Author: Jo Claridge

Did you know that the St James’s Events team is now helping to run the monthly market with all the money raised from the rental of the stalls and profit on selling food and drinks going to Church Funds. Please come along and support the Events Team , browse the stalls and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and perhaps a bacon roll or toasted tea cake.

It is on the 3rd Saturday of each month.

For many, many years this fundraising event in aid of The Children’s Society has been a popular fixture in the Winscombe summer calendar.

On Wednesday 13th August, Paul and Mo Matthews’ garden is being thrown open with coffee, lunch and cream teas being served.

The amazing Matthews family are once again holding this popular and productive day as a tribute to Paul, who died last summer.

So please do come along to this special day when we can sit back and spendtime in a lovely garden, enjoying good food and each other’s company.

If you would like to find out more about the work of The Children’s Society visit www.childrenssociety.org.uk or call Angie Lacy on 07475 011108.

St John’s, Churchill recently welcomed people during a weekend of beautiful sunshine for their Flower Festival entitled; ‘What I Wear to Church’.

A team of flower arrangers depicted different themes from gardening to teas, from a chorister to a bride.

At the same time, an Art Postcard Exhibition was held in The Stable. 250 small postcard sized works of art from watercolour, pastel, embroidery, collage and photographs, were donated from both professional and amateur artists aged from 8 to 90.

All were priced at £5.00 regardless of ability, and in many cases, it was the first piece of art they had displayed and sold.

We are very grateful for the support from friends, family, and, in many cases, complete strangers from local art groups, and to those who helped to stage and manage the exhibition. An amazing £612 was raised for church funds; far exceeding our expectations.

Here are just a few of the beautiful floral arrangements that were admired during the weekend and the postcard exhibition.

On Sunday 6th July we held a Pet Praise Service in the Church Centre. We arrived unsure of who would attend and which of God’s creatures might put in an appearance but we were prepared for anything!

So, it was wonderful to see so many people and pets gathered together by the time the service started at 10.00 am. There were lots of dogs of different shapes and sizes, one cat in his carrier and two tortoises in attendance as well as a whole range of cuddly toys representing pets and photographs too, which extended the menagerie to a diverse range of animals including snakes, a guinea pig, hedgehog, tigers, a penguin and even an a axolotl!

It was very touching that some people chose to ‘bring’ pets that had recently died to give thanks for them and remember how special they had been.

We gave thanks and praise for God’s creation and the unique role that pets play in our lives. We thought about how important it is to care for the natural world and our prayers included animals who are mistreated, the work of animal charities and working animals. Two of our songs had words specially written for the service to include popular pets.

The long awaited new outdoor lighting at St James’s has been installed over the past week (June 9th to 13th). Our thanks go to the Friends of St James for funding this important project which not only enhances the churchyard but makes it a safer place after dark for all who visit the church.

A huge thank you to the Cubs and leaders from 1st Winscombe group who came to the Church Centre on Monday 9th June and helped to tidy the grounds as part of their community service and work towards the Gardener badge. They chopped branches, weeded and swept and the results of their hard work were amazing and much appreciated by everyone who uses the Church Centre.

VE 80 Breakfast

Our breakfast in May came at the end of the week when the village commemorated VE Day. It therefore seemed appropriate to finish the week with a guest speaker with a military background, to remind us that the peace we have enjoyed for the last 80 years continues, but at a price. We were pleased to welcome Mike Bravery for his presentation; ‘At Sea in a Nuclear Deterrent Submarine’. Mike had served in the Royal Navy for 24 years and was able to explain the realities, the hardship, the dangers and the isolation endured, spending months submerged, undetected and with only incoming messages from the outside world. Many illustrations, and some videos of the training exercises, enlivened his fascinating talk. Mike generously waved his expenses fee and free breakfast offer in return for a donation to the Royal British Legion.