AT Christmas, Wellington and the surrounding villages were visited by a hundreds-strong host of angels proclaiming a message of hope. They filled the churchyards, the park, care homes and schools, as well as finding their way into gift bags for the elderly and onto certificates for the community’s everyday angels.
Following the ‘Angels of Hope’ project at Christmas a new project is being run to bring Angels of Joy back to Wellington and the surrounding villages for Easter.
Rev Richard Kelley, who is co-ordinating the Angel of Joy project, said: “Despite all the challenges of the last few months we wanted to help people focus on all the things that bring us joy.
“There is always something which can be grasped that can give us that sometimes elusive but wonderful feeling that life is good – a beautiful walk in the countryside, love for and from other people, good food. Whatever it is, there is something worthwhile, something which gives you what the French call the joy of living – the joie de vivre.
“The Easter story of new life and the resurrection of Jesus is a story of great joy that follows a time of grief, suffering and sadness.
“The angels in the Easter story share the news that Jesus is risen and that death is not the end.
“They appear in the Easter garden that is full of flowers and signs of new life.
“As we travel the journey out of lockdown we are inviting everyone to help us decorate our Easter angels to create an explosion of joy, colour and new life.
“The Angels of Joy will replace the current Lenten installation in St John’s churchyard on Easter day offering a place to celebrate joy as well as being sent out to surrounding churchyards and places in the community.”
Rev Kelley added: “But to fill over 100 4ft angels and to decorate some outside spaces with joy and colour we need lots of help.
“So everybody, and we mean everybody, is invited to add their contribution to the Angels of Joy project – we need bunting and colourful flowers – real and hand-made – and little colourful angels to celebrate joy in a cacophony of colour!
“And if people want to fill their windows and gardens with flowers as symbols of joy and new life that would be amazing!
“St John’s school pupils have already started making recycled and knitted flowers and, following a request on the Wellington Community Facebook page, and to church members, the knitting for the new angels of joy has already started.”
Wellington in Bloom is backing the initiative with an angelic display planned for the Lancer Court Memorial Gardens.
Judith Dufour, pastoral chaplain from St John’s Church, is part of a dedicated band turning their hands to the production of flowers and multi-coloured angels and flowers to reflect the joy of the Easter season.
She said: “I have knitted so many angels over the last couple of months that the pattern is indelibly written in my brain!
“As my fingers automatically transform the different coloured strands of wool into Rainbow Angels it gives me much time for reflection and prayer.
“My prayers are for our community, for our world, for those who are finding life fearful and difficult in our present situation and for those with so many individual needs, all are woven into the stitches.
“Each little angel is different from the next, no two alike, just like ourselves.”
If you would like to get involved, all the information you need, including knitting patterns and creative ideas, can be found at www.wellyangels.org