ST Thomas of Canterbury Church in Grays is looking forward to welcoming everyone to its 2021 Christmas Bazaar after last year's event was cancelled due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

The annual event will be held on Sunday, 28 November from 12 noon to 3pm at St Thomas Hall, East Thurrock Road. There will be a lot of fun activities on offer for the whole family, including assorted food and drink plus raffle prizes.

Top three winners will walk away with £250, £100 and £50 in cash prizes of the grand draw and there will be other amazing prizes too. Tickets are £1.

Food lovers will be treated to a breakfast bar, cakes, Jollof rice, fried rice and chicken, Waakye (Ghanaian rice with beans), puff puff (sweet fritters) and much more.

And Father Christmas will be there for the little ones.

Parish priest, Father Martin Hardy, says: "I am as excited as the parish family to welcome everyone back. The Covid 19 situation in 2020 robbed us of the opportunity to gather in our usual ways, but this year we can look to the future with a measure of hope and celebrate together as a community of faith.

"The annual bazaar is a significant event on our parish calendar as it not only helps us raise funds to maintain the church life but also brings us together to celebrate as one family, and in this case, after a challenging pandemic."