Hope in Tottenham was proud to host the community for this years Christmas Carol Service, an event held in collaboration with the event sponsors; London Academy of Excellence, as well as the Metropolitan Police in Lilywhite House.

By Omar Alleyne-Lawler, Communications Intern

Hosted by long time friend of HiT and Tottenham’s community, Pastor Dave Daniels from the Peoples Christian Fellowship warmed the 230 people in attendance with his warm welcome before the opening song ‘Once in Royal David’s City’.

HPS Borough Commander, Chief Superintendent Helen Millichap was then the first of the two speakers from the Metropolitan Police.  With a moving speech that acknowledged the trouble in Tottenham, the Borough Commander urged the audience to instead focus on the people rushing to help in times of need, rather than the bad actors in our community.

This message was then echoed by the first entertainers of the evening, the young carollers of St Paul’s and All Hallows School who sang two songs for the evening, one on the theme of keeping your head up and the second focusing on the love brought into the world upon Jesus’ birth.

Jan Balon, Headteacher of LAE had the proud honour of reading the first of several Bible verses for the evening with a reading from Micah 5:2-5 ahead of the second song, the beloved ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’.

Seven Sisters School were the second big performer of the night, representing Secondary Schools in the borough with a contemporary dance of their own design. With the crowd excited to see what was next, Superintendent Nigel Brookes read the passage Isaiah 9:2, 6-7 to welcome a 40 year veteran of painting performance, Terry Puttick of London City Mission.

Terry Puttick of London City Mission with another paint-by word performance to remember.

 

The night did not go without hiccups however and in an unexpected twist to the evenings programming, HiT Director Rev. John Wood and MC for the night, Pastor Dave Daniels serenaded the audience with an acoustic rendition of Strength Will Rise.

This unexpected twist turned into an excellent segway for HiT where our very own women’s empowerment mentor, Andrea Corbett introduced the new HiT Video and raised awareness of Hope in Tottenham’s current Mentor recruitment drive with consultant Chris Miller. 

With the night starting to come to an end, it was the turn of our sponsor London Academy of Excellent Tottenham’s turn to woo the crowd, to which they responded with their choir performing an outstanding Carol of their own before everyone got involved to close the meeting with ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful.’

Chris Miller said that the event was “an inspired gathering of people who have Tottenham in their hearts, who want to make a difference and see the community thrive.”

Hope in Tottenham would like to extend our greatest thanks to the event sponsors and all who came out on the night. Without your care for the community in which we share and your support, events like these would not be possible.

This article is a republished edition from our 2018 event