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Chairperson of the 2004 Fringe Committee St Andrew’s 2004 Fringe event is over and we can confidently breath a sigh of relief and say, “We made it!” What was so good about the event at St Andrew’s? It is hard to pinpoint any one item. Maybe it was the mesh of activities. The fact that one activity flowed into the next. Tours began the day and included the short film and talk about bells, bell-ringing and the tower clock followed by an organ recital with then just enough time for a quick coffee or tea. A meditation session followed before another organ recital and another tour and another chance to nip into the Parish Centre for refreshment; a quick look at the trading table, sign the Visitors’ book and off home or for some visitors off to another Fringe Venue or stay, sit and talk. Visitors came from near and far, finding out about us from the various bits and pieces of publicity. Some official some not. Unanimously visitors commented on the warmth and openness of the venue. Volunteers were friendly, ready to chat and in telling stories about St Andrew’s life and history received in return information on a myriad of matters. Those people who knew St Andrew’s wandered through the church buildings, remembered the past, told stories and made connections with people, places and things. Those new to us marvelled at our windows, organ, bells, furnishings and fabric and readily told us so, sharing something too of themselves with us. In quiet times the volunteers who hitherto were only on nodding acquaintance with each other, sat and talked and strengthened friendships. St Andrew’s School staff visited us for what must have been a rather off-beat staff meeting, commencing in the church with a short organ recital followed by an historical talk and walk through and around the church’s buildings and grounds before concluding in the Parish Centre for refreshments. The short time spent with the staff has seemingly done much to enhance the church – school connection and we are told that teachers went away buzzing with ideas of how they could use the information/stories heard. The old photographs in the St Andrew’s School display created lively interest and some new information for the school’s archivists. The school was grateful to be invited to participate in the event, acknowledging and supporting the project with a generous donation.
Dr. Ian Drever
In opening up the church as a Fringe event it exposed us to a wider range of people and from their responses we gathered that some were not church people, were anti-church, or knew little of church life and functions. Religion today invariably gets a questionable press with negative stereotypes being reinforced in the public’s mind. It is hoped that for some of our visitors their idea of church has been positively altered. Financially we were successful. Our aim to self fund the event was achieved with some $2,000 income over expenditure. This money will be apportioned accordingly, some to church, clock and organ funds and some reserve for a possible future Fringe event. It was astonishing that we took on an average $100 a day from the sale of items costing in the main $2 or less. The initial Fring-Ianing film evening assisted in covering initial costs and the final Twilight Jazz session and Fringe takings assured an income to cover initial costs for a future event. We attempted to record the number of visitors attending each session of each activity and the number of cups of tea/coffee served and on this basis estimated that some 300-400 people passed through our portals. If we add those who attended Fring-Ianing and the Twilight Jazz session we had an attendance of well over 500 people for the event. When planning we had little idea of the number of people or what people would be attracted to visit a church, so these numbers are encouraging. The goodwill that has been engendered through visitor and volunteer contact together with what was offered is significant. What next? Another St Andrew’s Fringe in 200? Maybe! The support for the St Andrew’s Fringe project from parishioners has been ongoing and exemplary and the Fringe Committee appreciate this greatly. The general feeling is that it was a worthwhile project and certainly worthy of further participation possibly repeating some of the activities and considering other alternatives to possibly increase and broaden the interest base and target audience. From post-Fringe discussions and review of each event much has been discovered of what worked well and what could be streamlined and these items and issues could be the starting point for future events. There are many avenues that can be explored to plan and develop further exciting Fringe activities for various groups and age brackets. Sincere appreciation is extended to all helpers, supporters, volunteers, donors, tour guides, film makers, artists – a goodly number in total. To the dedicated committee, Lyall von Einem, Rosalie Harding, Sandy Facy, Anne de Wit, Sandra Lane, Marion Modra, Dick Rischbieth and Chris Chataway, who saw this project to its conclusion, we give grateful thanks. A truly memorable St Andrew’s event
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by Rhonda Gilmour