St Andrew's - TT Teas

For a number of years now we have provided snacks and drinks for those who use our Church grounds as a vantage point to watch the T.T. motorcycle races.

This started out in a fairly small way, because whenever someone was around Church on a race day they noticed the crowd in the grounds taking advantage of our excellent view of the riders just after they leave the Grandstand, and they were regularly asked if we provided food or drinks.



Now, every June, the St. Andrew's congregation swing into action to run a snack bar for both Practice and Race periods, selling a wide variety of comestibles.


These days you can buy tea, coffee, cold drinks, soup, sandwiches, pasties, hot-dogs, biscuits, crisps, fresh fruit and home-made cakes!




No-one has ever tried to count exactly, but it is likely that we sell over a thousand cups of tea and coffee and sell hundreds of filled baps and over a thousand portions of home-made cakes every year.



There is a lot of hard work involved in slicing and wrapping cake, filling baps, heating pasties and so on.





It can get very busy - and it is wonderful how many members of the congregation, of all ages, get involved in the hard work.



Sometimes it is also a time to do other jobs around church - such as making a few small technical repairs, or cleaning the brasses...






Over the years the money raised this way has provided some of the carpets in Church, the curtains in the coffee lounge and the front Hall, and the disabled toilet amongst other things. Our 'customers' really appreciate what we do - particularly the use of the toilets!


We also served M.G.P. Teas - quieter than the T.T. of course, but still a service to our visitors, and enjoyable for those who took part.