.
Supporting retailers like Brookers will be selling them, and they will be available alongside the 'Cards for Good Causes' on sale in St Mary's from Friday 23rd October until the end of December. Our Autumn Fair is on Saturday 24th October with stalls, refreshments and the famous Tower visits, so we hope to get sales off to a good start there. On the weekend of November 7th & 8th we will be selling them outside Waitrose in Hitchin, by kind permission of the management.
We have been encouraged by the wonderful support from the public following the damage to our stained glass windows. The cost of keeping the Church open to all, and active in the community is considerable and an on-going challenge for the fundraisers. The plan is for the bags to continue on sale from now on, and there could be new editions and versions in the future.
Obviously the introduction of the 'bag tax' is a great opportunity for charities like ours to reach out with our fundraising, and we hope that the community of Hitchin will give us its support."
