John Sergeant now heads for the airwaves

John Sergeant has captivated the nation with his flat-footed dance routine and he now hopes to do the same with his voice as he records a Christmas single.

John Sergeant has teamed up with television presenters Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley from The One Show to make the charity song. The track, called “Let’s Not Fight This Christmas”, is out on Dec 8 and will battle it out with this year’s X Factor talent show winner in a bid to top the charts this Christmas.

Tags: charity, Christmas, Christmas Music, Christmas No.1, John Sergeant, Levis, Win

Christmas banned in Oxford

A plan by a council-funded charity to ban the word Christmas from this year’s festive celebrations has been criticised by religious leaders of all denominations.

Oxford city council confirmed the events in the city would be renamed ‘Winter Light Festival’to make them more inclusive, provoking outrage among shoppers in the city who called for a return to tradition.

The idea has come from the charity Oxford Inspires, the cultural development agency for the county, which runs the celebrations.

Sabir Hussain Mirza, chairman of the Muslim Council of Oxford, said: “I am really upset about this. Christians, Muslims and other religions all look forward to Christmas.” Fr Brian Van-Dungey, a priest in Garsington, Oxon, said: “I am a Christian and pleased to see my Muslim brothers joining in the condemnation of this stupid and dangerous idea; this sort of thinking creates racial problems and should be stopped in its tracks.”

Rabbi Eli Bracknell, who teaches at the Jewish Educational Centre in the city, said: “It is important to maintain a traditional British Christmas. Anything that waters down traditional culture and Christianity in the UK is not positive for the British identity.”

Oxford Inspires spokesman Tei Williams said: “In Oxfordshire we have Winter Light which is a whole festival spanning two months. Within that festival will be Christmas Carol services.”

Source: The Telegraph

Tags: charity, Christmas, Fun, Oxford, Win, Winter Light Festival

Mcfly to turn on London Christmas lights

This year the theme for the Regent Street lights is ‘stars’ and the famous “mile of style” will be transformed into a winter wonderland for Christmas shoppers. Since the 1950s international celebrities have turned on the lights to mark the beginning of the Christmas shopping season.

Past personalities include HRH The Prince of Wales, Kylie Minogue, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Sylvester Stallone and Sir Ian McKellen.

Danny from McFly said: “We’re really excited to be switching on the Regent Street Christmas lights.
“So many great people have done it in the past. “It’s also fantastic that BBC Children in Need are involved. “Hopefully we can help encourage people to think of ideas to raise even more money this year”.

McFly are releasing an official single for BBC Children in Need, which helps disadvantaged children and young people across the UK. The switch-on event is supporting the charity with many of the Regent Street retailers collecting donations throughout the week.

This year Hollyoaks star John Pickard, who plays the character Dominic Reilly, will MC the event and the London Gospel Community Choir will be performing a selection of songs from the stage keeping the audience entertained in the lead up to McFly switching on the lights.

The Regent Street Christmas lights are one of London’s major tourist attractions and draw a huge number of visitors each year.

source: This is Lancashire

Tags: BBC, charity, Christmas, christmas lights, christmas shopping, community, Lights, Mcfly, money, Regent Street, Shopping, Win

Nigella the Christmas charity goddess

NIGELLA Lawson has told how she once made her children give their Christmas presents to charity.

The domestic goddess wanted to show her teenage daughter and son how lucky they are. She said they could only keep one gift and the rest went to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London.

Tags: charity, Christmas, Nigella Lawson, presents