St Mary's Church East Bergholt

02/09/2026

The Rt Revd Dr Joanne Woolway Grenfell, Bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich and a House of Lords member, said it was difficult to comprehend the sheer scale and impact caused by the flash floods that had killed hundreds of people and led to more than 1,000 still missing during the Nepal Disaster this August.

Bishop Joanne encouraged churches in Suffolk to set up fundraising events with money raised to go to Christian Aid or other recognised official charities to help those in need.

02/09/2026

🚲🚶‍♀️ RIDE & STRIDE – SATURDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 🚶‍♂️🚲

Get your walking shoes, bikes, classic cars or even your horses ready! 🐴🚲🚗 Suffolk Historic Churches Trust Trust annual Ride & Stride takes place on Saturday 12 September – and St Mary’s East Bergholt will be one of the churches welcoming participants along the way. ⛪️💚

We’ll be manned throughout the day, so if you’re planning a route through East Bergholt, make sure St Mary’s is one of your stops! Come in, have a look around our beautiful church, meet our volunteers and get your Ride & Stride card signed before continuing on your journey.

📸 Why not make St Mary’s part of your photo competition entry too? The 2026 Church Photo Competition is open to all ages, and you can take a photo of your favourite church or church feature while taking part on the day. St Mary’s has plenty of beautiful features to inspire you!

💚 And there’s an extra reason to support St Mary’s this year: James Cartlidge MP is taking part in Ride & Stride and raising money specifically for St Mary’s. If you’d like to support his fundraising, you can donate here:
👉 https://www.justgiving.com/page/jamescartlidgemp-26

Planning your route? Find all the Ride & Stride information, participating churches and details of the photo competition here:
👉 https://shct.org.uk/ride-and-stride/

So whether you’re walking, cycling, riding or driving, put St Mary’s East Bergholt on your route and come and say hello! ❤️⛪️

31/08/2026

☕🧁 TAKE A BREAK – WITH KNIT & NATTER! 🧶🪡

Our next Take a Break is coming up on Wednesday 2 September! 💚 Whether you’re new to the village, have lived here for years, or simply fancy meeting some friendly faces, come and join us at St Mary’s East Bergholt for a relaxed, welcoming morning with a cuppa, cake and good conversation.

📅 First Wednesday of every month
⏰ 10am–12 noon
📍 West End Meeting Room, St Mary’s Church – entrance through the door opposite the War Memorial.

Next date: Wednesday 2 September 📅

As part of Take a Break we also have Knit & Natter! 🧶 This is a chance for anyone who enjoys knitting, crochet, sewing or any kind of craft to bring along their project, sit with fellow crafters and enjoy some creative time together.

And you don’t have to bring a craft project – or even be interested in knitting! 😄 Knit & Natter is just as much about the natter! Come along simply for the tea, coffee, cake and company, meet some new people and enjoy a friendly chat. ☕🫖🍰

Whether you’re a keen crafter, a cake enthusiast, a tea or coffee drinker, or simply looking for a friendly face and somewhere to spend a couple of hours, you’ll be very welcome.

Come along, bring a friend – or come on your own – and Take a Break with us! ❤️

26/08/2026

26/08/2026

🍸 A GIN WITH A STORY – AND A PURPOSE! 🍸

Looking for a special gift, a treat for yourself, or simply a lovely way to support St Mary’s Church, East Bergholt? 💚

Introducing Mademoiselle Pétale, a small batch rose infused botanical gin created by Nowé Spirits.

Nowé Spirits is a small, independent distillery based in Brandon, Suffolk, creating handcrafted, small-batch spirits locally. We love that this special gin has been made by a local distillery, giving it an even stronger connection to our community and the Suffolk area. 🌿🍸

Made with rose, juniper, lychee, mulberries, orris root and vanilla, this gin has a soft floral character with delicate fruit notes and a smooth finish. 🌹🍸

The liquid carries a beautiful blush pink hue, making it as beautiful in the glass as it is on the label. Elegant, fragrant and beautifully balanced, Mademoiselle Pétale has been created to celebrate St Mary the Virgin Church, East Bergholt, with a portion of proceeds supporting the church Roof fund.

It also celebrates our village's connection with John Constable and his associations with St Mary’s. 💚

🍸 £37.95 per bottle
👉 Order yours via link in Bio (Linktree)

Every bottle sold helps us take another step towards securing the future of St Mary’s. Our £2.2 million Building Project Delivery Phase application has now been submitted to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with a decision expected in December. 🏛️

So why not enjoy a bottle of something rather special while helping a rather special place? ❤️

Thank you for your continued support! 🙏

22/08/2026

📅 ST MARY’S EVENT LIST – SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER ⛪

Here’s a handy list of what’s coming up at St Mary’s Church, East Bergholt over the next few months. Pop the dates in your diary and keep checking back for more details as events get closer! 💚

📌 We’ll be pinning this post to the top of our page, so you can easily find it whenever you want to see what’s coming up and what our events are all about.

SEPTEMBER 🍂

September 2 – ☕ Take a Break (with Knit & Natter) – see graphic

September 5 – 🍳 Men’s Breakfast – Guest Speaker Alan Ryan LVO – see graphic

September 12 – 🚶‍♀️ Ride & Stride – see graphic

September 27 – 🌾 Harvest Festival – see graphic

OCTOBER 🍁

October 7 – ☕ Take a Break

NOVEMBER 🍂

November 4 – ☕ Take a Break

November 15 – 🎶 Jubilate Choral Evening – details to follow

DECEMBER 🎄

December 2 – ☕ Take a Break

December 5–6 – 🎄 Christmas Tree Festival – details to follow

More information and individual event posts will be shared as each date approaches.

21/08/2026

🌾 SAVE THE DATE – HARVEST CELEBRATION 🌾

As autumn approaches, we’ll be gathering at St Mary’s Church, East Bergholt to celebrate Harvest and give thanks for all those who help bring food to our tables.

This year, we’ll be giving particular thanks for our local farmers, food producers and shopkeepers, remembering the challenges they face from rising costs and difficult weather. We’ll also remember those struggling to make ends meet in our communities, and those around the world facing famine and drought. ❤️

📅 Sunday 27th September 2026
⏰ 10.00am – Family Service
📍 St Mary’s Church, East Bergholt

Whether you worship with us regularly, occasionally, or have never been to church before, everyone is warmly invited to come and sing, pray and give thanks.

And, of course, there’ll be refreshments afterwards! ☕🍰

Put the date in your diary – we’d love to see you. 🌾

20/08/2026

Securing the Future of St Mary’s – Lottery Update ⛪

We have some important news to share about the future of St Mary’s Church, East Bergholt.

After a huge amount of work from our project team, our Building Project Delivery Phase application for £2.2 million has finally been submitted to The National Lottery Heritage Fund! 🎉

Now we wait… with a decision expected in December.

The project team has worked incredibly hard to put together the application, supported by a substantial amount of supplementary documents. We are hopeful that the Heritage Fund will support the project and that, if successful, the building work can begin next year.

Where are we now?

The total project cost has increased to £2.8 million, meaning St Mary’s needs to raise just over £550,000 through other grants, donations and fundraising.

Because this project has been rumbling on for so long — since before COVID — we have already raised over £350,000. That is a fantastic achievement, but our fundraising journey is not over yet. We need to continue raising money to help us reach our total.

How can you help? 💷

There are several ways you can support your village church:

• Make a one-off donation
• Make a regular donation — perhaps the equivalent of the cost of a cup of coffee each week
• Come along to our fundraising events
• Buy one of our St Mary’s gifts — if you're looking for presents, we have mugs, tea towels and tote bags featuring the specially dedicated Matt cartoon, as well as lovely prints of the church and village and notelets featuring local scenes. These are available at the back of the church and you can pay by cash or card.
• Buy a bottle of our special bespoke rosé gin — distilled locally in Brandon by Nowe to celebrate John Constable and his associations with St Mary’s. A percentage of every sale comes to the church. Please see the flyer and QR code for details of how to order.

There is one other important way you may be able to help.

Our financial forecasts show that there could be a cash-flow deficit towards the end of the project in 2029. This is because Lottery payments are made in arrears, meaning we will need to pay invoices before we receive the reimbursement from the Heritage Fund.

We are therefore looking for pledges from people willing to provide an interest-free loan for a maximum of 12 months, should this be needed.

At this stage, you are simply offering a pledge. The offer can be withdrawn at any time and the money would not be required until 2029. People are kindly offering amounts they would be willing to lend so that we can demonstrate to the Heritage Fund that any potential cash-flow deficit would be covered.

The amounts don't have to be large — every penny really does help.

If you would like to support the project financially, or would like to discuss any of the above in confidence, please email [email protected] for further information.

Please note: any payments made to support the project need to be clearly referenced as being for the building project.

Want to find out more? 🔎

We've also launched a new website where you can find out more about the project, including the proposed plans, what we are trying to achieve and how you can get involved.

👉 https://www.securethefuture.org.uk/

If you encounter any difficulties using the website, please email [email protected] and let us know so we can iron out any gremlins!

Thank you to everyone who has supported St Mary’s so far. We have come an incredibly long way, and with your continued help, we hope we can secure the future of this very special building for generations to come. ❤️

19/08/2026

Men’s Breakfast at St Mary’s – East Bergholt 🍳☕️

SATURDAY 5th SEPTEMBER come and join us for a relaxed breakfast of bacon butties, bottomless brews, cornflakes, and great company!

📅 Saturday 5th September 2026
⏰ 9:00am
📍 West End Meeting Room, St Mary’s Church, East Bergholt

Whether you’re a regular or coming along for the first time, you’ll be very welcome. It’s a simple, friendly start to the weekend with good conversation and community.

🎤 Guest Speaker: Alan Ryan LVO
Alan will be sharing a fascinating insight into his experience working on the buildings at Buckingham Palace — a unique behind-the-scenes look at one of the world’s most famous buildings and the work that goes on to care for it. 👑🏛️

Reserve your place (so we know how much bacon to cook!):
📧 [email protected]

Free to attend — donations welcome.

A great way to slow down, connect, enjoy a good breakfast and hear a fascinating story along the way!

19/08/2026

🧶📖 The Knitted Bible may have left St Mary’s, but what an amazing two weeks it was!

For those who couldn’t make it, here’s a little glimpse of the exhibition that filled our church with 36 wonderfully knitted scenes from the Old and New Testament – from Noah’s Ark 🐘🦒 and David & Goliath to the Nativity ⭐ and the Lost Sheep. 🐑

Hundreds of knitted figures, animals, food and even palm trees transformed St Mary’s into something truly special – and we loved welcoming so many visitors, sharing stories, serving refreshments and enjoying conversations along the way. ❤️

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make it happen. The knitted Bible has now moved on to its next stop, but we hope this reel brings back some happy memories – and gives those who missed it a taste of what they missed! 🧶✨