Latest news - Christian Resources Exhibition

The former GP who prescribes eye-catching posters

A doctor who gave up being a GP to produce colourful posters, has seen an increase in orders in the build up to Christmas.

Nick Radcliffe, 48, began The Christian Poster Company four years ago in Liverpool, as a release from the intensity of his medical work. It has also helped him overcome the trauma of losing a three-year-old daughter to leukaemia in 2012.

‘I gave up my doctoring in March after 20 years as a GP,’ he told CRE News. ‘I was becoming more and more burnt out and God provided this business at just the right time. It was the best decision I have ever made, releasing me from the stress of dealing with people’s illnesses and also the scars I still have from our child’s death. I’m incredibly grateful.’

The company’s 2025 calendars have been particularly popular, with more than 1200 sold.

‘I have found a real joy in the creative process, producing posters, cards, notebooks and calendars,’ said Nick. ‘My wife and I have three other daughters, and they like to lend a hand when they can, so that family aspect is an unexpected bonus. I also get a lot of pleasure from meeting customers and representatives of bookshops and other companies who sell my products.’

The Christian Poster Company exhibited at CRE for the first time at Milton Keynes in October.

‘I just love the challenge of running my own business and my products are sold online and in bookshops,’ said Nick. ‘God’s word takes pride of place, with the occasional quote from a popular hymn, and it is wonderful to hear how they have been used to bring pleasure and aid others in ministry.’

Nord to take centre stage at CRE 25

In the 1960s, the acoustic guitar became the new worship ‘accessory’ – in the past 10 years it’s been joined by a distinctive red keyboard. For the first time, the keyboard’s makers, Nord, will be exhibiting at CRE 25 and musician Matt Cossey (above) explains why the keyboard has become so popular in churches throughout the UK

The sound – let’s start with an obvious point – they sound great. But what’s different about a Nord over many other keyboards is that their piano samples capture the nuance of acoustic instruments so well. Nords are also known for having some of the best sounding electric pianos, great pads and, many would agree, the most authentic organ recreations on the market.

The ability to ‘flow’ – as a Christian musician, I often find myself in a worship setting where my goal is not to simply play a part, but rather respond to what the Spirit is doing. I love this context, where I need to listen to what is going on, listen to God, and play something appropriate that can accompany how the Spirit is moving. Enter the Nord… Whilst the seemingly infinite knobs and dials might initially induce mild panic, there is a reason for this apparent complexity. The truth is, Nords are actually incredibly intuitive and easy to use once you understand them, because everything is accessible.

A desire for excellence – lastly, I think the increasing abundance of red keyboards in churches is indicative of a desire for excellence. When I talk to church leaders and musicians, I so often hear the same heart for ‘something greater’ in worship. I get a sense of unrest and an unwillingness to settle. The Nord has come to represent a sound and a standard that so many aspire to.

There is a lot more that could be said on this topic, but if a bright red keyboard can play even a small part in helping the churches achieve this, they are worth every penny.

Matt Cossey is an active performer, composer, Nord Keyboards artist and keyboardist for disco icon Gloria Gaynor

Meet the tea company brewing up change

The company which launched the UK’s first Fairtrade tea in 1994 will make its debut at CRE 25 (15-16 Oct, Sandown Park, Esher).

‘We also helped write the Fairtrade tea standards to improve the lives of workers on tea plantations,’ said Adam Perry of Clipper Tea. ‘The brand launched the world’s first unbleached, plant-based, biodegradable and GMO-free tea bag in 2018.’

Clipper is part of Ecotone, a mission-driven company. For more than 30 years, Ecotone has charted an alternative path to the dominant industrial food model.

‘Thanks to our agricultural practices, our organic tea plantations save 900 tons of CO2 equivalent compared to conventional tea,’ explained Adam. ‘In line with our mission to preserve biodiversity, Ecotone has set ambitious impact reduction targets and initiatives throughout its value chain to reduce its footprint. One hundred per cent of our factories and offices will be green-energy powered by 2030.’

• Clipper Tea will be on stand B4 at CRE 25, alongside long-standing CRE exhibitors Kingdom Coffee

‘Good News’ Bob still going strong

Bob Parsons (above) celebrated his 90th birthday in August – but that hasn’t stopped him delivering the Good News newspaper to local people in Southampton.

Shirrell Heath Methodist Church began distributing copies more than 30 years ago (it was called Challenge then). Around 400 copies go out every month and Bob still personally gives out 50.

‘Delivering the Good News is a great way for people to read how Jesus can change lives,’ he said, ‘especially if the stories are about a well-known people.’

‘Good News, and Challenge before it, has always included a mix of “celebrity” stories as well as “ordinary” Christians’ testimonies,’ explained editor Andrew Holloway, ‘because people who read secular newspaper and magazines are used to seeing famous people featured and reading about their lifestyles. The difference with Good News, of course, is that celebrities are only featured if they have something positive to say about faith, God, Jesus, the Bible or Christianity in general.

‘People start reading the paper because of the recognisable faces, but often then go on to read the testimonies of other people in the paper. This is why we include well-known people like singers, actors or sports stars – because Good News can’t reach people with the Gospel unless they pick up the paper and start reading it. Many evangelists who use the paper tell us this strategy works.’

Good News also features apologetic articles and a clear gospel message, plus familiar newspaper features like a film review, recipe, crossword, sudoku, cartoon – all with the aim of attracting different readers.

New exhibitors line up for CRE’s 40th anniversary

With nine months to go before the doors open on CRE 25 (15-16 Oct) more than half of the space available has been sold or reserved.

And while dozens of businesses and charities will be well known to visitors, more than 20 organisations will be exhibiting for the first time at Sandown Park, including:

10 of Those
MTS Live
Clipper Tea
Interactive Storyteller
The Stones Hotel
University of Kent
Gemini Parking Solutions
Flock and Canvas
Curious Berries
CMJ UK
Whittlebury Park
World Uyghur Christian Union
Academic Venues Solutions
Leading the Way
Shevet Achim
ReSource
Servicestream LTD (MCN Media)
Headline Audio (Nord keyboards)
Faith in Later Life
Stephen Disraeli
Wycliffe Hall

‘Several of these organisations joined us for the first time in Birmingham and Milton Keynes in 2023 and 2024 and it will be a special privilege to introduce them to visitors at the traditional “home” of CRE at Sandown Park in the Autumn,’ said event director Brett Pitchfork.

Kids and vaping: a new challenge faced by Hope UK

A huge number of children and young people are taking up vaping – not because they want to quit smoking but because they see it as cool and trendy.

So says Mary Deller, of drug education charity Hope UK, in the first of a special series of podcasts featuring CRE exhibitors. The organisation works with Year Six children, to help them in the transition to secondary school.

‘We are facing a whole host of issues that weren’t there in my youth,’ explains Mary. ‘At every school we are asked to talk to their young people about vaping. If you ask children who were vapes invented for, they’ll say teenagers or adults. But when you explain that vaping was invented for smokers who want to quit smoking, the penny drops.’

The Christian faith is fundamental to what Hope UK do.

‘It’s part of the legacy and the history of who we are as an organisation and what motivates us as individuals, both staff and volunteers, because we are all practising Christians,’ explains Mary. ‘We often quote John 10:10, where Jesus talks about giving us life in all its fullness, whereas the thief comes to kill and destroy. We make that analogy with drugs.’

The organisation is currently looking to recruit volunteers from churches.

‘It is a big commitment, but you get very good training, accredited by the Open College Network,’ says Mary, ‘so if you have a passion for this work and feel called, then I’d definitely encourage you to get in touch with us.’

See the whole podcast with Mary Deller of Hope UK.

All-action start for fundraisers in the new year

Churches looking to raise funds for innovative local projects are invited to attend a special event in London.

The Faith and Fundraising Conference (26 Mar 2025, Royal Geographical Society, London) will feature a range of expert speakers offering on-hand help and ideas. There’ll be plenty of time for in-person networking, too.

CRE exhibitors Action Planning have joined forces with Stewardship and Yeomans Marketing and Fundraising, to run the conference.

‘You will leave with new insights from generous funders, stories of success, practical tips from sector experts, contacts and inspiration to fuel you for the year ahead,’ say the organisers. ‘Those who attend will also receive a limited-edition publication with exclusive research findings, case studies, stories and stats to extend the benefit to their team and ministry.’

Speakers already announced include the CEO of World Vision, Fola Komolafe; Steve Campbell from C3; Tarn Bright, co-CEO of Home for Good/Safer Families; Jonathan de Bernhardt Wood, director of giving at the Church of England; Robin Peake, chair of Fundraising in Christian Organisations and Wendy Pawsey, head of giving for the Evangelical Alliance. Trusts and foundations represented include the Joseph Rank Trust, Benefact, Jerusalem Trust and the Stewardship Philanthropy Fund.

A full list of speakers will be announced over the coming weeks with early bird tickets already available.

• Action Planning will be on stand G3 at CRE 25

CRE 24: ‘You just don’t know what’s going to come from a face-to-face conversation’

By 4pm on the first day of CRE 24 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, exhibitors Chris and Kim Dunphy had already had so many helpful and detailed conversations with visitors that they were ‘completely talked out’.

Chris, founder of ChurchEcoMiser, will now make several site visits to churches over the next few months – introducing them to the company’s eco-friendly heating system. Over the past few exhibitions Chris and Kim have distributed more than 1,000 free tree saplings to CRE visitors. In spite of two long days interacting with hundreds of visitors, they, along with more than 60 other organisations, have already booked their stand at CRE 25 (15-16 Oct, Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey).

Margaret Wylie was equally busy at Holy Socks. ‘Working from home or an office is fine, but it’s good to get out and actually meet people face to face,’ she said. ‘You just don’t know what’s going to come from a face-to-face conversation.’

CRE 24 was the first-ever at the Marshall Arena. More than 150 organisations were represented on the exhibition floor and total attendance over two days was 1,786, comprising 1,446 visitors and 340 exhibitors – almost identical to CRE 23 in Solihull.

‘Once again we sent out the 60-page exhibition handbook free to thousands of former visitors and new contacts, several weeks before the event,’ said CRE owner Steve Goddard. ‘It meant they came fully informed and ready to do business.’

Modernising churches was a theme picked up by ITV News, who filmed the exhibition in full flow and broadcast a report in a prime spot on the first evening of the show. The BBC also published a piece on their regional website.

But CRE wasn’t just about ‘holy hardware’. Two days of worship and discussion about worship were led by popular worship leaders and songwriters Lou and Nathan Fellingham, Lucy Grimble, Roger Jones and Devon Brown.

‘We have presented hints and tips on the practical way of writing from the heart,’ said Lou. ‘It would be great if those who attended the sessions are released to use the gift that God has called them to exercise.’ Nathan, 47, who wrote the popular song Lift up His Name when he was just 17, added: ‘There will always be a need for more songs and hymns and we hope many will be inspired to craft them.’

For two visitors in every five, this was the first CRE they had ever attended. One of them was Ellen Andrews, a children and family worker at Biggleswade Baptist Church. ‘The song-writing workshop looked interesting,’ she said. ‘I have not thought of writing a song before, but it has inspired me to think more about doing so.’

A series of more than 40 talks and presentations covered fundraising, faith sharing, bereavement support, social media, church security – and much, much more.

The exhibition was opened by Daniel Cutting, 10 times Guinness football freestyle world champion. Also a youth leader in his local church, Daniel declared the exhibition open while bouncing a football on his head, knee, foot and arms.

‘I was surprised at the amazing range of subjects and equipment covered at this event,’ he said. ‘The friendliness of stand holders and visitors was wonderful.’

There were a number of new exhibitors, including Liverpool-based Nick Radcliffe, who gave up his practice as a GP to produce eye-catching Christian posters.

‘This is the first time I have had a stand at an exhibition, but it has fully justified my decision to give up being a doctor,’ he said. ‘I have had so many conversations and sold a good number of posters.’

The Rev Simon Faulks, a 56-year-old Anglican priest in Bletchley, was also enthusiastic about the number of people interested in his workshops on storytelling and circus illusions. ‘I have chatted to lots of people and was delighted to be here,’ he said.

The event returns to Sandown Park in Esher, Surrey (15-16 Oct) where it will celebrate 40 years as the UK’s biggest and longest-running exhibition of resources for churches.

CRE 2025

To book a stand at CRE 25, contact:
James Batterbee
T: 0161 240 4500
E: james@creonline.co.uk

Open a meaningful window of faith for children

There is one outstanding reason why people do not believe in God – when it is absent from their education as children.

So says Dr Aiyana Willard, a psychologist from Brunel University, where two surveys were carried out recently to find out what was behind lack of belief in God.

‘Not learning to be religious is what counts,’ Dr Aiyana Willard said. Those who did not see their parents participate in religion, or were not taught about religion, tended to be atheist.

David Marshall, from the Meaningful Chocolate Company, said: ‘It seems that if children are not told about God or hear the stories which inspire faith, then they are more likely to be atheist. We aim to play our part in reversing the trend.’

The company’s 2024 Real Advent Calendar comes with a 24-page copy of the Christmas Story and includes challenges such as supporting charities and saying a prayer.

‘Giving a Real Advent Calendar opens the minds of children and parents to the possibility of faith as they learn more about the Christmas Story over the 24 days of Advent,’ said David.

• The Real Advent Calendar will be on sale at the 10ofThose bookshop (stand D1) at CRE 24

CRE 2025

To book a stand at CRE 25, contact:
James Batterbee
T: 0161 240 4500
E: james@creonline.co.uk