What's On...
Here is your weekly update from the Glamorgan Heritage Coast Ministry Area.
The Spring Festival was a roaring success!
A huge thank you to the organisers of the first ever Llantwit Major Spring Festival, Julie Brown and Karen Williams, who ensured that everybody had a fabulous day. From ducks to drinks, and some lovely sunny weather, this celebration of spring left everyone with a smile on their faces and a belly full of delicious cakes.
Thanks also go out to all those who volunteered on the day: to the stall holders and cake makers, to everyone who donated plants and other great gifts to the tombola, to Nick on the shop and bar, to the White Lion pub for sponsoring the ducks, to the Mayor for giving out the trophies, to our Labour MP Kanishka Narayan, and to the lovely members of the Llantwit Major Fire and Rescue Service, who hosed down our ducks for an extra exciting race. Here's hoping this is the start of a lovely annual tradition.
The money raised for the day was a monumental £1306.29, which will be donated to the Ministry Area.
Our next festival will be held on the 1st August 2026.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DX114tWMUr5/?igsh=MXZjejN0ZjNocnVrcw==
The Church in Wales since COVID have started to roll out how you can give to your Church making it a lot easier with Gift Direct. Gift Direct allows you to set up a standing order for as little or as much as you like every single month. This can help secure the future of your church by this regular guaranteed giving. See the poster above or
follow this link. Please note when you set this up that you can decide exactly where this money is going.
*Click here*
Tesco and easyfundraising have come together again to give a little help to our churches.
Your church could receive one of five £1,000 funding pots
This month, when members of your congregation shop with Tesco via the easyfundraising website or app, your church will receive a monetary donation and could also receive a £1,000 funding bonus!
To qualify for the Tesco Community Pledge:
1. Firstly, make sure you register your church with easyfundraising at https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/llandaff/
2. Then, ask your parishioners, clergy and community to use the easyfundraising platform when they want to shop with Tesco or F&F.
Each time one of them shops online, your church goes into the draw to receive a £1,000 funding boost.
Plus, when your congregation shop with Tesco in May, they’ll raise £3 for you if it’s their first-time shop, and 50p for each subsequent shop they do at no extra cost, all courtesy of Tesco!
As a reminder it is good to use EasyFundraising for larger expenditure items such as appliances and car and home insurance and it can also be utilised by churches for their own purchasing .
We have had some reports that donations from Amazon were not working and unfortunately this is because they do not donate to any causes registered with the charity commission.
Easyfundraising help.
Another way you can help without giving money is Glamorgan Heritage Coast Ministry Area is now registered with ‘easyfundraising’, which means you can raise FREE donations for us every time you shop online. Over 7,000 brands will donate to us when you use ‘easyfundraising’ to shop with them – at no extra cost to yourself! Once you have signed up it will happen automatically every time you shop with the chosen brands. For example Amazon.
These donations really mount up and make a BIG difference to us, so we’d really appreciate it if you could take a moment to sign up and support us. It’s completely FREE and only takes a moment.
You can find our ‘easyfundraising’ page
*Click here*
How to Video
*Click here*
Events
Delighted to be welcoming three prestigious, award winning authors to St Illtud's Church, Llantwit Major on Saturday, 16 May. Francesca Rhydderch, Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch and host BBC Radio Wales' Gary Raymond.
Sisters Francesca Rhydderch and Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch are stopping off at Llantwit as part of their book tour, which includes an appearance at the Hay Book Festival at the end of May.
Francesca Rhydderch's beautiful and poignant memoir It Might Not Be True, which is Wales Books Council Book of the Month for May, is a candid exploration of family, childhood, and coming to terms with the onset of Parkinson's disease. Described by Owen Sheers as 'a delicate masterpiece.'
In Milk Wood memoir, Samantha Wynne-Rhydderch's latest poetry collection, she shows us around her hometown, New Quay, through the eyes of its inhabitants, past and present, from holidaying miners to its most famous resident, the 'No Good Boyo' Dylan Thomas himself.
Hope you can join us on 16 May for a unique conversation between Francesca, Samantha, and Gary Raymond, presenter of the Radio Wales Arts Show and Wales Arts Review.
Ewenny Arts Festival Concert
The Ewenny Arts Festival is holding a concert workshop on the 27 June 2026, run by the Ewenny Chamber Choir and Time and Tide Waits.
The workshop will run from 14.00 - 18.00, which will then be followed by a performance at 19.00.
As usual, the tickets can be obtained from Ewenny Pottery (01656 653020), Samantha B's (01656 658388) or from Helen Morgan at 01656 667047 or helenmorgan5@aol.com
The poster for the Ewenny Arts Festival Concert can be found here
Musicians Needed For Llanmihangel Fundraiser
Llanmihangel church is looking for either a soloist or a small group of musicians/musical enthusiasts to play at their next event on Thursday 18th June - and we are open to all suggestions! The evening will start at 1830 in Llanmihangel church and the musical element would be between 1830 and 1930.The second part of the evening will be up at Plas Llanmihangel, for which no music is required, but musicians would be more than welcome to join and partake in strawberries and drinks. If you'd like to get involved Lucie would love to hear from you. Please email her at friendsofllanmihangelchurch@gmail.com
High Brown Fritillary Butterfly
Some of you might have noticed that 'butterflies' are featuring on some of our Facebook daily messages.
It's not an accident, it's quite deliberate, in recognition of an extremely rare butterfly that's found in our Ministry Area - in St Bride's Major.
The High Brown Fritillary.
We're coming into the High Brown Fritillary flight season (June and July) and public walks are being planned by the amazing Dot Williams (High Brown Fritillary Project Officer):
Saturday mornings: 13th and 20th June starting at 10.30 am,
and Sunday afternoons 5th and 12th July starting at 14.00.
All the walks start from the cattle grid at the edge of St Bride's Major and usually take about 2 hours. Lot's more going on, including a Sculpture Competition in St Bride's Major.
Please come on the walks and support this beautiful butterfly.
It's only found in THREE places in the UK, and ONE of those places is in Wales, and that's in OUR Ministry Area.
Sunday 17th May 7:00pm, Bridgend Tabernacle Church
Wednesday 20th May 7:00pm at The Fox in St Brides. Join us for a brilliant night to raise money to get the bells ringing in St Bridget's Church once again.
(Click here for the poster)
Sunday 31st May, St Illtuds Church, 4:00pm- Come along and try a new way of worship. Great worship music promised!
Big event coming up in July, the Bubble Rush challenge. You can find out more by following Llamau Bubble Rush 2026 - Llamau
It's a fun event and last year we had just over 600 people taking part.. All ages, all capabilities, all just having fun supporting a wonderful Charity.
Llamau is a Welsh charity that supports young people and vulnerable women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
It was founded in 1986 and operates mainly across Wales, including areas like Cardiff, Swansea, and Newport.
What Llamau does..
Llamau provides practical and emotional support, such as:
Emergency accommodation for people with nowhere safe to stay
Supported housing to help people move toward independence
Advice and outreach services for those at risk of losing their home
Specialist support for women facing domestic abuse or exploitation
Who they help..
Young people (often aged 16–25)
Care leavers
Women experiencing homelessness or unsafe living situations
Their goal..
Llamau aims to end homelessness for young people in Wales, not just by offering shelter but by helping individuals build skills, confidence, and stability for the future.
If you want, I can explain how to access their services locally in Cardiff or how to support them.
Worship Information
Sunday 17th May: The Seventh Sunday of Easter
8.00am Eucharist at St Illtud’s Church, Llantwit Major
9.30am Eucharist at Ewenny Priory Church
9.30am Eucharist at St Illtud’s Church (& on Facebook)
9.30am Eucharist at St Michael &; All Angels Church, Llanmihangel
11.00am Eucharist at St Bridget’s Church, St Brides Major
11.00am Eucharist at St Cattwg’s Church, Llanmaes
11.00am Eucharist at St James Church, Wick
11.15am Farewell Student Service at St Donat’s Church, St Donats
Facebook Live link
click here
Morning Prayer: Monday at 9.00am on Zoom.
The meeting code is 592 850 026, and the password is Prayers, or
click on this link to join…
The liturgy for Morning Prayer is available in the worship section of this website.
Prayers for the Parish, led by the Mothers Union on Tuesday at 11.00am.
The Meeting ID: 879 7812 1918 and the password: MU, or
click on this link to join…
Morning Prayer from Wick on Thursday at 8.30am.
The Meeting ID: 872 7024 3106 and the password: James, or
click on this link to join…
If you know of anyone who would like to receive this information each week, please email or call the Parish Office (office@ghcp.church 01446 792439) and we will add them to the distribution list. Of course, if you would prefer not to receive further emails, please let us know.
With our prayers and good wishes,
The GHC Ministry Team
