St James is holding a Christmas Raffle again this year with chances to win a selection of wonderful hampers. The raffle will be drawn and winners announced on Wednesday 20^th December. The proceeds from the raffle will go towards the St James School fund, which helps subsidise opportunities for all of our children throughout the year. Thank you for your support and Good Luck!

Tomorrow Friday 15th December is our Christmas Carol Extravaganza. The children and staff have been working hard to present to you our Christmas Carol Concert. This is a coming together for us all at Christmastime and will represent our strength and togetherness as a St James family. Families and parishioners are ALL welcome. Please come along and celebrate with us from 2pm at St James Church, Mill Lane, Hebburn. We are grateful of any donation big or small to our school fund.

Thank you to our year 6 children who sang Christmas Carols at the Alzheimer’s Christmas Party. The behaviour from our children was truly exceptional, they were a credit to themselves, our school and their families. It testifies of the power of kindness that our children so lovingly brought to the community. We are so very proud of you year 6.

Key 2 life is a charity based in South Shields working across South Tyneside. They have recently launched a new community bus project which has enabled them to be able to convert a double decker bus. The bus will be driving to different locations within South Tyneside on a daily basis and parking up for a few hours in the hope of helping those people within the local communities.

Downstairs there will be a shop selling good quality fresh fruit and vegetables, packet, tinned, and non perishable food and non-food and hygiene items, baby wipes, milk and nappies for very low prices in the hope of helping individuals/families money to go further, reduce waste and lower the need for the number of people attending food banks which is at an all time high. All money made from this project feeds back into the charity and food bank that they run in South Shields.

Upstairs there are seating areas where staff can offer advice and direct/refer individuals to relevant interventive services. They hope to have some of these services available on board to offer advice and are hoping to have the likes of welfare rights, Drug and alcohol services among others. The bus has an awning and out door seating and offers tea and coffee for those who would just like to come along and have a chat. The bus is for absolutely anyone to use and is not restricted to those on benefits it is for the whole community.

They currently offer free school uniform and winter coats free of charge upstairs on the bus and have a pop up Christmas shop with toys and Christmas items at very reduced prices.

The bus stops at 6 different areas per week Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s with 2 stops per day. Please see the current 3 week rota that will run continuously until the stops are reviewed at which time an updated list will be posted.

With the current cost of living crisis this service is a valuable asset to all.

https://keycommunity.org.uk/key-community-bus/

Please join us…

All of our children will be performing their Christmas Carol Concert at St James Catholic Church, Hebburn on Friday 15th December at 2pm

All families and parishioners are welcome!

There will be a donation bucket on the day with all money raised going towards our School Fund.

All welcome on Wednesday 6th December where Mini-Vinnies will be hosting a Pop-up shop to raise funds for CAFOD. Our Pop-up shop will run from 3:30pm until 5:30pm in St Joseph’s main hall. We will be selling good quality second hand men’s/women’s/children’s clothing and shoes on the evening. We are sure this will be a very successful event, which will not only help to raise money for CAFOD but will also support the local community. We are accepting donations of good quality second hand clothing and shoes until Friday 1st December.

Last night we took part in an evening filled with JOY as part of the final event in BCCET’s Journeys of Hope project. The Joy in Our Heart event was an unforgettable night of singing, connecting and rejoicing. Our 11 children who took part were truly wonderful. The children flew the flag high for St James with their exemplary behaviour. Well done to all of you, we are so proud! Thank you to all involved at our trust, Bishop Chadwick for organising such a fantastic event and special thanks to our families and Mrs Judd for giving their time and support. Our hearts were truly filled full with joy!