June 2026
June has been a very busy month for everyone at the temple. Than Thirasak returned as planned on the 11th, and we then started the preparations for the 13th Anniversary that was held on the 28th June with over 350 people attending. We were honoured to host 33 monks, including Luang Por Sopano, the Abbot of our parent temple in Chiang Mai who was accompanied by many monks and lay supporters.
During the Anniversary celebrations we invited Luang Por to place the Top Knot on the Phra Buddha Sihing statue in the hall, a very significant occasion for everyone.
The day also celebrated the 2nd Anniversary of the Peace Garden, and the unveiling of the two Yakh statues which are now mounted on the new gatepost plinths at the temple entrance. These are symbolic guardians of the temple, and help protect against negative thoughts and energy.
We are still busy making the decorative curtains for the new hall, and will shortly take delivery of the two shoe racks that will be located in the entrance foyer.
The works to the Ceremonial Gateway which incorporates DDA compliant access to the temple car park, and a new storeroom, will start as soon as our builders have the materials on site. There will be some disruption to temple access during the building works which we apologise for, but we will endeavour to minimise this as much as we can.
Our accounts for this month identified a fraudulent transaction from Swiftcover which appears to be an initial payment for someone’s car insurance. Fortunately, we spotted this during the monthly reconciliation and raised it with Swiftcover, who have now fully reimbursed the temple bank account. This demonstrates the value of our monthly reviews and constant vigilance.
As a reminder, our friends Naiyana and Gavin have organised their Taste of Thailand two-day event on 11th and 12th July to be held at Runcorn Town Park, and they have kindly offered a marquee for the temple to use over the two days. We hope very much that you can join us there, and support their new venture to bring Thai food and culture to Runcorn. For details see Taste of Thailand” Event – | Halton & St Helens VCA
Thanks to everyone for all your support. As always, please let us know if you have any comments or suggestions,
With Metta (loving kindness)
