COLOURFUL angels are on display throughout Harnham thanks to a community art project run by the church with a local artist.

Revd Becky Roberts, vicar of Harnham parish, asked artist Suzie Gutteridge to design an angel template that could be used to create a host of angels from recycled materials.

Revd Roberts said the aim of the project was to make the church a welcoming place for all the different groups of people who are more likely to go there at this time of year.

“A lot of the community use the church for nativity services and we wanted to make them feel welcome by having some of their art in the church,” she said. “We didn’t want it to be just a church project; we wanted it to be a community project.”

Members of the church congregation donated materials to be used for the angels and then Revd Roberts and Mrs Gutteridge, who often uses recycled materials in her artwork, worked with children at Harnham Junior School and community groups the Three Bs church toddler group, Brympton House Day Centre and Puddleducks Nursery to make 120 angels from material, felt and buttons and about 50 from recycled drinks cans.

The angels, which are a symbol of hope, peace and joy, are now being displayed at St George’s and All Saints churches. The design was based on the angels in the stained glass windows at St George’s Church, which were made by the Warre sisters, some of the first women to design stained glass windows.

And the children also designed angels to hang in their windows at home, with more than 300 to be spotted around Harnham. The angels in the churches will be on display until the first weekend in January when the children will be able to take them home.

“Everyone seems to have really enjoyed it,” said Revd Roberts. “It has brought older members of the community together with the younger. It’s been real cross-generation communication and doing something fun together.”