Record banana split marks church’s 10th anniversary  

Wellspring Church in Wirksworth constructed what we believe to be the biggest Fairtrade banana split the town has ever seen on Saturday (21 September), writes Ingrid Keith 

 
At four metres long, it was assembled in two lengths of two-metre plastic guttering, joined together and lined with silver foil, and laid out on three tables end to end.   

The church invited the whole community to come and witness the spectacle, enjoy a portion of the gigantic split, and commit ourselves once again to supporting Fairtrade.   

It was devoured within minutes of completion…. 

The occasion was the 10th anniversary celebration of the merging of the Methodist and Baptist churches in Wirksworth to form a new church, Wellspring.   

The birthday fell within Fairtrade Fortnight and the aim of the banana split was to point out that that despite the success of Fairtrade over the last 30 years, only one in three bananas consumed in the UK is a Fairtrade banana.   

The giant banana split, while it lasted, was the centrepiece of the church’s community hall, which was lined with displays from the community groups who use the church, and who joined us in a special open day.   

They included the local Women’s Institute, Memory Café, Amnesty International, Repair Café and many more.   

The journalist from Radio Derby who came to cover the event remarked on how much he had enjoyed visiting a real community celebration, with all ages having such a great time together. 

It made us reflect with gratitude on the journey we have travelled together since the two churches first started talking about merging.   

Coming together ten years ago was quite a feat, with many barriers to overcome and seemingly unending paper work.   

However, ten years on, freed from the overheads of running two buildings and two churches, we are delighted by the reality that what we now have is so much more than the sum of its parts.   

It feels as though the God-given gifts and  creativity within the church can now more fruitfully be applied to serving the community and to what has become Wellspring’s strapline: “making God visible.”  
 

Ingrid Keith is the Fairtrade representative for Wellspring Church, Wirksworth