The Parish meal on Shrove Tuesday

There are parish social activities of all sorts and for all tastes, for the benefit of parishoners, organised by the social committee and other groups. The purpose of the social committee is to work together to provide a social function for the church, incorporating the parish and the Christian calendar, for example providing meals or refreshments for occasions such as St. James's Day, Harvest Festival and the Christmas Carol Service. They have organised pilgrimages to such places as Westminster, St. Paul's, Salisbury and Winchester Cathedrals. They have also put on fund raising events, including dream auctions, quiz nights and the like. Other events are purely opportunities to get people together in a social setting, such as the barn dance, barbecues and parties. The committee endeavours to organise events that appeal to all age groups and is a very inclusive organisation. It has a flexible number of members and meets as and when necessary. The committee discusses and decides what social events to arrange for both the young and not so young.

There is also a Theatre Club that organises discounted group bookings to performances at Richmond Theatre.

There are usually some events that happen regularly every year, such as after church drinks, St. James's Day celebrations which is usually a BBQ in the vicarage garden with fun and games, a harvest lunch or supper and mulled wine & minced pies after the parish Carol Service. There are other occasional events, such as quiz evenings with fish & chip suppers, beetle drives, dream auctions, antiques events, games evening, open gardens and tea, barn dance, Lent and soup lunches, Last Night of the Proms, the pantomime at Richmond Theatre, picnics and pub lunches. The revival of Ruth Mills' evening, 'Pot Luck Supper and Poetry' was launched in 2011 with people taking along a favourite poem to read and a plate of food to share.

St. James's Day

A debate

Drinks in the hall

Quiz Night

Harvest Lunch

A party

Historical Background to St. James's Social Events
The social life of the new parish of New Hampton almost certainly centred around the “Beer Houses”. To encourage the cottagers away from them and the drunken fights that were a regular occurence, Revd. Fitz Wygram "put his energy into the foundation of traditions specific to New Hampton and distinct from the public houses". These included a series of popular entertainments, known as Penny Readings. Although these came to an end during the 1880s, spoiled by “rowdyism”, they led to the introduction of the much more ambitious Winter Entertainments and events organised by the Summer Amusements Committee. Concerts, lantern lectures, demonstrations, 'conversaziones', missionary teas and school entertainments continued into the twentieth century but were slimmed down during the years of the 1st World War. The main social function of St. James's Church by 1930 was the Summer Fete, in those days a fund-raising event. A P.C.C. Social Committee was formed in 1933 to provide “parochial social entertainment” such as dances, concerts, whist-drives, bridge-drives, community singing and lectures.

An Autumn Fair and Social was introduced in 1952 partly to raise funds, and a fete was held in the grounds of Laurel Dene. In 1958, as a result of the successful Stewardship Scheme, "the Summer Fete now passes into history, and the Garden Party takes its place". It was a real party, not a fund raiser, with just an entrance fee to cover expenses. Beetle Drives and Ludo Drives were introduced in 1964 and church organisations successfully produced "Grand Concerts" in the parish hall. Newcomers’ parties were introduced in 1967 and the Tuesday Club was started in 1968. The first Open Day was held in 1969 when the church was open to the whole parish. Activities in the 1990s included parish children's parties, rambles, summer outings, Parish Proms, the parish Christmas party, Tea Dances, 'Pot-luck' suppers with poetry, country and barn dancing and the 'Edwardian Drawing Room', featuring ballads, comic songs, ragtime and recitations. There were also two productions, written by a member of the congregation: 'Dawnlight', describing the early spread of Christianity in England, and ‘Song of the Hill’, written in 1993 for the 130th anniversary of the church, telling the story of 19th century Hampton Hill. And the list goes on ...

For a more detailed account, read the page The History of St. James's Social Events.