The group has had two major “outings” - Woodmansey in June to sing at their centenary barbecque and Drax church in October as a “support band” for Chris Hobbs! The former saw us allocated an outdoor setting on one of the wettest nights of the year. We eventually found shelter in an old barn and ended up singing to the cars in the car park!

In September, the whole group managed to have an “Away Day” near Market Weighton. The time was spent getting to know more about each other, singing, discussing our future direction, sharing in worship and, of course, eating. We returned home refreshed and with a renewed sense of unity and purpose.

In October, we put together a selection of our favourite songs to produce, with help from Geoff Waring, a CD for the Levett family as a small reminder of the music they loved so much. It was produced during one of our Thursday night rehearsals and is very much a live performance.

Finally, after three weddings last year, we have a year of births: Debby and Kevin’s son, Joshua, was born in December, whilst both Helen and Terri are expecting babies in the summer. We wish them all well as we look forward to new challenges in the coming year.     Janet Allen, April 1999

November 1999
Janet Allen, 7-Nov-1999

Helen and Terri now each have a baby girl, Evie Lily and Eve Lillian, respectively. We now have, at long last, group polo shirts with a New Wine logo for special occasions:

April 2000
Janet Allen, 2-Apr-2000

We continue to provide some of the music for the services at St John with a monthly visit to both St Faith and Riverside churches. We also enjoy the challenge of visits outside the parish, our two most recent ones being to Queens Gardens on the occasion of the visit of the Archbishop of York to Hull in July and, in October, to Annesley Woodhouse near Nottingham, this time as a 'support act' for Melvin. The Saturday before Christmas saw a few of us singing carols in the town centre - 4 part harmony was a bit tricky with only 3 of us! We feel that a great deal is gained from such ventures as the social side of the group is of importance to us believing as we do that to be able to work together week by week we need to be aware and supportive of each other's needs, something we don't always find time for during rehearsals. Since November we have been lucky to have monthly visits from members of the parish team. This has been very welcome as each 'visitor' has led us in Bible study or discussion.

After many years of talking about it we finally have a group polo shirt for special occasions though after a particularly chilly week during the Jesus 2000 mission some amongst us felt a sweatshirt would possibly be a better idea!

 As a group we all feel privileged to serve God through our music and as leader I am privileged to work with such committed people.

April 2001Janet Allen, 29-Apr-2001

We have continued to provide some of the music for the services at St John with a monthly visit to both St Faith and Riverside churches. The group, in terms of membership remains steady - 11 singers and musicians. We continue to rehearse at St. Faith's church every Thursday welcoming members of the parish team to lead us in Bible study once a month.

The energies of the group have been channelled into the production of a CD this year. 115 CDs or cassettes have been sold so far and, along with the sponsored sing last November, we have raised £520 for Project Newland. Thanks must go to Geoff Waring for the time he's put into production of the music for both projects.

Once again I personally would like to thank the members of the group for their continued hard work and commitment to both the music and each other.