There has been more vandalism in church by youngsters playing with the gas lighter for the candles, messing around trying to light the oil inside the altar candles, and also vaping. Disregarding the signs asking people not to vape or smoke in the church and generally showing great disrespect for the church. This could have had disastrous consequences had the oil candles been knocked over, (these have now been removed). Once again this has all been caught on CCTV. Please spread the word that any vandalism in the church building, however minor, will be seen and may be reported to the police.
We have also been discussing our new ‘Five Year Project’ (making our church fit for the 21st century and more relevant to our community) and how we are going to proceed with this. We now have a team of people working with us and hope to report on progress in our magazine and here on the website. Trying to get funding for our kitchen and toilet project has been an uphill struggle, but now with some people helping us with experience at obtaining grants, I feel more hopeful for the future of our church. However this is a long term project: like any listed building alterations, repairs and additions, gaining all the correct approval, and finding the funds is going to take a very long time, so it may be a while before we have anything to report, But watch this space.
On Friday 20th February we had our first Homemade Soup Lunch, attended by 27 people. Soups on the menu were Creamy Mushroom, Vegetable, Carrot and Ginger, Carrot and Coriander, and Leek and Potato. It was lovely to see many people enjoying this free nutritious lunch. Debra and Jan, the ‘chefs’ were joined by Jane, Carol and Annette without whose help this would not have run so smoothly. COULD YOU HELP, ON A ROTA BASIS? MAKING SOUP AT HOME, USING OUR SOUP MAKER AND / OR GIVING UP TWO HOURS ON AN OCCASIONAL MONDAY TO SET UP / SERVE? IF SO PLEASE CONTACT DEBRA 075650 57216 OR JAN 07725 9404543. This venture, which is part of our Warm Hub initiative has been funded by a grant from our local County Councillor, Alexandra Kemp, to whom we are extremely grateful. If you missed this, why not come and join us on March 16th for our next soup lunch.