BROAD TOWN NEWS – OCTOBER 2024
Keeping everyone in touch with what is going on in and around our parish.
BROAD TOWN CHRIST CHURCH
The times for the services at Christ Church in October are as follows:
6th October Communion 10.30am
20th October Evening Worship 6 pm
27th October Evening Worship 5 pmBROAD TOWN VILLAGE’S BIGGEST COFFEE MORNING IN AID OF MACMILLAN
A huge thank you to everyone who came along on Saturday September 14th to support our fundraising coffee morning. It was fantastic to see the village hall so busy with people coming together to raise money for this very worthwhile cause. The bottle tombola (back by popular demand!) proved to a big draw again, as was the homemade cake stall. It was lovely to see so many children enjoying the craft and colouring activities too!
An amazing total of £475.90 was raised during the morning, which has already been sent to Macmillan. Thank you also to everyone who helped by organising the event beforehand and manning the stalls on the day, and to those who brought cakes, flowers and other items to sell.
Save the date: please note that our Christmas coffee and craft morning will be on Saturday November 30th, details to follow in next month’s newsletter.
COMMUNITY COFFEE MORNINGS
Our coffee mornings in October will be on Wednesdays the 9th and 23rd. On October 9th the choir from our village school will be singing songs from their autumn collection, so please come along to hear them, it promises to be a very enjoyable morning. As always, we meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday mornings of the month, and everyone is very welcome. Please join us for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, homemade cakes and sausage rolls. If you’re new to the village, it would be lovely to see you, so please come along to the village hall between 10 am and 12 noon. It’s a great way to meet new people!
‘MADE IN BROAD TOWN’
The amount raised on our stall at the Macmillan Coffee Morning contributed to the overall total of £475.90 and thank you to everyone who helped on the stall during the morning, and to those of you who bought from us! Our activities during September included making playing card holders by recycling old CD’s and creating angels from pinecones.
October Meetings Our meetings will take place on Wednesdays the 2nd, 16th and the 30th – which is an extra session on the fifth Wednesday of the month. The sessions run from 10 – 12 noon in the village hall, all welcome, the £2 suggested donation is voluntary. On the 16th Carol W and Jenny will be running a festive Christmas card making session, and on the 30th we will be glass painting again with Terri. If you haven’t been before we’d love to see you. Especially now the days are getting chillier, a reminder that everyone is welcome to come along for hot drinks, biscuits and a chat – join in with our craft session or bring along your own craft/hobby or you are very welcome to just watch what others are doing while enjoying some refreshments. We also always have other activities available such as colouring sheets, jigsaws, and dominoes etc. Our sessions are always on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday mornings of the month, new crafters and hobbyists are always welcome! Please email us if you have any questions
Email: Linda Boyden lindaboyden12@gmail. com; Helen Greer hjgreer1@gmail.com
PARISH COUNCIL UPDATE
Keep up to date at https://www.broadtownparishcouncil.org.uk Please help by taking action to prevent Flooding.
Last year saw some serious flooding in a number of places in the village. The Wiltshire Council parish steward visits monthly and ensures the drainage grips (from the roadway into the roadside ditch) are clear and tries to clear any obstructions where he is able, but we can all do our bit by ensuring that road drain gratings are clear of leaves and any pipes and ditches are free from obstruction. If you see any such problem and are unable to sort it yourself please let the Parish Clerk know at BTPCCLERK@outlook.com Similarly it’s time to ensure that all watercourses are free-flowing and cleared of any vegetation and obstruction. Watercourse owners, or ‘riparian’ owners, have a responsibility to maintain ordinary watercourses that run adjacent to, through or under their property. Riparian owners are responsible for reporting incidents such as flooding, and for letting water flow through the watercourse naturally by removing blockages that may cause flooding. The Environment Agency has published a guide for landowners which is available on the Parish Council website at http://www.broadtownparishcouncil.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Environment Agency_Your_watercourse_rights_and_roles-2024.pdf
Next PC Meeting - Monday 14th October will be at 6.30pm in the village hall. All are welcome and the agenda will be posted on our website and on the notice boards in due course.
WHAT OUR S.I.D. SAW LAST MONTH
The SID has been located at the Broad Acres monitoring Northbound traffic (heading to RWB) The SID counted 21,754 vehicles passing which equates to approx. 777 a day. 22% of vehicles were speeding.
CHURCHYARD WORK MORNINGS
Unfortunately the September work morning was cancelled because of bad weather so there is still plenty to do. The final work morning for this year will be on 5th October, 10am to midday. Please come along to help if you can. Refreshments provided.
OPEN THE BOOK
Our OTB team celebrated 5 years of ‘Bible Storytelling’ in B.T.School at the end of the School year. To mark this milestone, we enjoyed a delicious cream tea together, on a beautiful sunny afternoon in August, My thanks, as team leader, go to our OTB team: Carolyn, Dave, Christine, John, Carol, Annie, Linda & Ray.
Margaret
THANK YOU
Sandra Hartley for donating the containers and to Mark and Linda Boyden for planting these outside the Village Hall
FOODBANK
Thank you everyone who contributed to the collection in September and the next village collection will be on 7th & 8th December in time for Christmas.
BISHOPS LETTER
A Gift to the Church
I write this the day after the funeral of the Rt Revd Mark Santer, former Principal of Westcott House Theological College, and Bishop of Birmingham, theologian, and pastor. Mark ended his life and ministry in this diocese, with permission to officiate he continued to serve these last few years in the parish church of St Aldhelm’s, Branksome. His funeral at the church was a wonderful celebration of a life well lived, of his rich ministry and the gift of friendship which so were in receipt of. We have just under four hundred active retired clergy in the Salisbury diocese. Priests and deacons who have not only served for many years in stipendiary or self-supporting ministry in dioceses right across the Church of England and overseas, but who are willing to continue to offer their talents and experience to us here. Bishop Andrew and I with our secretaries manage the renewal of their permission to officiate every three years, and new safeguarding training and DBS checks are part of this. This is a tremendous commitment and a gift to the church for which we must be truly thankful. We also, as bishops, meet all those retired clergy moving in to make sure they feel welcomed and supported with ongoing support offered through our network of deanery retirement officers, and diocesan retired clergy officer. Many of our retired clergy are involved in active ministry in their local church, as well as taking funerals and weddings; others offer spiritual direction, mentoring and coaching or act as reviewers for our ministry review scheme or as deanery and diocesan retirement officers, regularly staying connected with those with PTO and retired clergy who are inactive. This is all a very real reflection of the fact that God continues to use us in many and varied ways throughout our life. Indeed, Bishop Mark preached his final sermon on Easter Sunday at the age of eighty-six! 1st October is the International Day of Older Persons. A day to celebrate the gifts of all those who continue to show us the love of God through their generosity, positivity, and humility. If you include yourself here, thank you! +Karen
PCC PHILIP WILKINSON'S OCTOBER PARISH COLUMN
In the next few weeks, you will see my proposal for a new Police and Crime Plan 2024-2028.
I have taken your feedback from the many responses I received as part of the public consultation conducted in July, where you told me about the areas of policing which matter most to you, your thoughts on the service provided by Wiltshire Police and, crucially, whether you feel safer in your community compared to when I first took office in 2021.
It’s vitally important to acknowledge that whilst reviews and statistics may show an improved performance by Wiltshire Police, the real impact we need to make is for our residents in Wiltshire and Swindon to feel safer in their daily lives.
This is why I’m looking for your opinions on the Police and Crime Plan, as it will set the framework and strategic direction for Wiltshire Police, as well as making it clear how you will see that the force is making progress in the areas where you want to see improvements being made.
As well as taking into account your feedback, the plan will also incorporate the requirements required by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) as part its Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy (PEEL) report, national priorities and emerging local priorities such as rural crime and retail crime.
Whilst improvements have been made with regards to policing in Wiltshire since I drew up my first Police and Crime Plan in 2021, I must stress that there is more work to do across key areas within the force, and the Chief Constable is aware of my expectations and shares my belief that the updated Police and Crime Plan needs to reflect our joint commitment to making Wiltshire a safer place to live and work.
By giving me your considered thoughts and opinions on my updated Police and Crime Plan, you will help me to create a document by which the performance of Wiltshire Police and my office can be judged.
Look out for updates on my website, social media channels when the document will be ready for download during the month of October. Or you can email pcc-consultation@wiltshire.police.uk and we can email you a copy and a feedback form.
Contact Information Will Walder will.walder@wiltshire.police.uk
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