Tikhtak

News from the CMS Youth and Children's team

Last week Free For All went to Hereford Cathedral and you can both see and read how we got on, on our Free For All blog. This week we are having a break with schools on half term. It means we have got time for other things... Mike North has worked hard to get June's trax16 out on the topic of relating to other faiths. This includes a testimony from a Pakistani Christian I picked up when I was there and some helpful words from both Richard Sudworth of Faith to Faith and Andrew Smith of Scripture Union.  Also I have just posted a short reflection on the Samaritan women's encounter with Jesus at the well on e-trax. Next week Free For All is off to Portsmouth Cathedral so keep checking our Free For All blog for pics and reports.

Shrewsbury Town's brave battle at Wembley

Well what an opportunity Shrewsbury Town FC gave us by getting to the play off final. A trip to the new Wembley stadium. Both Dan and I were on a trip down memory lane as it brought back all our happy memories of standing on the riverside at the Gay meadow back in the 70's and 80's. Seeing Shropshire folk take over a quarter of one of the world's greatest stadiums was something, although Bristol Rovers out numbered us 3 to 1. Unfortunately Shrewsbury lost a well fought battle and had a chance of equalising at the death but for an over zealous keeper who came up for a corner when he didn't need to and Bristol broke away to score their third goal. It started so well with an early lead for Shrewsbury so at least we got the chance to cheer and go mad. In the end we lost 3-1 and Bristol got promoted. As for the new ground it is fantastic. The great thing is , it is a massive stadium but the pitch doesn't feel far away, and the interior is more like an airport than a stadium. The food prices were horrendous, but like good Shropshire lads we took a packed lunch. A disappointing result but a great day out. Check out all our photos on my flikr site.

Golf, Wembley and Free For All in Hereford

On Sunday I joined my friend "Bird" and two of his friends Tom and Paul for a round of golf at Silvermere. Having not played for about a year I expected the worst and although not surprisingly I lagged behind the others I was in the end quite pleased with my round. I think I finished about 45 over the par. In the picture you can see the 18th hole, which was over water and I can't believe that I actually hit the green. Paul had been to Wembley on Saturday to see Chelsea win the FA cup final in a one sided match which they should never have one - But that's Chelsea! I am excited as Dan and I have tickets to see Shrewsbury Town next week at Wembley in their play off final against Bristol Rovers. I am sure it will be a better game! This week Free For All goes to Hereford Cathedral.

In between Swansea and Chester

On Friday Free For All went to St Mary's, Swansea and put on a workshop and performance. At lunch Dan, Willan and I went to a local shopping centre and saw a couple of twins interviewing people for the Paul O'Grady TV show. Willan tried to get us to go up in our Free For All T-shirts, but we bottled it. Tomorrow we are off to Chester Cathedral and look forward to working with Mike North having got back from the US of A yesterday. I will be putting photos and writing reviews from Swansea and Chester this week on the Free For All blog so watch that space.

Free For All in Liverpool and Shropshire

Last week Free For All went to Liverpool and we had a great week. In all we worked with 600 children throughout the week, putting on a performance every day. I took this picture of the Liver building as it was a built on  the profits of the slave trade. Check out the Free For All blog for a write up and pictures of the week. Having finished on Friday we stopped off in Shropshire on the way back to see my Mum. We visited Hawkstone park in Shropshire. It is basically an area of rock outcrops and limestone caves, which has been landscaped since 1700 for the public. Check out our pics on my flikr and we finished off visiting one of the few friends I am still in contact  with in Shropshire. We had our first BBQ of the summer and the weather with it to boot. Thanks John and Kam for your hospitatlity.