We are only three days into December, but the Vineyard 53 Christmas celebrations are well underway. Last Saturday (Nov 29th), we hosted a free craft stall in Chester Christmas Market. The location was brilliant, and we were very fortunate to have it for the day.

An amazing team of Vineyard 53 elves was there from 11am-3pm to colour, cut, fold, glue, chat and have an amazing time. Over the day, we had 108 children through the doors of our craft tent (and lots of grown-ups, too) who made hundreds of snowflakes, Christmas cards and tree decorations.

A big thanks to all who stopped by to join us, and to everyone who helped out on the day and supplied plenty of festive cheer.

This weekend we'll be singing Christmas carols in Ellesmere Port (Saturday 6th), and throwing a Christmas party for the residents of Richmond Court (Sunday 7th), as well as our Vineyard Kids Christmas Party (Sunday 7th). For more info on any of these, please email us.

Tonight (Wednesday 3rd) will be our last Big Wednesday of 2014! But don't worry, we still have our Beer and Carols evening in Telford's Warehouse, and our Vineyard 53 Christmas Party. Details below:

On Wednesday night (Oct 15th) two of our small groups got together and had a ball - or should that be a bowl - welcoming students to Chester. Armed with sponges, marigolds and washing-up bowls full of goodies, a group of ten of us headed out to show Jesus' love to Chester Uni students in a fun and practical way.

We split up into teams and knocked on doors around the Chester campus and were amazed by the reception. We gave away nearly all of our welcome gifts, and managed to persuade a few students to allow us to wash their dishes.

We were treated with cups of tea, biscuits and some great conversations. A few of the students were evidently shocked by what we were up to, and all were very grateful to have their washing-up done for them!

If you're a student you can find out more information about what we're up to on our students page. 

We'd also love to invite you for some free pizza at the Crowne Plaza on Wednesday 22nd October, following our usual Big Wednesday.

Huge thanks to everyone who got involved, and to all the students who let us into their homes!

Aloha! We hope you've all been enjoying the sunny weather. We certainly have.

Last night we kicked off our Vineyard 53 summer of fun with an amazing Hawaiian-style party. A huge thank you to everybody who came and got into the summer spirit with Hawaiian shirts, grass skirts and pineapple costumes.

Both the quality and quantity of food was amazing - pulled pork, BBQ, pina colada cupcakes, pineapple salsa. It also looked phenomenal. If you weren't there, think candles, a fake beach, paddling pools, ukuleles and lots of buckets and spades. We had a load of help setting it all up, cooking, baking and barbecuing, so a massive thank you to you all.

On the evening we had around 70 people, and the general opinion is that V53 knows how to throw a party! Where else would you find a limbo competition, coconut shy and a 20-foot water slide on a Wednesday evening?

As we move into summer, it's been a great opportunity to reflect on all that's happened since Vineyard 53 began in February. If you're on our mailing list then we'll be sending out a newsletter celebrating all that's happened so far in the life of Vineyard 53, and also keeping you informed of a load of events that will be happening during August. Keep an eye on this blog, on our Twitter and Facebook (details below).

To whet your appetite, on Saturday August 2nd a bunch of us will be going for a trip to Thurstaston. Bring along a picnic and meet us on the common (the big field) at Thurstaston Nature Reserve. Families, children and grown-ups are all totally welcome for fun and games. The beach is a five-minute walk away, so once we're all picnicked out we'll head down there to build sandcastles and paddle in the water.

Full details of all our events will be coming out weekly during August, so make sure you're signed up to our emails. Send an email to hello@vineyard53.org saying you'd like to receive our updates. You can also follow us on Twitter (@vineyard53) and like us on Facebook (/vineyard53) to stay informed.

This means that there will be no Big Wednesdays during August. We've had a blast at the Crowne Plaza and the Swansway Stadium, but we're taking a break from our Big Wednesdays for the summer. Stay tuned for information about what we'll be doing in September.