'Fantastic time' at Sheringham BeachLife outreach

Four days of fun, games, and discovering Jesus on Sheringham clifftops and beach have now ended, and this year's BeachLife has attracted large numbers of children, young people and families. Tony Rothe reports.

Around 200 children and young people are believed to attended at least one of the activities during the week, with many more parents and family members taking part in the afternoon and evening events.
 
Sheringham BeachLife ran from Tuesday 26 through to Friday 29 August. The mornings started on The Leas with the Beach Special, where everyone gathered for songs, challenges, drama with the BeachLife Zoo, right, and the ever-popular gunge tank! The children and young people then split into their age groups for the Going Deeper sessions, where that day’s theme was explored in fun and creative ways.
 
The theme for the week was the Four Points, where the young people discovered that God loves them, all have sinned, Jesus died on the cross and came back to life, and finally challenged as to how they would respond.
 
The family events in the afternoons included beach games, sand sculptures judges by Sheringham’s mayor, the ever-popular egg parachute challenge, interactive theatre workshops by the 4Front theatre company, and a family picnic on the last day.
 
The evenings saw the perennial tide fight, pictured above, swimming at the local Reef pool, and the return of the "Sheropoly" youth trail around town. All activities were free of charge for those taking part. 
 
Sheringham BeachLife is organised and run by the churches in the town primarily for the benefit of young people in Sheringham and the surrounding areas, but with many holidaymakers and visitors also taking part. It has been running for 14 years and has a team of over 70 volunteers taking part from the different churches in Sheringham.
 
Peter Skivington, planning group leader, said “It was fantastic once again to partner in sharing the gospel with so many children, young people and families. Let’s continue to pray for a harvest from the seeds that were sown, and that lives would be changed as a result.”
 
Once again, a generous grant from Sheringham Poors and Ploughlet Trust made a significant contribution to the costs of staging the event, along with grants from the Diocese of Norwich, the Paul Basham Trust, and the HR Greene charity.
 
Feedback on the BeachLife Facebook page was positive, including that from Rebecca who said, “I just wanted to say a massive thank you to the whole team for all your work this week. My 3 children were spread across 3 different age groups and all of them had a fantastic time in the last 2 days. It’s the first time we’ve been to an event in the UK like this where I haven’t been on the team! It was brilliant to see your enthusiasm, and the hard work and time you have put in has blessed every member of our family and we really appreciate it.”
 
The next BeachLife event is expected to be a family fun day during February half term. Next year’s summer BeachLife will run from Tuesday 25 to Friday 28 August 2026.
 
Visit the Sheringham BeachLife website and Facebook page for latest news.
 
Read our previous story about Sheringham BeachLife.
 
The pictures above are courtesy of Gareth Gabriel.

Do you have a news story or forthcoming event relating to Christians or a church in North Norfolk?  

If so, e-mail tony.rothe@networknorwich.co.uk with details and, if possible a suitable picture.