Here are the pictures of the tables and chairs which the charity were able to buy as result of December’s charity appeal.
Charity Cafe Church for the Elizabeth-Ann Charity
What makes a Charity special, when there are so many charities demanding our attention?
In the case of the Elizabeth-Ann charity, at least two things make it special! Firstly, it was born of tragedy. Julie and Michael Davies, of Bradford-on-Avon, lost their only daughter at age 16 to a severe asthma attack and decided, via the charity, ‘Save the Children’ , to provide a water supply in her memory to a mainly Christian village in Andre Pradesh, India. A year later, when there was a problem with the water pump, they sent money for the repair but were made aware of the poverty in the village and decided to set up a charity in their daughter’s name, to provide a range of help-services in the village.
The second thing to make the Charity special, is particularly important; Julie and Michael decided they and other Trustees they appointed, would take no money for administering the charity and would pay their own expenses when they visited India. They would also not spend money on advertising the charity and relied on personally making many contacts with individuals and a few companies in the UK. One company in particular, Utility Warehouse, has provided financial help and encouraged its staff as individuals to help. Our St James’s Church, as well as individuals within St James’s, have been generous donors for more than ten years.
These two aspects of the charity, mean that all donations made to the charity are used directly to benefit the people of the village, in a variety of ways, some of which are detailed in the following:
There is now an Elizabeth-Ann children’s home in the village of Burlavaripalem, to house children from poor families and make certain they get a good education. The picture shows children seated on the floor studying. They study after school, mainly doing homework, from 5.30 pm until 8.00 pm each night as well as in the mornings before breakfast.
At the informal Benefice Café Church service on December 4th, the entire service was dedicated to the charity and we were privileged to have co-founder Julie Davies talk to us live by phone link and answer questions put to her by attendees. The service appeal raised the amazing sum of almost £1000 including Gift Aid. Over half of this will be used to buy 40 chairs and 10 desks for the children so they do not have to sit and work on the concrete floor, which gets very cold in Winter. We are all looking forward to seeing a picture of children at the Home, using the desks and chairs! Over the years, many of the children have achieved outstanding results and have gone on to well-paid jobs, helping their own and their wider families. Education is so key to breaking the cycle of poverty which so many struggle to escape from.
The charity has a particular focus on women and girls, who are often denied opportunities to better themselves. There is a Sewing Business class, whereby women are given sewing machines, costing £60 each and are enrolled in a 3 month training programme to develop a business, making clothes and other items, giving them some eagerly sought-after independence, as well as providing precious family income. There is a waiting list for machines and entry to the programme!
Children who live a long way from school are given bicycles so they can attend school. These are treasured possessions and at £65 each are supplied when funds allow.
Local farmers have benefited from a fund to help buy seed, and the money is repaid after the harvest. This has been particularly helpful after a disastrous harvest, when farmers have been unable to fund the purchase of precious seed for the coming year.
A special focus of the charity has been to help the elderly in the village and each month the elderly and infirm are given £5 each, which they usually spend on daily breakfasts for the month, often their only meal of the day. Food is also taken to those unable to come to the Elizabeth-Ann Home at mealtime.
During the time of the Covid pandemic, Vinay, who manages the work of the charity in Burlavaripalem, was going to the local market at 2.00 am to meet stallholders as they arrived so as to get a special price for food, which he later distributed locally, keeping many families with out of work breadwinners, above starvation level.
The charity also supplies ‘house cows’ to some poor families with children, providing precious milk.
One feature of the charity work is to pay for the visit, every two weeks, of a medical doctor, who manages to see over 50 patients in his three hour session. This is backed up by a weekly visit of a trained nurse and the long queues for both these medical people testify to their value.
As well as providing these benefits to the Christian village, they have also reached out to needy people in the nearby Hindu village, particularly at the height of the pandemic.
Jesus taught that when kindness is shown to the poor and needy, he counts it as kindness shown to himself and we are pleased, that as a Benefice, we have been able to support Julie and her small team as they seek to honour Jesus in their work in far-off Burlavariplem.
You can learn more about the charity by visiting www.eacharity.org.uk Peter Thompson
Crib Service on Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve children from across our villages gathered in the Church Centre for or Crib Service. They came dressed as Mary and Joseph, shepherds and sheep, wise men and angels – and a dragon! They listened carefully to Reverend Pauline’s retelling of the story of the first Christmas building up the scene in the stable at Bethlehem.
Christmas Flowers
A huge thank you to everyone who used their talents to make our Churches look so beautiful this Christmas .
School Christmas Carol Services
The Assemblies Teams from all three churches worked together to produce a performance of ‘A Bohemian Nativity’ using puppets to act out a version of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.
The show was performed at both Winscombe and Sandford Primary Schools’ Carol services and again for the services attended by students from Churchill Academy.
You can watch the show here:
Children’s Society Christingle Service
THE CHILDREN’S SOCIETY
CHRISTINGLE SERVICE
On Sunday 11th December Revd. Jacqui Keir-Bucknall, our Curate, led the annual Christingle Service in St James’s Church. The Christingle reminds us that God created our world and gave us all the good things that we have whilst the candle in the centre represents Jesus, light of the world, here to love and support us. The Children’s Society loves, supports and works with the many children in this country who sadly are unloved, abused, lonely, living on the streets or refugees.
Once again, the Service was very well attended with 25 children – and their parents/carers – joining us as together we made our Christingles. After making the Christingles we circled the church, lit the candles and turned out the lights whilst we sang Away in a Manger. Magical and a great start to the Christmas celebrations.
The work of the Children’s Society helping and protecting vulnerable children is vital and thank you to all who attended and for your generous donations. We raised £106.91.
Carols By Lantern Light
On Saturday 10th December the first ever ‘Carols By Lantern Light’ was held at the Church Centre on a very seasonally cold, but thankfully, dry evening.
This being the first time the event had been organised, we did not know quite what to expect in terms of numbers. Over 300 people of all ages came!! What a turn out!
Santa arrived at 4.45pm, not on his sleigh, but in a sports car! He had very kindly given the reindeer the night off so that they would be fit for their long journey on Christmas Eve.
90 or so children were then able to visit Santa in his grotto where he was ably assisted by his elves. He was full of Christmas spirit as he reminded the children to be good, not to peep on Christmas Eve and gave a few hints as to his favourite tipple which co-incidentally seemed to be a certain local brand of cider!
Mulled wine, hot chocolate and hot dogs helped to keep everyone warm while they listened to a variety of festive music played by the wonderful Weston Brass.
We then gathered for the Community Singing of traditional carols and Christmas songs accompanied by Weston Brass and introduced by our Master of Ceremonies, Winscombe Post Office’s Steve Reed who looked splendid in his Dickensian costume. Everyone seemed to be in good voice.
Our curate, Reverend Jacqui, gave a short reflection on the meaning of Christmas and we finished by singing ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ to each other.
Everyone seemed to have enjoyed themselves and be keen to repeat the experience next year – so watch this space!
Remembrance Sunday 2022
Remembrance Sunday Services at each of our churches were well attended on Remembrance Sunday as our villages paid their respects to the fallen and the two minute silence was kept at 11 am.
In Sandford people assembled at the memorial to lay wreaths and listen to the names of those who died. At the church the standard was laid on the altar and Sandford Hand Bell Ringers played peals and chimes giving the congregation time to reflect. Poignant displays of poppies and artefacts were a reminder of the role of the Army, Navy and Air Force in conflicts past and present. There were also white and purple poppies representing peace and the contribution of animals.
St James’s was decorated, once again, with knitted poppies. The Royal British Legion paraded their flags together with over 40 young people from the various Girl Guiding and Scout sections in Winscombe. The Last Post was played by a young trumpet player, followed by the two minute silence and then Reveille providing a very special atmosphere in the Church. Scouts and Guides also read the names of the fallen. Wreaths from a number of community organisations were laid on the altar before being placed on the War Memorial at the conclusion of the service.
At St John’s a small congregation led by Rev Warren Williams took part in the service of at which a poppy wreath was placed on the two war memorial tablets in church and the two boys who lost their lives on Dolberrow Warren were remembered.
Comfort for the Homeless
‘Somewhere to Go’ is a support centre providing day and night services to help rough sleepers and disadvantaged and vulnerable people.
I am collecting once again this year before the onset of winter, bedding, sleeping bags, blankets and warm clothes.
Please help by donating items, leave in my porch or personally deliver to Weston-super-Mare.
Angela Morris 81 Green Hill Road Sandford 01934 852327
Vacancies within our Parishes.
Please see below for details of two vacancies.
For further information about this role please download the full document.