The Exmouth community is being urged to come together this Christmas and spread a ‘sense of hope in the darkness’ by singing carols from their doorstep.

Similar to the way everyone came out every Thursday during the first coronavirus lockdown to clap for the NHS, Exmouth church leaders are asking people to step out of their front door and sing Christmas carols.

The big Christmas sing will take place at 6.30pm on Monday, December 21, and Pastor Simon Atkinson, of Brixington Community Church, is hoping it will help to spread some Christmas cheer in what has been a difficult year.

He said: “It has been really difficult and my belief is that people really need to just make contact with one another.

“We have probably got neighbours that have been isolating and just to make contact with them is important.”

Pastor Simon Atkinson is suggesting two carols which the whole community can sing – O Come All Ye Faithful and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

The carols will be printed in the Journal in the next few weeks and will be played over the radio by Exmouth Air at the proposed time.

Pastor Atkinson added: “We believe that this will be a great way of sharing some much need Christmas cheer especially when we are unable to gather to celebrate something of Christmas in the ways we would have done previously because of Covid-19.

Some people face not being able to see loved ones this Christmas because of the tiered restrictions put in place by the Government in response to the rise in Covid-19 cases.

Pastor Atkinson hopes the Big Christmas Sing can let people have a ‘moment of contact’ with their neighbours and perhaps have a socially-distanced glass of mulled wine and a minced pie together.

“There will be lots of people like us who cannot see their family because they are in tier three so having that moment of contact is key.”

A number of churches across Exmouth and the surrounding villages have agreed to get involved with the event including the Anglican churches of Liittleham, Lympstone and Holy Trinity, the Baptist church in Victoria Road, Exmouth Community Church and the Christ Churches in Exmouth and Woodbury.