On Saturday 15 November 2008 the Friends of St John's Church Moggerhanger organised their second event for the year - a Fun Quiz with Hot Buffet Supper at the Village Hall. Sixty-five people first enjoyed their hot supper from a choice of chilli con carne, beef curry, chicken casserole or lasagne accompanied by rice or jacket potato and salad. This was followed by a selection of delicious desserts. In fact it was all so good that many people came back for more!! There was a licensed bar efficiently manned by Tim Lister - he was kept busy most of the evening. Then it was down to business. The first round of the quiz was to identify advertisements around the walls of the hall. Then eight more rounds followed - Cathedrals & Cities; Art; Local Places; Flowers; Famous people; News Headlines; Sport; and Musical Instruments. Our Quizmaster was Chris Brett and he provided each team with a Joker and after each round the scores were entered on the scoreboard with double points on the joker round. There were some very close-fought rounds but the eventual winners were the Chalton and Moggerhanger Book Group 'The Bookies'. It was a very happy evening and our thanks go to everyone who prepared, cooked and served the meal as well as all the helpers who were there to set tables (and clear them afterwards), not to mention coping with the mountains of washing-up. It was all worthwhile of course because (including a well-supported raffle) our profit was £634. This money will of course be held for the upkeep of the church and churchyard. Chris Brett was thanked by William Hollington who also announced that the Friends' next event will be a Safari Supper on Saturday 13 June 2009. On behalf of the 'quizzers' Judith Mooney thanked everyone who had helped in any way to make the evening so enjoyable.

If you don't know already, I am glad to tell you that the Safari Supper this year made a profit of £650 from the 57 people attending... AND we all had such a good time (well I did anyway and from all the laughter when we got back to the church at 9.30, I assume others did too). If you have missed this event again, all I can say is... WHY?

After a lot of hard work getting 'lots' to auction, advertising our event, the mere preparing, cooking and presenting of a 2 course meal to up to seventy people on Saturday evening seemed relatively easy. Food was cooked all over the village with arbitrary demands such as "Andy you are on carrots", "Betty You take peas" but believe it or not it all worked beautifully with every body getting a piping hot meal served by two very attractive well dressed teens and cleared within an hour and a half. The committee was impressed (stunned I think) if no one else.
Chris began the auction on the dot, rehearsing us all on how to bid (and selling three items in the process). There were some very spirited bids, the most determined between our vicar Lynda Klimas and a local villager for an original art work of Moggerhanger village church. Bidding rose to an exciting level spured on by the admiring crowd but the vicar eventually lost out to indomitable bidding power. How sad. Everybody throughly enjoyed the evening and we raised approx. £1350 for the Friends. Well done to all who helped especially Dorothy, Pat, Andy, Bob and Coral (who are quite simply tireless) Betty & Ted, Jo & William, Bobbie and James and all who helped cook, wash, clear up etc. etc. etc. An especially big thank you to Chris, not just for being our supberb auctioneer but also for bringing some excellent bidders with him (see you Linda). A great event

Safari Supper 2007
Biggest supper yet! We had 46 people venturing around the village this year at twelve different venues and all ending up in a crush in the church at 9:00pm. Everyone was enjoying themselves so much that they didn't want to leave. Just how we like it.We raised £512 for the friends and would like to thank everybody who hosted or helped on the evening. An especially big thank you to our ever patient organizers Dorothy and Pat. The Safari would be lost without you.

Christmas Flower Demonstration 2006

Saturday 1st July 2006
Safari Supper 2006
For the fourth year running, on Saturday 1st July the Friends of St John's Church, Moggerhanger organised a Safari Supper in the village. This year 33 people took part with friends from Cople and Northill and new friends from Moggerhanger amongst our number. The sun shone all day and well into the evening so that in some of the venues it was possible to eat outside (we even had to use our sun umbrellas to shade us whilst we ate).

Starting at the Church with a welcome drink, the party split up into five different groups and made their way to the houses where the hosts had prepared a starter. After that they were split up again into different groups and found their main courses in another four places. At about 9.15pm everyone gathered at the Church once more for a most delicious selection of puddings, cheese and biscuits and coffee and mints. There was a very good raffle and lots of talk and laughter. We thought it was the best yet.

We did have a lot of excitement at 23:30 though, as Chris and Linda who originally set up the Friends came charging down the church path hoping to get to us for coffee! Even though it was a bit late for that, they did not go away empty handed as they were loaded with cake and ice cream, home made for the desserts. Chris was delighted, William very mournful (he had his eye on the ice cream). The Friends of St. John's who organized the event, sent many thanks to all who cooked and hosted - and special thanks to Eileen and Karen who came to serve puddings, made coffee and wash-up. We think that this is a winning formula for a fun event to raise money for maintaining the church (the amount raised was about £386) - hopefully we can do it again next year.

Wednesday 14th December 2005
Christmas Flower Arranging 

On 14 December 2005 the church was filled to capacity with people who had come to watch the Christmas Flower Demonstration.  This year we had Lisa Howarth from The Flower Room in Sandy.  She created seven fabulous floral arrangements with a Christmas theme using exotic flowers such as orchids and roses.  At the end of the evening, all the arrangements were raffled.  There was also a sales table run by ladies from the Biggleswade Flower Club and another selling Christmas decorations created by Pat Whitworth and Betty Nicol.
Everyone then partook of a glass or two with mince pies and sausage rolls.   We sold 107 tickets and made the magnificent profit of £675.75. 
All thanks go to Pat who left us careful instructions even though she herself was in hospital on the actual night!  Thanks also go to Sandra who helped Lisa; Moira and Jane from the Biggleswade Flower Club who made the pedestals which decorated the church; Pat, Betty and Doreen for the Sales Table; everyone who made mince pies; Ted and Terry for making the stage; and Chris for getting the new sound system up and running in time.

Sunday 14th August 2005
Treasure Hunt
Steve (of Park Road hairdressing fame) organized a wonderful family day. A treasure hunt and quiz around the village.

It was a lovely walk around the village for about 2 hours for many families following Steve's detailed instructions. The best completed entry won a full Bar B Que for their garden.

Saturday 11th June 2005
Safari Supper 2005
For the third year running, the Moggerhanger Safari Supper was a sell-out and proved to be a thoroughly enjoyable evening. We lacked the sunshine of the previous years, even though the event was held later in the year but the warmth of atmosphere more than made up for it.

Thirty eight people met together in the church for a welcome drink and to find out where to find their first course. Twenty minutes later, they set out for different houses around the village. At about 19:30 they were all informed where to find their main course - a change of venue and a different set of people to meet and eat with. Finally everyone met back at the church for a selection of delicious puds and coffee. We started early (at 18:30) but it was gone 23:00 before the last stragglers made their way home - a sure sign that a good time was had by all.

The Friends of St. John's who organized the event, sent many thanks to all who cooked and hosted - and special thanks to Eileen and Karen who came to serve puddings, made coffee and wash-up. We think that this is a winning formula for a fun event to raise money for maintaining the church (the amount raised was £376.70) - hopefully we can do it again next year.

Christmas Flower Arranging 2004
It was good to see the church full to capacity on the evening of Monday 13 December for our Christmas Flower Arranging Demonstration. Ten ladies from the Biggleswade Flower Club created some wonderful arrangements.

They worked in teams of two and in about 20 minutes, each team transformed boxes of flowers, greenery, candles and ribbons into some stunning arrangements. These were raffled at the end and the lucky winners then had the task of transporting them home. Some church members who were winners chose to leave the arrangements in the church over Christmas where they were admired by everyone.

Once the raffle had been drawn, everyone enjoyed a glass of wine and a mince pie and bought items from the sales tables. The evening was introduced by Dr William Hollington and a vote of thanks was given to Biggleswade Flower Club demonstrators and supporters by Betty Barrance. Special thanks were due to Pat Whitworth, one of our Trustees, who is chairman of the Flower Club who arranged the evening with help from the Committee; to Chris Bashford who provided the sound and lights and to Ted Barrance who was on car parking duty. The evening raised a total of £455.60.

24th June 2004
Safari Supper 2004 - and another sunny Saturday evening
If you want to know when to book your spring holiday in England, check out the date of the Friends’ Safari Supper and you’ll be sure of sunny weather.

On the evening of 15 May, thirty-five hungry folk took to the streets of Moggerhanger by car or on foot or on bicycle. They met at the church for a drink and to find out where they were to enjoy a starter. After the first course, they moved on again, this time for a chicken or lasagne main course. The five hosting households were then abandoned as everyone finished up at the church once more for huge quantities of pudding and coffee.

A wonderful time was had, with many new friendships formed and waistlines expanded and a decision was quickly made that a new date must be fixed for the next Safari Supper (don’t miss the next one – it will be on 11 June 2005!). The event raised £309.10 for the Friends, all of which will be used to help maintain and improve the church building and churchyard. Thanks to all who cooked, hosted and ate.

24th June 2004
Our list of Friends is growing...
The number of people who have become ‘Friends of St John’s Church’ has risen to 22. This means that we have a guaranteed income of over £1000 a year, all of which goes to our objective of keeping the Church and the churchyard in good condition.

In addition, we have been able to reclaim just over £255 from the Inland Revenue. This is possible when donors who are also tax-payers sign a simple form which enables The Treasurer to claim back 28 per cent of the gifted amount. If you have not yet signed a form, just ask Pat Whitworth and she will be pleased to let you have one – or you could CLICK HERE to download and print one off. In any case, please send completed forms to Pat Whitworth 01 767 640848, our Treasurer. She will then keep a copy of the banker’s order and send the original to your bank.
Our warmest thanks go to all those who have contributed.

We need to keep up the momentum for raising money because there are some very large projects coming up. The kitchen area is already being improved, but eventually we would like to have a toilet in the church as well as installing a sound system to include a hearing loop – so your support will be more important than ever.

September 2003
Down memory lane - A Local history evening
A thoroughly enjoyable evening was had by the Friends and their friends on Saturday 20 September. We gathered in the hall at St John’s Home to listen to two speakers who are local history experts. First we heard from Keith Lawrence. Keith now lives in Biggleswade
but was born in Blunham and is renowned for his skill as an artist as well as his.local knowledge. He had brought along his model of The Shambles at Potton and described its history as well as how he had constructed the model.

Then we all partook of an excellent supper organised by Pat Whitworth with the assistance of Betty Nicol and other helpers. After we had fed, it was time for another local historian, Barry Groom from Sandy. Barry has a collection of old photographs and material concerning the Peel family and his talk centred on The Lodge (now the headquarters of the RSPB) and its history following through its construction and ownership of the Peels and then Sir Malcolm Stewart and family.

Many people had brought along their old photographs of Moggerhanger and there was a display on The Park as well as a quiz based on old photos of local villages compiled by Chris Brett. We thank our speakers for giving us their time. The total funds raised through
ticket sales and a raffle amounted to £162.