Christmas on the Bay is the latest Covid casualty, with the annual family concert called off by its new organisers Presbyterian Support South Canterbury.
Murray Cleverley was the original MC for the first few events which started in 2008.
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Julian Blanchard will MC this year’s Christmas On The Bay with Felicity Bruce. (File photo) He said about eight or nine years ago organisers brought Clarke on board to replace him as MC to “bring a bit of buzz”. Then a few years later Stevens joined her as co-host, and they had been the face of the annual event ever since, he said. “They were national celebrities, and it lifted it to another level.” Murray said he was “all cool” about the changes to this year’s lineup.
In a move to help vulnerable households, the total funding distribution for foodbanks in the region by the Community Trust of Mid and South Canterbury in 2021 has come to $121,900. The trust decided to broaden its support in an effort to combat food poverty in 2019 and set up an invitation-only funding round. After community research and discussion eight main foodbanks were identified and contacted and all eight applied in 2019, and in February 2020, were granted multi-year funding by trustees.. St Andrew’s Food Bank Geraldine, Presbyterian Support South Canterbury (PSSC), St Vincent de Paul Timaru, The Salvation Army Timaru, The Salvation Army Waimate and Foodbank Canterbury have all benefitted from the funding.