Church of England BEnefice of Winscombe and sandford with Churchill
Putting the love of Jesus in the heart of our community
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.
On Saturday 10th May a week of activities commemorating the 80th Anniversary of VE Day concluded with a party at the Church Centre.
The hall, decorated with bunting and patriotic flags, was packed, for this sell out event, truly evoking the spirit of the many parties that took place in 1945.
Several people came in 1940’s style costume including Home Guard, Land Army and many glamorous ladies wearing their Sunday (or Saturday) best not to mention the handsomely turned-out chaps!
The entertainment was provided by the duo, Belle Street, with music conjuring up the feel of the 1940s, delivered with a touch of lighthearted, tongue in cheek banter. The audience loved it and were soon up on their feet dancing the night away.
The ration cards were temporarily cast aside, now that war had ended, and Ploughman’s platters served to each table. The bar was well stocked too so there was plenty of liquid refreshment too!
Tables were also challenged to complete a VE Day Quiz which included rounds on Dad’s Army Characters, WW2 films and song lyrics.
As well as being great fun and bringing our community together to celebrate and important national event, the party raised over £780 for St James’s Church funds.
Yet another blanket for Ukraine has been created by our churches and presented to Barley from Sidcot School.
Easter Sunday was celebrated in each of our three churches with services of Holy Communion, beautiful flowers, music and of course Easter Eggs!
It was ‘eyes down’ on Friday 28th March for a fun evening of Bingo at the Church Centre, an event organised by the St James’s Events Team.
Hot dogs and snacks were enjoyed in the interval which was followed by a game of ‘Play Your Cards Right’ and a round of ‘Heads and Tails.’
Together with a raffle the event raised over £440 for church funds but more importantly a good time was had by all and we welcomed several newcomers to the village to the event.
On Friday 31st January the St James’s Events team held a Winter Warmer Quiz attended by 13 very competitive teams representing groups from across the village and our churches.
The questions were themed around winter, hot and cold and covered a range of subjects including general knowledge, music, sport, food and drink, Shakespeare, film and famous people.
Our ‘Find the Link’ had teams scratching their heads to link the following: Green, Chestnuts, Fox, Fullers, Observatory, Well, Apple, Guernsey, Church and Parsons. The answer? They are all names of roads in Winscombe so you could warm yourself up by taking a walk around them!
All the questions appeared on the big screen and each round started with a bonus question linked to a video or audio clip.
A table top quiz challenged teams to solve anagrams, homophones and identify famous landmarks in the snow.
The main quiz was won by the ‘Quizzy Rascals’ with just half a point separating first and second places.
As well as being a really enjoyable evening , the quiz raised £550 for church funds
Our Church Room was built in the early 1970’s to not particularly exacting standards. It has been suffering from rising damp, a leaking roof and damaged ceiling, and poor insulation. It has a far from adequate kitchen, in what is effectively a large broom cupboard, and a very basic toilet.
Thanks to a grant from the Thatchers Foundation and a generous anonymous donation, together with reserves we have built up over the last few years, we are now in the process of carrying out a complete refurbishment.
The structural repairs are being carried out and a new modern kitchen fitted. The toilet is being enlarged and completely revamped to conform to disabled access requirements, and a baby changing station is being fitted. At the same time we are taking the opportunity to upgrade the electrical installation.
The work is expected to take a couple of months, and during that time our Tuesday midweek communion services will take place in the Chancel of the church. Our very popular Community Cafes will relocate to Sandford Village Hall on Saturdays 1stFebruary and 1st March during the work. Our regular services will take place as normal in the church.
We will update you as the work progresses.
Every blessings
The Project Team