Students showed great enthusiasm

Students and tutors from CEMAST in St Peters Church, Titchfield, with the candlestand they made

It might be in memory of a friend or family member who has died.

Or it might symbolise the prayer they’d like to pray for someone who is ill or going through a difficult time, or a situation in the world.

Often it helps for the person praying to do something physical, like lighting a candle, so they have a sense of leaving that issue in God’s hands.

One of the things we really needed at St Peter’s, Titchfield, was a proper candlestand to hold these candles.

We were really fortunate that students from Fareham College have designed one for us.

The apprentices are all from the college’s Centre of Excellence in Engineering, Manufacturing and Advanced Skills Training (CEMAST) campus at Lee-on- Solent.

As our church dates back to Saxon times (680AD), our challenge to them was to create something that was a modern design but which would also fit in alongside our artefacts from the past 1,000 years.

The students were excited to learn that this candlestand would be our first 21st century artefact.

Churchwarden Barbara le Sueur and I visited the college to see how the work was progressing and then we invited the students into the church so they could see the finished product in place.

It was great to welcome them here and for them to see how it will be used.

It’s fantastic for us to make use of their expertise, and the students and their tutors appreciated the chance to work together on a real-life project.

The candlestand was created in memory of Stella Warne, a former churchwarden and faithful worshipper here, who died last year, and was funded by money donated in her memory.

So next time you visit St Peter’s and would like to say a prayer, we hope you will enjoy using our candlestand, a beautiful 21st century addition to our ancient church.

We want to thank the tutors and students from CEMAST for their time and enthusiasm for this project.

n ST PETER’S CHURCH, is in Church Street, Titchfield. Sunday services are 8am Holy Communion; 10am all-age service (first Sunday of the month) or Parish Eucharist with children’s activities (all other Sundays).

Contact the church on 01329 847003 or [email protected] or go to stpetertitchfield.org.uk.