BROAD TOWN NEWS – MAY 2024
Keeping everyone in touch with what is going on in and around our parish.
PARISH COUNCIL UPDATE
Keep up to date at https://www.broadtownparishcouncil.org.uk
Annual Parish Meeting : Monday 20th May 6.30pm in the Village Hall. We look forward to seeing you at the Annual Parish Meeting. This is not a council meeting but is an opportunity for all village groups and associations to share with the village the activity they have undertaken in the past year and their plans for the future. Future of the Playing Fields at Redhills Elsewhere in this newsletter you will see a letter from the Parish Council on potential opportunities for making changes to the playing fields at Redhills. The Annual Parish Meeting will also be an open forum for residents to air their views. The next Parish Council meetings will be at 6.30pm in the Village Hall on 13th May. All are welcome and the agenda will be posted on our website and on the notice boards in due course.
For many years, and this coming year is no exception, the play area in Redhills has consumed a large part of the Parish Council budget. The budget is funded by the Parish Precept which is collected in the Council Tax we all pay and is used for designated parts of the village running costs, maintenance and upkeep, which includes the Redhill’s play area. In the coming year, 2024/25 the village will receive £10,146.00 for these running costs, maintenance and upkeep. The grass cutting bill for the Redhills play area is forecast to be £3,181.00 The Parish Council are mindful this represents 31.35% of the community’s collective contribution to the running of the whole village and also that not all residents use this facility. If, whilst continuing to maintain the play area, the football pitch and their immediate surroundings, we were able to reduce the grass cutting costs by repurposing a portion of the remaining playing fields which comprises around two acres, savings could be made and diverted to other projects and the site might benefit more residents than it does now. We therefore seek your views. You may feel that both the cost and the usage are acceptable and need no revision or you may feel that the money might be better spent elsewhere. For example: A community wilding project, including wild meadow and woodland, or allotments? This issue will be published on the Broad Town Parish Council website however, we are aware that not all residents may be able to access the internet. Therefore, this communication is sent to all residents as everyone’s views are important and valued. The issue will be discussed in a public forum at the Annual Parish Meeting on 20th May and all residents are reminded that you are welcome to attend our regular Parish Council meetings, held in the Village Hall, on the second Monday of each month at 6.30pm. Alternatively you can contact the Parish Council Clerk, by email, at btpcclerk@outlook.com. The deadline for receiving comments is end of May. Many thanks for your help, Broad Town Parish Council.
WHAT OUR S.I.D. SAW LAST MONTH
The SID has been located at the School monitoring Southbound traffic (heading to Broad Hinton) The SID counted 26,329 vehicles passing which equates to approx. 752 a day 17% of vehicles were speeding.
COMMUNITY COFFEE MORNINGS – MORE CAKE BAKERS NEEDED PLEASE!
Carolyn is taking a break from organising the cake rota (a big thank you for all your hard work on this Carolyn!), and Margaret Manley will be taking over. If you enjoy baking cakes and would like to join the rota, please email Margaret: margaretmanley@hotmail.co.uk or phone her on 731564. If we could add just six more names to the rota, all the bakers would only need to make a cake twice a year. We already have some youngsters and some men on our baking rota too, so please volunteer today to ensure the supply of delicious cakes for your community coffee mornings! All ages welcome, and you don’t have to be a ‘star baker’ either, just someone who is able to produce an edible cake that they are happy to donate to the cause! A huge thank you to everyone who attended our fundraising coffee morning for Prostate Cancer UK on March 27th. It was very well supported, and a very busy morning saw a fantastic total of £250 being raised. This has been sent to the charity and a letter of thanks has been received, they are extremely grateful for our support. Kelly Hillier, one of our local Police Community Support Officers, visited our coffee morning on April 10th. We are very grateful to Kelly for coming along and spending time chatting to us, answering some queries and for bringing along some leaflets and posters to take away.
Our May coffee mornings will be on Wednesdays May 8th and 22nd . Coffee mornings are always on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month, from 10 – 12 noon in the village hall, so come along to enjoy delicious homemade cakes, sausage rolls, coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Everyone welcome, and if you’re new to the village, it’s a great way to meet some friendly faces, so please come along.
CHURCHYARD WORK MORNINGS
Thank you to everyone who came to our first work morning of 2024. Future Dates: 11th May, 1st June, 6th July, 3rd August & 7th September. From 10.00am to 12 midday. Refreshments provided. There are a number of tasks to choose from. We desperately need more volunteers so If you and/or anyone you know would like to join our friendly team, please contact Ray Tel: 731564 for more details or just turn up.
DON’T FORGET Judy’s plant stall – 18th May at Queen Elizabeth Cottage (Proceeds to the Church)
MADE IN BROAD TOWN
Will be at the Bushton Plant Fair on Monday May 6th. Our busy April meetings saw us completing all our items for the Bushton Plant Fair, as well as making some bunting with which to decorate our stall. The plant fair promises to be a very busy and enjoyable event so please come along and support us. We will be selling a wide range of quality handcrafted items for both home and garden, so come to the fair to find out what we’ve been up to, as well as enjoying a visit to the gardens of Bushton Manor. In May our meetings will be on Wednesdays the 1st & 15th. Please come along on the 1st to help with getting all the items priced up and packed ready to sell before the Bushton sale on the following Monday, the more the merrier! On the 15th we will probably be starting some new craft projects so come along and join in or bring along your own crafts and hobbies. Look out for future news of our craft demonstration sessions where we will be learning some new skills! We ask for a voluntary £2 donation please, to help cover hall hire and refreshment costs. If you have any questions, please email us, we would love to hear from you!
Email: Linda Boyden lindaboyden12@gmail.com; Helen Greer hjgreer1@gmail.com
BROADTOWN SOCIAL CLUB EVENTS
Food for Thought (FFT) Evenings. These evenings are proving very popular for eating in and take away. It is lovely to see new faces and whole families (and extended families) enjoying themselves and making use of the pool table, table football etcetera. If you are waiting for your takeaway pop in for a drink and a chat - the FFT team will bring your takeaway in when its ready for you, so you won’t miss it. If you arrive as a group with friends or family and it looks full, don’t worry, we have plenty of tables and chairs to hand and these will miraculously appear (!) while you get your drinks and/or takeaway order in. Dates for the next few months are: Friday 31st May ❖ Friday 28th June. Social Club opens at 5pm through to 11pm and Food for Thought open 5pm to 8pm. Feel free to bring your own cutlery and crockery but you have to take it home with you afterwards to wash up! Menu and details for pre-orders to avoid the queues can be found at https://www.facebook.com/FoodForThoughtSwindon. For dietary requirements contact them directly. They have limited space for stock but will gladly try to meet all requests.
Thursday 6th June DDAY 80th Anniversary Beacon Lighting. The village will be joining in the national Beacon Lighting initiative on this auspicious occasion. ❖ Social Club open 8pm – 11pm ❖ Beacon Lighting (on the hill) 9.15pm ❖ 1940’s themed dress encouraged (but optional)
Regular Friday Night Opening. The Social Club is open every Friday from 8pm to 11pm. Reasonably priced drinks and snacks, free pool, table football and darts, with lots of banter at the bar!
WILTSHIRE COUNCIL ONLINE SURVEY
Wiltshire Council is running an online survey gathering information about what local people feel are the important themes and priorities for their area. The short survey asks people to choose their key themes and then, for their top three, tell us further detail about those issues. It shouldn’t take any longer than 10mins to complete. The responses we get back will help to inform Wiltshire Council’s planning for the coming years and also help to shape RWB&C Area Board’s priorities for the coming year. We really want to hear about the issues that are important to local people so we can channel resources into making changes where they’re wanted. It’s available for the next two weeks and will close on 7th May :- https://surveys.wiltshire.gov.uk/s/ad7x4r
BISHOP’S LETTER MAY 2024
May is exam month for my youngest daughter, who is undergoing her ‘A’ Levels this summer – the last of our three to pass through that ordeal. I still recall (as I’m sure many of you do too) the sense of elation – almost disbelief – when these were over and a new chapter of life could begin. Somewhere in my loft, I still have the ring file I flung into the air when it was all over! This transition to a new stage of life feels appropriate as Easter turns to Pentecost and the church waits on God to provide all that she needs to serve him in the world. Given the seemingly constant need to find people to help in church life, it is always encouraging to remember how the Lord can take the scraps we offer and make them sufficient. When offput from commencing an apparently huge task, I sometimes say to myself: ‘just do a little’ and, having offered my mite to God, leave the multiplication to him. In annual meeting season, it may be that you are reviewing your responsibilities and wondering about stopping some and starting others. If so, can I encourage you to consider standing for election to deanery or diocesan synod? Synods are our way of sharing the governance of the church and making sure it attends to the things we truly care about. We’d love your involvement and trust that God will work through us ‘to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think’ (Ephesian 3:20). The Diocese of Salisbury are running a new campaign to encourage more people to think of standing for synod #ChurchChangemakers. Diocesan Synod is made up of ordinary people who are committed to sharing the news of Christ's transforming love with our communities. To stand for synod this May, you need to be aged over 16 and on a church electoral roll. In return, you'll be able to hone your skills in debating, decision making, and shaping a Church which serves a million people in this area alone.
FOODBANK
Thanks to all who donated to our latest Village collection. The next collection at the Village Hall will be in June. Date in next B T News
SHELTER
Thanks to Rosie, Annette, Corinne and Margaret for decorating the Spring/Easter Shelter. Special thanks to Broad Town School children for adding the Easter Bonnets and Acrostic poems. You are invited to leave any surplus plants/seedlings in the shelter for other villagers to take and enjoy.
CHRISTIANS AWAKE
Hi, my name is Mark. I came to Broad Town in 2022 and discovered a wonderful friendly community. Thank you for making me welcome. In the book of Acts I read ‘Each day, with one heart, they regularly went to the temple but met in their houses for the breaking of bread; they shared their food gladly and generously; and praised God and were looked up to by everyone.’ I try to live by the ideas and example of Jesus, though I am not very good at it and I was disappointed to find the Christians in Broad Town meeting so infrequently. I would like to start a group here for mutual support, encouragement and comfort of all who live locally. Could we meet weekly, evenings for the young at heart and afternoons for the not so young? The days, times and location to be agreed by the group. We would meet for fellowship, sharing of ideas and arranging help for local friends in need. So - Are you a Christian living in Broad Town? Were you a Christian and think the established churches have become distant and out of touch? Are you a non believer but would like to know why so many people believe Jesus was great? Or are you just a good hearted citizen who would like to be involved? If you like the idea, want to take part or would just like to know more please email me at markboyden999@gmail.com or have a chat with me on 01793 731160 and I will arrange an initial meeting at my home. Best wishes Mark
DOG WALKERS.
Please be considerate to non-dog owners who may not be as confident round your dog or not want to be pawed with muddy paws whilst out and about – thanks. There have been reports of poo bags being left in Pye Lane, Whiteway and Thornhill, please dispose of them responsibly – thanks.
Please note that all copy to be included in the next edition should be emailed to: BroadTownNews@gmail.com by the 22nd of EVERY month.
For any queries, please contact Ray Manley 01793 731564