HUNDREDS of children joined members of a women’s organisation to help it celebrate its 140th anniversary.

The Durham Diocese of the Mother’s Union held its annual festival service at Durham Cathedral today [Tuesday].

To mark the occasion the Mother’s Union invited children’s groups from across the region to create banners to help them celebrate.

Sunday school groups, Rainbow, Brownies and children from Messy Church swelled the ranks of the organisation for the child-friendly service.

The festival service is held every year and is a chance for members to renew their vows.

Janice Clasper, a member of the Chester-le-Street branch, said: “It was absolutely excellent. The cathedral was packed and it was full of families which was lovely to see as well as our Mother’s Union members.

“This was our 140th year so our president wanted to do something really special and we thought of doing something to get families involved. That’s something we haven’t done on this scale before.”

The service was geared towards children with songs and acted-out Bible stories.

More than 200 children attended along with members from Mother’s Union branches across the Durham Diocese, with people coming from as far away as Barnard Castle and Stockton.

The Durham Mother’s Union, which has around 1,800 members across 16 deaneries, celebrated its 125th anniversary last year.

Mrs Clasper added: “Last year was really special but this year was so different. Everyone I spoke to said what a difference it made having so many children there. It was lovely hearing all the voices singing.

“The organisation has four million members but it’s not as strong as it was and a lot of our members are quite elderly. By doing this we’re hoping we might attract some younger people.

“We do have some groups with young people and I go to the branch in Chester-le-Street which has 70 members but on the whole the branches are smaller.”

The Mother’s Union is an international Christian membership charity. It was founded in Old Alresford, near Winchester, in 1876 by Mary Sumner and now has four million members worldwide.

Durham Diocesan president Jean Carleton will be stepping down this year.