Events
Up Coming Events
Flower Festival 2026 – A celebration of Crafts & Hobbies
Our famous Flower Festival is open everyday of the August Bank Holiday Weekend Our opening hours are:
Saturday 29th 10am -4pm,
Sunday 30th 11am – 4pm
Bank Holiday Monday 31st 10am – 4pm
Each day we have approx. 45 Fresh Floral arrangements to view set within our beautiful, historic church each one depicting a different craft or hobby (skill). Beyond the church there are many stalls all open across the weekend, These include: A Grand Raffle, Granny’s Attic, Books, Plants, Jams & Preserves and cakes. We also have refreshments on offer all day, including delicious lunches and homemade cakes, and we cater for a dietary needs. These are all served at the Scout Hut, next to the parking field.
There is free parking in Stubb Lane and disabled parking by the church if required.
Daily Highlights:
Saturday: 10am – 4pm: Bouncy Castle! 12-2pm: Super Gario’s Pizza, Tasty freshly made pizzas.
Sunday: 9.30am: Sunday Eucharist with Reverend Fran Reid 12-2pm: BBQ, Yummy burgers and hotdogs, from our local Butchers Archers of Westfield with fresh buns. 1-4pm: Scouting Skills, have a go at erecting a tent, pioneering, try these and other scouting skills. 2.30pm -3pm: Rococo Choir @The Church
Monday: Morning only: Broad Oak Fire Station crew and their engine visit. All day: “Thelma” The Steam Roller on display on The Green 12-2pm: BBQ, Yummy burgers and hotdogs, from our local Butchers Archers of Westfield with fresh buns @ The Scout Hut
Thank you to everyone who has donated a raffle prize or sponsored the Festival, it is very much appreciated.
Here are our Grand Raffle Donors so far:
- Morebread Farm (Peasmarsh)
- Botterell’s of Rye
- V & J Game
- The Red Lion (Brede)
- The Plough (Udimore)
- Pashley Manor
If you would also like to sponsor the event please contact our Treasurer by emailing treasurer@stgeorgesbrede.org.uk.
Also on in Brede over the bank holiday weekend:
The Brede Steam Amateur Radio Society will be operating all weekend from their shack at 1st Brede Scout Hut.
The Brede Painting for Pleasure Group, who are celebrating their 40th anniversary, have their annual exhibition at Brede Village Hall each day from 10am -4.30pm
Brede Steam Giants down the lane from the church are open on Monday 31st from 10am – 4pm so why not make a day of it as there’s lots to do in Brede across the bank holiday weekend in August!
Autumn / Winter 2026 Events:
- Sunday 11th October at 3.30pm – Hymn-along Come and sing along to your favourite hymns!
- Sunday 18th October at 9.30am – Harvest Service followed by a soup lunch with desserts at 12 noon
- Thursday 3rd December at 7.30pm – Cranbrook Town Band
- Saturday 5th December at 10am – Christmas Coffee & Craft morning – A variety of craft stalls, refreshments and have fun making tree decorations to take home
- Sunday 20th December at 3pm – Christmas Sing – along Come and sing your favourite carols and raise money for the Friends of St George (entrance fee includes Seasonal refreshments)
Past events from the last 12 months
Tea with a View Well done to Gary and Duncan for hosting this lovely event in their garden and home, although it was rather soggy, that didn’t dampen spirits and it was well attended with over £750 being raised for The Friends of St George!
Mothers’ Union Open Garden Rhiannon and David opened up their interesting garden to raise money for two worthwhile local charities one being Family Support Work and the other being AFIA (Away From It All) which is a Diocese of Chichester Mothers’ Union local project. Sadly it was a wet Wednesday afternoon so not so well attended but £200 in total was raised which will be split equally between the two charities.
The Induction and Installation of Reverend Fran Reid – our new Rector On Tuesday 19th May we had a lovely evening in the church when the Bishop of Lewes and the Archdeacon of Hastings led a fantastic service which officially welcomed our brilliant new Rector, The Reverend Francesca Reid to our Benefice. Thank you to everyone who came and a big thank you to everyone who helped with the organisation, planning and running, including the beautiful flowers and scrumptious food and drink!
Easter Eggstravaganza A huge thank you to everyone who supported the Easter Eggstravaganza. We raised over £300 and it was well attended. We had craft stalls selling a range of items from painted coasters to Macrame and much more! We also had children’s craft to do and yummy refreshments. A special thank you to everyone who helped on the day especially to Wendy for all her baking! To Gary and his choir for their lovely singing, which was really enjoyable, as was hunting for all the dragons in the graveyard in return for a chocolate egg! We hope you all had an enjoyable Easter!
Quiz Night The Friends of St George held a fun quiz night to raise money,
Christmas Sing-a-long Always a fun afternoon put on by The Friends of St George, this is one of those heart warming community moments just before Christmas where everyone snuggles up and sings loudly while sipping their mulled wine and munching on mince pies, we hope it returns once again in 2026!
Christmas Coffee and Craft morning Raising £300 for Brede Church and Mothers’ Union this was a cheery morning of Coffee, Cakes, Chat, Craft and Choir singing. Thank you to everyone who came!
Cranbrook Town
Harvest Lunch
Flower Festival 2025
Why we fundraise:
It is only right that we as Christians help others that are in need, therefore, many of our fundraising events held throughout the year raise money that we then donate to charities such as Family Support Work in East Sussex, Rye Food Bank or The Royal British Legion. This is something we would love to increase.
We have the privilege of worshipping in a beautiful Grade 1 listed church, but unfortunately being custodians of such a building of cultural and historical importance, comes at a cost. To keep the building safe and open to the public means it must be maintained. Often the work must be carried out by skilled craftsmen or those that understand the nature and importance of the structure, there is often a hefty price tag attached to this level of workmanship. Now to top it off the government have taken away us being able to reclaim the 20% VAT that we could in 2025 and before so suddenly all churches are paying a lot more, and of course we are all asking the same funds for grants to help us pay for the work, and they don’t have enough to go around. On top of this, we should really keep the building above 8c in the winter, but with energy prices so high, we can’t afford to heat an empty building so it is often colder than that, which doesn’t help the building. You can see there’s a vicious circle forming.
What can you do?
- Come to church more! yes, the more you come, the greater the incentive we have to put the heating on for you! That helps! Plus we would love to see you!
- Attend, support or volunteer at our fundraising events, whether it’s baking a cake or running a stall or washing up, it is all really appreciated! Or help with maintenance at the church, there’s often little jobs that need attention.
- Write to your MP or sign this petition Government to maintain VAT relief on repairs for historic churches
- Donate a one off gift to us or become a regular donor Donations and Gifts – St George’s Brede
- If you spot something that needs fixing, let us know in case we haven’t spotted it yet, the quicker we fix things the less damage it causes.
How much does it cost?
To keep our church doors open and St George’s effectively running it costs us approx. £70,000 a year. That’s £5834 a month or £192 a day.
We currently have one salaried position, that’s our Rector and we share her with 3 other lovely churches that all face the same struggles. Everyone else, at our church is a volunteer, but it’s great being part of a community that cares and a team that strive to keep St George’s active for worship, life celebrations and as a community hub for everyone to enjoy and meet within. To find out more please contact us .
God Bless,
The Team at St George’s Church, Brede
