ON MEMORY AND LOSS

There are some things I’m very bad at remembering.  Among them newsletter deadlines and birthdays.  The first is probably frustrating for newsletter editors, the second has brought me more personal trouble.  My son still dines out on stories of his mother forgetting his birthday (twice).  Once I was in hospital so I feel exonerated from all guilt, the other time is much more embarrassing.  While still at primary school he came home one day and said (as a news item, without, I should make clear, any desire to make me feel bad): ‘You forgot my birthday’.  My reply was: ‘No, I didn’t, it’s tomorrow’. ‘Oh, OK, but it was today at school.’ I looked at the calendar and realised he was right, I had muddled up the days.  This failure to be good with dates and numbers also causes me trouble when banks etc need to know birthday dates to prevent identity fraud and I’m yelling: When’s your birthday darling?  Is it May or September?  I have got as far as knowing it is either the 5^th of the 9^th or the 9^th of the 5^th but not anchored the correct date.  I normally realise I should think about my husband’s birthday when post that clearly looks like cards starts landing on the doormat.  This was easy in London, but now I live further away from an emergency purchase just in time it’s a little trickier.  I have sometimes blamed attending primary school in Zambia for this – way too early I was introduced to the challenge of American style dates that begin with months, not days.  I have also sometimes blamed my Dad who was also prone to date failure.  Throughout my first year at boarding school I was in the wrong place in the dinner queue.  We were supposed to line up in age order and the difference between 21^st of June and the 21^st of July was therefore significant to the child I displaced.  This was one of the few dates I was certain of: mine is July and my sister’s the June.  However, when I told the House Mistress that the date was wrong and so it was ok for Rachel to be ahead of me in the dinner queue I was told I couldn’t possibly know what my birthday was better than my father.  In apology for this failure on my part I will say I’ve never knowingly been upset if other people forget my birthday and my son and I have developed a very relaxed approach to this particular form of familial expressions of love.  My failure to remember dates mostly doesn’t cause me trouble.  Fortunately, I live in a culture where everyone else remembers Christmas and Easter always changes so having to look it up is not a sign of mental peculiarity.

Recently I have been reminded that memory playing tricks can be a source of great personal grief, either with the fear of diminishing memory in oneself or in the loss of being known, seen and recognised by someone else.  The burden of caring for and loving someone whose memory for eating or conversation or how to dress or whether you are the person they love is enormous.  Visiting care homes early on in my ministry I remember happily joining in with someone who seemed to celebrate a birthday every week and later becoming aware of the distress this caused their spouse.  It was in the relationship of love and connection that the birthday remembered or otherwise mattered.

https://www.alzheimerswiltshire.org.uk/

The Reverend Rachma Abbott Priest in Charge, Woodhill Benefice.

The Vicarage Clyffe Pypard, SWINDON SN4 7PY.  01793 731134

 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

7^th Aug                          Closing date for new Parish Clerk application

14^th Aug                        Parish Council Meeting

16^th Aug                        WI

30^th Aug                        Community Coffee Morning

4^th Sep                          Back to School

9^th Sep                          Ride and Stride

9^th Sep                          Big Gig

13^th Sep                        Community Coffee Morning

24^th Sep                        Village Harvest

27^th Sep                        Community Coffee Morning

CORRECTION - 9^TH SEPTEMBER 2017

It has been decided not to have a Church coffee morning on the 9^th September as that is the date of the Big Gig.

CORRECTION - 24^TH SEPTEMBER 2017

We are slightly changing the format of the Harvest celebrations this year.  We will be celebrating harvest on Sunday 24^th Sept at 3pm when we will sing the well-known hymns.  We will follow this with our usual harvest tea in the Church.

CHURCHYARD MAINTENANCE

Many thanks again to all those volunteers who came to the July work morning.  To avoid any confusion, anyone is most welcome to go along at any time to do some tidying up and thank you to those who have offered.  The next scheduled work mornings will be 2^nd September and 28^th October.
For more details contact Ray Manley Tel. 731564

SCHOOL

We send the best wishes of the Church to all the school leavers and hope they enjoy their life at the “big school”. Look back on your life at Broad Town with nostalgia and remember the best bits.

A COFFEE MORNING

In aid of Brighter Futures, the GWH charity for fundraising for the radiotherapy unit, will be held at Dorothy Wilkins house, Finches, opposite The Goddard Arms in Clyffe Pypard on Saturday 26^th August, 10am to 12noon.

All are welcome - there will be coffee, tea, cake, stalls.

 

COMMUNITY COFFEE MORNINGS

Our next coffee morning will be on Wednesday 30^th August. There will be a book stall with adult and children’s books and activities for the children. Do come and join us.

Dates for your diaries!

Wednesday 13th September

Wednesday 27th September - Macmillan Cancer Support Coffee Morning. All moneys raised will be donated to Macmillan. 

Enjoy the Summer and we look forward to seeing you all again at the end of the month.

PARISH COUNCIL UPDATE

At the last Parish Council meeting the Parish Council signed an application to Wiltshire Council for Broad Town to be designated a Neighbourhood Area.  This will enable Broad Town to withdraw from the New V Neighbourhood designated area and if it so wishes, to have its own Neighbourhood Plan. Wiltshire Council has confirmed that there is no requirement to move ahead with a Neighbourhood Plan once an area has been designated, however the option remains to do so.

A date was set as a closing date for applications for the position of Broad Town Parish Council clerk. The closing date is Monday 7^th August 2017.  Interviews for the position and the appointment will follow after that.  If you wish to apply for this paid position then please contact Jackie Jordan (jjordanbtpc@gmail.com).  Details of the position have been posted on the notice boards.

As the creation of build outs in Broad Town Road as a way of controlling speeding vehicles has been ruled out by Wiltshire Council, the Parish Council has been looking into the provision of Speed Indicating Displays (SIDs) to be installed in Broad Town.  Several options and types are being considered and a scheme and presentation will be produced to enable the Council to make applications for grants for the required funding.

The next Parish Council meeting is on Monday 14^th August 2017 at 6.30pm.  Everyone is welcome and light refreshments will be served prior to the meeting.

LAUNCH OF BRAND NEW 100 CLUB LOTTERY

“Still Chance to Join the New 100 Club”

22 people have signed up for the NEW 100 Club lottery and we would like to start making the monthly draws by this Autumn.  However, it would be really good to have at least 30 people signed up before we start as this would mean a total prize fund of £60 with a first prize of £30, second prize of £18 and a third prize of £12.

So, if you’d like to join and have the chance to win some great prizes and help keep your Church open then contact Fiona Holness on fholness@btinternet.com or 07833 683444.  If you have taken forms to complete and have not yet returned them please hand them to me in church, put them through Ray Manley’s door or post them to me at 8 Crosstrees, Royal Wootton Bassett SN4 8FB

Please note that no money has been taken by standing order and no cheques have been cashed to date.  I have email addresses for everyone who has joined already and will email everyone to confirm when the first month’s payment will be taken.

BROAD TOWN WI

For our meeting in July we enjoyed a demonstration of Indian cooking by Savita Ladva who is a friend of one of our members.  Savita was both educational and fun and showed us how to make both meat and vegetable curries from scratch using an array of spices from cinnamon to paprika with some garlic and ginger thrown in for good measure.  We had a tasting session of chicken curry, chickpea curry and potato curry with rice and had a go at rolling fresh chapattis.  The Village Hall has never smelt so good.  We are hoping to be able to put some of her recipes on our website in the near future so look out for that.

The WI will, as usual, be providing teas, coffees and homemade cakes at this year’s Big Gig, with all money made this year going towards providing a defibrillator for the Village in memory of our late member Rosie McLaren.  Come over to have a chat with us and enjoy a piece of cake.  We look forward to seeing you.

This month (August 16th) we will be out and about again with a walk around one of the lakes in Ashton Keynes follow by a pub meal.

We are a friendly group and are always happy to welcome new members.  If you are unsure if the WI is right for you why not give it a go.  Our meetings are generally held in the Village Hall on the third Wednesday of each month at 7.30.  If you would like to come along please call Annette on 01793 739021.  We are also on the Broad Town Village website and on Facebook.

RIDE AND STRIDE 2017

This year the sponsored Cycle, Walk, Horse–ride (however you fancy travelling except by car!) around Wiltshire Churches and Chapels will take place on Saturday 9^th September.  If you feel energetic and would like to raise funds for Christ Church Broad Town and historic churches throughout Wiltshire, this is for you!

Visit as many churches in Wiltshire as you can while enjoying our beautiful countryside and raising money.  Many churches are open for refreshments and some have toilet facilities.  Sponsor money is shared between our Village Church and the Historic Churches Trust who this year have made a donation of £3000 towards the Church Roof Fund.

Last year we were able to send £282 thanks to a valiant Broad Town cyclist!

If you would like to participate this year, further details and sponsorship forms are available from Carolyn on 852754

BROAD TOWN FACEBOOK PAGE

124 people follow the page already, but that means there’s still over 200 Facebook users in the village who aren’t connected yet! Give us a ‘Like’ today and promote your business, boast about your garden produce, offer items for sale, get up-to-date info about items of area interest, including local road closure updates.  Taken any good photos in and around Broad Town?  Make sure you set their view status to “Public” and tag them as “Broad Town” if you want to show them off!  The page is not affiliated with any particular organisation or individual: editing rights available to limited numbers of Villagers on request.

BROAD TOWN BIG GIG 2017, SATURDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER:

TICKETS NOW ON SALE

Preparations for this year's Big Gig are well underway and tickets are now on sale from a variety of local outlets and on-line from www.thebroadtownbiggig.co.uk.  Details of the ticket outlets plus the list of confirmed Big Gig refreshment stalls are on the attached flyer.  The running order for the bands will be announced nearer the event.

Still time for organisations to sponsor the event, so if you have your own business or work for one that might be interested in sponsoring the Big Gig contact Paul on 07974573815.

If you would like some flyers to give to friends or colleagues or put on the noticeboard in work please contact Paul on the number above.

The Broad Town Hop at the Village Hall on Friday 14th June was a great success and raised £180 for the Big Gig.  Thanks to all who supported (and enjoyed) the event.

FOUR WAYS: YOUR COMMUNITY PUB in Broad Town Village Hall

EVERY FRIDAY: BAR 8.15pm-late: open to all • Official-size table tennis table, pool table, dartboard and table football – all FREE TO PLAY. Classic 60s-90s music videos or sports including rugby, racing, tennis & cricket on our two-metre cinema screen. Draught beers, ales, hot drinks, snacks and sweeties all at sub-Wetherspoons prices.

BINGO EVERY SUNDAY – open 7.15pm; eyes down 8pm; last ball 9.45pm. Stakes less than £2, prizes of over £60 regularly up for grabs. Beginners welcome!

YOUR HELP NEEDED – SATURDAY 9^th SEPTEMBER

We’re proud to be running the bar again at The Big Gig this year (details elsewhere in this newsletter), but we need at least eight more bar staff to assist in doling out the liquid refreshment.  If you’ve booked your ticket to the Big Gig anyway and can spare us an hour, we’ll be pleased to reward your help with some gratis drinks.  If you can spare 2+ non-consecutive hours, we’ll arrange it so you can get free entry to the whole event!  Want to know more?  Come to the Village Hall and speak to us any Friday evening before the end of August, or contact: Matt on 01793 731499 or email oscar.littlelad@gmail.com

REGULAR FRIDAY EVENING BAR STAFF URGENTLY REQUIRED: OCTOBER 2017 onwards

The Village Hall bar is a popular feature, but sadly it will likely cease to operate in early 2018 unless additional Broad Town residents are prepared to come forward and assist the social club in keeping it open.  Commitment level: could you help out one evening every five or six weeks, usually about 3.5 hours per session?  What’s in it for you: play an active part in preserving your Village’s character, meet new friends and neighbours, enjoy the odd free drink PLUS! Nationally recognised BIIAB Level 2 certification worth over £250 available to committed bar staff on completion of 7+ evening sessions. Come down any Friday, have a chat with us at The Big Gig or contact: Trevor on 01793 731699 fourwaysbroadtown@gmail.com • ‘facebook.com/FourWaysBroadTown

 

 

HEALTH AND WELLBEING CHAMPION

Ellen Blacker Tel: 07557 922020 or email ellen.blacker@wiltshire.gov.uk.  Please contact me if you think I can help or support you.

Summer is here?  As I write this, the skies are grey and its really quite chilly!  Yet only a couple of weeks back we were experiencing the highest temperatures and longest dry spell ever recorded in June.  I thought to share some NHS advice with coping in the extreme hot weather just in case.

Why is a heatwave a problem?

The main risks posed by a heatwave are:

dehydration (not having enough water), overheating, which can make symptoms worse for people who already have problems with their heart or breathing,

heat exhaustion and heatstroke

Who is most at risk?

A heatwave can affect anyone, but the most vulnerable people are:

older people, especially those over 75, babies and young children

people with a serious chronic condition, especially heart or breathing problems

people with mobility problems – for example, people with Parkinson's disease or who have had a stroke, people with serious mental health problems

people on certain medications, including those that affect sweating and temperature control, people who misuse alcohol or drugs

people who are physically active – for example, labourers or those doing sports

Tips for coping in hot weather

Shut windows and pull down the shades when it is hotter outside.  You can open the windows for ventilation when it is cooler.

Avoid the heat: stay out of the sun and don't go out between 11am and 3pm (the hottest part of the day) if you're vulnerable to the effects of heat.

Keep rooms cool by using shades or reflective material outside the windows.  If this isn't possible, use light-coloured curtains and keep them closed (metallic blinds and dark curtains can make the room hotter).

Have cool baths or showers, and splash yourself with cool water.

Drink cold drinks regularly, such as water and diluted fruit juice.  Avoid excess alcohol, caffeine (tea, coffee and cola) or drinks high in sugar.

Listen to alerts on the radio, TV and social media about keeping cool.

Plan ahead to make sure you have enough supplies, such as food, water and any medications you need.

Identify the coolest room in the house so you know where to go to keep cool.

Wear loose, cool clothing, and a hat and sunglasses if you go outdoors.

Check up on friends, relatives and neighbours who may be less able to look after themselves.

If you're worried about yourself or a vulnerable neighbour, friend or relative, you can contact the local environmental health office at your local authority.

How do I know if someone needs help?

Seek help from a GP or contact NHS 111 if someone is feeling unwell and shows symptoms of:

Breathlessness, chest pain, confusion, intense thirst, weakness, dizziness, cramps which get worse or don't go away.

Get the person somewhere cool to rest. Give them plenty of fluids to drink.

ANYONE FOR BRIDGE?

We are looking for Bridge partners, preferably of a similar standard to us, or more experienced players who are willing to coach.  One of us is very much at the beginner’s level whilst the other has played a little in the past.  Both eager to progress. Interested?  Contact John or Hilary 01793 739237 ~ johnkbradley@icloud.com

AMHERST CONTRACTORS

Amherst Contractors are a professional Local Authority Approved Contractor with a wealth of experience for over 20 years.

Local to Broad Town and we offer key services including;-Digger Services 1-20 ton, excavation and all ground works.  Ditches, Soak away, Drainage and Septic tank excavation / installation.  Complete pumping systems, pond construction and Landscaping.  Professional Tree Surgery all ground maintenance and erection of Fencing.  Gravel and compost supply, driveways and much more.

To enquire further and for a free no obligation quote call Francis on Mobile 07921 856089 or office; 01793 772268.

Email-amherstcontractors@hotmail.co.uk

THE GUILD OF WILTSHIRE ARTISTS

Run workshops at the Village Hall on every first Friday and third Saturday of the month from 10am to 3pm.  All are welcome including painters who are beginners. The cost is still £5 per person per session which includes tea/coffee and biscuits but do bring a packed lunch.  Help will be given to those who request it.

Contact Jim Dowton 850029 or Roy Davey 731154