ON MIGRATION

 

Selfishly one of the joys of holidaying on Crete was that I had all the joys of a Greek island without encountering refugees on the beaches as I might have done on Cos.  I returned to hear about the reverberations of a particular image of a drowned child and how that seemed to have shifted the national conversation.  I’m guessing that lots of people in the villages locally are already pondering what support they might offer to those in such distress that they are willing to risk of a small boat on the Mediterranean and a trek across borders that makes the local Ride and Stride look like a stroll to the corner.   I’m mindful of how the bible often encourages the people to keep the commandments and to be concerned for widows and orphans – those in the context of scripture without a family safety net to keep them protected and fed.  Often in the bible people are told to do this with God saying ‘remember you were a slave in the land of Egypt’ or a reminder that our ancestors too were ‘wandering Arameans’.

Maybe you know that you can trace your family history in this place back hundreds of years and many generations.  I know in mine that the sanctuary of the UK is part of the reason why my family has survived.

But for all of us migration brings great joys and enriches our lives, our culture and our food.  Imagine this country without the potatoes, tomatoes, oranges and lemons that came from somewhere else.  Perhaps you enjoy Indian or Chinese or Vietnamese food or prefer pizza and pasta.  All of these are some migrants’ food originally.  Maybe you like reading Conrad or watching Spielberg’s movies.  Maybe you have friends across Europe or on the other side of the Atlantic.

Maybe – like me you feel we ought to be doing something and as Harvest approaches that seems a time to continue to give to the Swindon foodbank but maybe do something extra for those fleeing violence and horror in search of what many of us want – a better future for those we love.

Here is one set of possibilities from within the Church of England, I’m sure within the generosity of our communities – we might want to do something together.  Let me know if you would like to do that.

http://www.salisbury.anglican.org/news/churches-respond-to-refugee-crisis

The Reverend Rachma Abbott Priest in Charge, Woodhill Benefice.

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

 

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

 

Oct 2^nd                            School Harvest Festival

Oct 3^rd                            Harvest Supper

Oct 7^th                            Busy Bees every 2 weeks

Oct 14^th                           Wiltshire Council/Fire Service Event

Oct 17^th                           WI Barn Dance

Oct 17^th                           Hilmarton Moviola

Oct 20^th                           Last Day of BT School Term 1

Oct 21^st                           WI Meeting

Oct 24^th                           Gentlemen’s Breakfast Club

Nov 2^nd                           Back to BT School for Term 2

Nov 13^th                          Big Gig AGM

Nov  28^th           Christmas Coffee Morning

RIDE AND STRIDE

 

The exercise bike team of Janet Drury, Margaret Green and Clive Green – with a little help from Rachma – completed the tour of the Deanery and peddled for 50miles.

Thank you all for your sponsorship.  If anyone still owes us money we will be round soon.  We raised a total of £100 which means that £50 will come back to the Church.

 

 

HARVEST SUPPER

An event for the whole community.  3 Course Meal, Entertainment, Bar provided by the Four Ways Community Pub

Venue - Village Hall -.Date & Time -3 October at 7.30pm
Tickets - £10.00.  Family tickets (2 adults & 2 children) £25.00
Available from - Margaret Manley, Tel: 731564, Margaret Green, Tel: 854200
Rosie McLaren, Tel: 731526, Judy Rendell, Tel: 731341

Proceeds will go towards keeping your church open

 

 

BROAD TOWN CE PRIMARY SCHOOL

 

Will be holding a Harvest Festival at Christ Church on Friday 2nd October at 9.15am. Everyone is welcome.  Donations of tinned food and packets will be gratefully received in aid of the Swindon Foodbank.

Last day of Term1 - 20^th October

Start day of term 2 - 2^nd November

 

 

BUMPS AND BEYOND

 

TO ALL NEW AND EXPECTANT MUMS.

The under 5s Playgroup “Bumps and Beyond” meet in the village hall every Tuesday (in term Time) 9.30 –11.30 am

This is a friendly playgroup, run by parents for parents. Why not come and give us a try, bring a friend, your first session is free. Contact Catherine 07775928859.

At our first get together at the beginning of last month we welcomed baby Edward,9 weeks old, who came last term as a bump!!

 

 

BUSY BEES

 

From October 7th, Busy Bees Baby and Toddler Group will be changing from second and fourth Wednesdays to fortnightly meetings.

They will still be at Bushton Village Hall and run from 13.45 to 15.00pm. For any further information please contact Kim Gough on 07850 933344 or kim.gough@rocketmail.com.

 

 

BROAD TOWN WI

 

In August we had our annual summer outing. Eighteen of us went to Kelmscott
Manor, near Lechlade, the country home of William Morris.  We had a lovely
day starting with a walk round the garden and lunch.  We then ambled round
the village to see the Village Hall built by his daughter and the Church
where he is buried.  There then followed a talk about him and family and
friends ending with a tour of the house.  These were really interesting and
informative.  We finished the afternoon with tea and biscuits in the garden.
Wonderful!

In September we had a very entertaining talk by Georgie Jefferies.  She has spent time working at the Living Rainforest near Newbury and described the wonderful plants and animals that they have at their greenhouses there.  She also showed us lovely photos of the birds, butterflies and even a sloth that live in their forest.
The second part of her talk involved her work with Zoo Lab.  This organisation provides animal handling workshops for schools etc. She brought with her several exciting creatures for us to see and touch if we wished.  There was a tarantula, a scorpion, a corn snake and a cockroach!
Our next meeting is on 21^st October in the Village Hall.  It will be a talk by Lynda Warren on the Wartime Kitchen.  We will learn about rationing, recipes from the period and 'make do and mend'.  It will be followed by '21st Century Kitchen Cheats'. Ideas on how to impress without stress.
We are a friendly group and welcome new members.
Our meetings are generally held on the third Wednesday of the month in the Village Hall.  If you are interested in visiting us please contact Kate on 01793 731536 or Michelle on 01793 731357.  We are also on the Broad Town village website and on Facebook.

 

 

BARN DANCE

Following the successful Barn Dance in 2013 the WI are hosting another one this year on Saturday October 17th 7.30 to 11.30pm.  It is open to all villagers and friends.  Live music will be provided by Hogs Head.  There will be a bar and a light supper.  Tickets are £10 each from Jane Rowe 01793 731105 and should be bought in advance to help with catering.  Please come along and bring your friends.

 

 

WILTSHIRE COUNCIL/FIRE & RESCUE SERVICE JOINT SENIOR WELLBEING EVENT

 

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service and Wiltshire Council will be holding the 1st joint senior wellbeing event on Wednesday 14^th October from 10am – 2pm in Royal Wootton Bassett library. This is a drop in event with lots of fantastic information, practical advice and freebies for over 55s. Our Wiltshire health trainer will be there to provide advice about staying active, fit and well and there will be display stands from a host of partner agencies, such as the Bobby Van and Age UK. Please spread the word and I hope to see as many people there as possible!

 

 

 

THE FOUR WAYS COMMUNITY PUB, BROAD TOWN VILLAGE HALL

 

 FRIDAY NIGHTS.  Everyone welcome from 8pm. till late, children from 12 yrs must be accompanied, younger children by arrangement. Social Club prices in the fully Licensed Bar.  Tea, coffee (+ decaf) and chocolate beverages, snacks and soft drinks available.

SUNDAY BINGO  Fun for all ages….  Doors open 7.15pm eyes down 8pm. Books and Stakes from £1.25 Plus Big Bonus Card game.  All monies taken are paid out in prizes.  Become a member and after 4 consecutive weeks you can go for the Snowball prize.  The more people that join us the bigger the prizes.

Come and join us for The Rugby World Cup on the big screen

Saturday 26^th September for England v Wales 8 pm

Friday 7^th October for New Zealand v Georgia

Friday 9th October for New Zealand v Tonga

With a 10^th October Saturday triple

2.30 Samoa v Scotland … 4.45 Australia v Wales ….8pm Uruguay v England

The FOUR WAYS community pub and Sunday Bingo are run by The Broad Town Social Club

Volunteers.  Any questions or want to get involved?  Contact Trevor on 01793731699

e.mail  fourwaysbroadtown@g.mail.com.  facebook.com/FourWaysBroadTown

 

 

BROAD TOWN COMMUNITY LED PLANNING (CLP) GROUP

 

Last month we asked for proposals for the delivery of affordable housing that could be consulted upon in the neighbourhood plan process.   A good number of proposals were put forward and we are very grateful to those who took the time and trouble to respond to our request.  We had a lengthy debate at our September meeting when we tried to come to a decision on how we could proceed with the proposals in a fair and transparent and correct way.   We wanted to be sure that any proposals that go into the draft Broad Town chapter of the neighbourhood plan could be decided upon by the people of Broad Town and we still have a concern that the consultation arrangements may not provide this.

The feeling at the meeting was that we all wanted to do the right thing for the community and treat the proposals in a proper way, but we weren’t clear about how to ensure full accountability in these circumstances.  We will therefore refer the matter back to the Parish Council, as the Parish Council has responsibility for Broad Town’s inclusion in the neighbourhood plan, and seek guidance at the next Area Steering Group meeting.  We will ask as well for the pros and cons of continuing in the neighbourhood plan process, to make sure that the work being done by everyone involved will truly be beneficial for Broad Town.

Please contact us if you would like to go on to our mailing list on broadtownclpg@gmail.com.  More information is on our Community Forum on www.broad-town.co.uk

 

 

 

Five years on……………….

 

It’s amazing to believe that I started the role of “Good Neighbour Co-ordinator” 5 years ago this month.  Like all good projects, it started small with myself and 2 others recruited to cover 3 small areas of Wiltshire.  Building on our success, we soon grew to cover the whole of Wiltshire and I could give you a load of statistics with client numbers etc.  Boring, just believe me, it runs into thousands of people benefitting from the service.

Perhaps a recap of what I and my colleagues actually do.  The whole concept was to be the person in the community who could help and support older and vulnerable people to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives in their own homes.  There are lots of organisations out there now doing something similar – GPs, Social Services, etc, plus organisations such as Carers Support, Alzheimer’s Society, Stroke Association etc.  All of these help and support people that meet their specific criteria; many would ask why the GNC role is needed!  The difference is that we get to know the person rather than their medical condition and so support all elderly people.  As we get older we often need to modify our lives in tune with changing abilities.  Prime example being that I now need to use reading glasses – but I don’t admit to getting old!!!!

So, GNCs offer information on a huge range of topics and if we don’t know the answers, we try to find out.  We can provide information on health and home safety, finances and benefits, transport and mobility, befriending and social groups within your community.  Our service is free and confidential and we only visit when asked, we don’t “cold call”.  If you have any questions about this, or if I can help in any other way through the Good Neighbour role, give me a call on: 07557 110414. Ellen Blacker

 

 

PROSPECT HOSPICE BOX COLLECTION

 

Margaret Manley has now taken over as the box collector for Broad Town and will be calling during October when the next collection is due.  If you have any queries or would like to join the scheme, please contact Margaret on 731564.

 

 

BROAD TOWN BIG GIG AGM

 

The Broad Town Big Gig Annual General Meeting will take place in the Village Hall at 8.30pm, Friday 13^th November.  The meeting is open to everyone and being a Social Club evening, the bar will be open.  The aim of the meeting will be to draw to a close the 2015 event and to look forward to 2016.  Included in the short agenda will be the election of the Committee for the forthcoming year and so if you have any interest in supporting the event, either as an informal helper or as a Committee member, please come along.  Everyone is welcome.

 

 

 

 

 

HILMARTON MOVIOLA

 

A Royal Night Out (12a)

A Royal Night Out is a film about one perfect, glorious evening in the lives of two real-life princesses.  They are Elizabeth and Margaret Windsor and the night is 8 May 1945, V-E Night.  The whole of London is on the streets to celebrate the official end of World War II in Europe.  It is known that the young princesses aged 19 and 14, slipped out of the palace to join the communal euphoria and went dancing at the Ritz, apparently returning to Buckingham Palace just after midnight.  A Royal Night Out is an affectionate ‘what-if’ story about the adventures Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) and Margaret (Bel Powley) might have had on the joyous night that brought the whole of London together.

Also starring Rupert Everett and Emily Watson as King George and Queen Elizabeth, and Jack Reynor as Jack.

 

 

CLERK’S CLIPPINGS

 

1. Hedge time again. Village is looking very smart, but would you please ensure that hedges overhanging pavements are trimmed back.

2. The new equipment in the children’s play area at Redhills is now fully functional, thanks to a small group of volunteers and is already well used. Please ensure that the youngsters do not get too carried away by climbing on the roof of the hut.

 

 

GENTLEMAN’S BREAKFAST CLUB

 

24^th October 2015

And as always, at the Mallard Public House, Lyneham.  

9.30 start, £7.00 p.p. + a raffle.

Our speaker this time is: Paul Hill from Sirius Astronomy

Contact David May davemay104@yahoo.co.uk if you would like to attend.

 

 

THE GUILD OF WILTSHIRE ARTISTS

 

Run workshops at the Village Hall on every third Saturday of the month from 10am to 4pm.  All are welcome including painters who are beginners.

Tea and Coffee provided but do bring a packed lunch.  Help will be given to those who request it.  Contact telephone numbers 731154, 731519.

 

 

HATHA YOGA

 

Weekly Hatha Yoga at Broad Town Village Hall.  For more details please contact Polly Fouracres by email - polly@4fouracres.com.