Around 600 people attended the event, which was funded by £2,000 donated by developers on Carterton’s Shilton Park Estate. The party was arranged by the Revd Roy Turner, team vicar of Brize Norton and Carterton, who went on to lead the NECKLACE project.

He said: ‘We planned for about six months before we planted the church in St John the Evangelist Church of England Primary School. It has always been a team effort. It’s a privilege to lead the team, which came from St Britius Church, Brize Norton. We established a vision with the churches in Carterton and Brize Norton and we decided to start off.’

NECKLACE stands for North East Carterton Key to Life And Caring for Everyone (NECKLACE).

Mr Turner said: ‘We threw the party in the grounds of the school with the money from the developers. I wanted people to know that being involved in church is not always about wanting people to put their hands in their pockets. I had a tear in my eye when the Falcons leapt in.’

Since then the NECKLACE project has focused on looking after the spiritual needs of the community. Shilton Park Café Church (SPCC) is an informal service which meets on the first and third Sunday of each month in St John’s Primary School Hall.

NECKLACE’s other activities include the Buggy Club, for children aged nought to three and their carers, which meets on Fridays in term time at the school as well as the regular Family Hour of craft activities and one off barn dances and treasure hunts for the community. More recently the Jesus and Me (JAM) after-school club has been launched.

The NECKLACE puppets regularly perform at the café church and St Britius Church and the puppeteers include four teenagers.

Last year for the first time NECKLACE performed a nativity in a barn at Foxbury Farm. Mr Turner said: ‘The cattle were lowing and the adults were all in costumes and did reflections as the main nativity characters, on the birth of Jesus.’