On 2nd June 2022, we celebrated another unique milestone in our history, Her Majesty The Queen’s 70th year as our Monarch and Head of the Commonwealth – her Platinum Jubilee. This was the first time a British monarch has marked a Platinum Jubilee, 70 years as Sovereign. In September 2015, The Queen overtook Queen Victoria as the longest reigning monarch.
2022 official beacons were lit throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man and UK Overseas Territories, and one in each of the capital cities of Commonwealth countries in recognition of The Queen’s long and selfless service.
As a community, we paid tribute to Her Majesty The Queen as part of the official Platinum Jubilee Weekend of celebrations from 2nd to 5th June 2022 by kicking off the weekend of activities taking place in the area with a Beacon Lighting Event in Channels Park. A short video has been prepared to commemorate the occasion and you can find out more about the Channels Beacon here.
There is a long tradition of celebrating Royal Jubilees, Weddings and Coronations with the lighting of beacons. A beacon chain, once used as a tool for communication, has now become a symbol of unity across towns, borders, countries and continents and is often the central point of focus for any outdoor gathering or celebration. In 1897, beacons were lit to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. In 1977, 2002 and 2012, beacons commemorated the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of The Queen, and in 2016 Her Majesty’s 90th birthday.
The event on 2nd June was a huge success and despite a couple of setbacks, which included our live entertainer being struck down with COVID two days before the event, lots of people attended and watched as the impressive beacon was lit at 9.45pm. It took over 2.5 hours and five people to carefully load wood into the brazier (which is almost 5m high!) during the morning and the beacon burned brightly whilst the winners of the cake competition and raffle were announced.
Special thanks goes to the local organisations that helped provide funding to make the beacon event a reality and of course the Channels Residents Jubilee Planning Group (Andrew, Melanie, Claire, Laura, Eva, John, Dan & Donna) who volunteered so much of their time and effort to ensure the event was a success.
Lastly, and as our community was registered as an official participant, we have received a Certificate of Grateful Recognition as a permanent reminder of our involvement in this unique Jubilee.
Channels Community 
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