North Yorkshire Family History Day

Last Saturday, a wonderful day of discovering family and local heritage was organised by North Yorkshire County Records Office.  Held at the Pavilions of Harrogate, the event proved a great success.

Pictured (from left to right) are Councillor Tim Swales - Chairman of North Yorkshire County Council, Sister Missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Mrs Sally Swales.

The Harrogate Family History Centre of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had a stand run by local expert volunteers David Purser, Geoff English and Barry Fisher. They were also supported by Elder and Sister Smith; a senior couple serving for two years as family history missionaries in the England Leeds Mission of the Church. Welcome support was also offered by six full time missionaries from Harrogate, who gave two-hour shifts and enjoyed talking to visitors and passers-by who wanted to know more about finding their ancestors.

‘Getting started’ guides and other handy resources were provided free of charge by Brian McKechnie of ‘FamilySearch’ and were very popular. In all, 65 members of the public sat in at various times, asking for information and help to solve family history problems and blockages!

Free help with Family History can be found at Harrogate Family History Centre, 10 Wetherby Road, Harrogate, HG2 7SA.  Opening times are Tuesday and Thursday: 7pm - 9pm (or other days and times on availability of volunteers).  Please telephone for appointments during opening hours, or leave a message on the answerphone: 01423-886537.  All are welcome. Entrance is via green gates to the back-porch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel. Car parking is available on the church grounds. Please note that a majority of the car-park is used by the hospital 8am to 6:30pm weekdays. During these times please park in the section of the car-park adjacent to the back-porch. You may need to ring bell for entrance to the Family History Centre.

Pictures from the York Panto

The church members and friends recently celebrated the 9th annual pantomime.  This year it was Beauty and the Beast, and with big cast of children and grown-ups they put on a fun free show that was enjoyed by around 750 people.  Next year will be a special 10th anniversary celebration and one not to be missed!

Here are some pictures of this year's production:

Lord Mayor Opens New Self-Reliance Centre

 Lord Mayor Opens New Self-Reliance Centre 

On Monday the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of York, and the Sheriff of York and Sherriff’s Lady, opened a dedicated Self-Reliance Centre at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), West Bank, Acomb. It is the first of its type in the North of England. 

The Lord Mayor cut the ribbon to officially open this community-based facility to allow local residents free and impartial access to online resources, support and expertise (available to everyone, of any working age, whether members of the Church or not). 

The aim is to help anyone to develop personal and family self-reliance and York is a trailblazer, as eventually there will be around 50 Self-Reliance Centres across England. 

Each Centre will provide free internet access, one-to-one support, professional mentoring and helpful resources to job seekers, the self-employed and prospective students. The centres will be staffed by volunteers from a variety of professional backgrounds and will offer services such as: 

• How to gain a good education 

• How to start or grow your own business 

• How to find and keep employment 

• Personal Mentoring 

• Career Coaching 

• Networking 

York area Church-leader, President Kent Mayall said “as lives are positively changed through the services provided families and communities will also be strengthened”. He explained “the purpose is for people to find jobs, to learn and prepare to gain better jobs and eventually to become self-reliant enough to develop their own lasting careers”. 

The York Self-Reliance Centre will have flexible opening hours. To start with the West Bank (Acomb) Centre will host Wednesday evening sessions from 7pm-9pm. Some sessions will also be provided in other parts of North Yorkshire, such as Scarborough. Centres will extend their opening hours depending on demand. 

All are welcome to simply turn up on a Wednesday evening and make enquiries.

It's the York pantomime....oh no it isn't...oh yes it is!

Everyone is invited!  It's time for the York Pantomime which has become an annual event not to be missed.  Now in it's 9th year this time it's 'Beauty & The Beast' and promises to be quite spectacular!  Not to missed. It will be a fun time for all the family and so we invite everyone to come along.

There are performances on:

Friday 27th February 2015 - Starting at 7.00pm
Saturday 28th February 2015 - Afternoon Matinee starting at 2.00pm
Saturday 28th February 2015 - Evening Matinee starting at 7.00pm

Where: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel, Acomb Road, York, YO24 4HA

There are limited tickets available for each performance, so get your FREE tickets call or text: 07932 151092  or email:ticket@yorkldspanto.co.uk

Christmas Truce radio interview

You can listen to the interview on Radio York today with Mark Cosens talking about the upcoming Christmas Truce event.

Click the following link and go to 48 mins into the programme:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02cj7rh




Everyone is welcome to attend, it's Friday 10th December, 7:30pm at the York Chapel (West Bank, Acomb)