PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

The latest meeting of the Parish Council took place on Thursday 15th. March 2018 at 7.30pm in the village hall, Stambourne.

We are pleased to announce that Karen Crago has agreed to take over editing the newsletter from Steve Platt. Thank you to Steve for his work over the last 8 years.

Pavilion – As previously mentioned the Parish Council have successfully applied for CIF (Community Initiative Fund) grant to refurbish the toilets in the pavilion. It is anticipated that the work will take place later in the spring. It is likely the pavilion will be out of use whilst the work is carried out but we hope to keep disruption to a minimum.
Litter – Litter on the roadside in and around our village is a worsening problem. A local scout group has volunteered to carry out a litter pick in return for a donation to their funds which the Parish Council are happy to support.

Planning – There have been two applications to consider recently; 18/00436/FUL – Park View, Church Road and 18/00233/FUL – Picklehope Barn, Dyers End.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 17th. May 2018 at 7.30pm in the village hall.

Full minutes and agenda available on the village website at www.stambourne.com.

Debbie Hilliard
Parish Clerk
debbiehilliard614@gmail.com
01440 785629
STAMBOURNE SUPERFAST BROADBAND UPDATE

Fibre County Broadband, who currently provide a wireless internet connection to the village could, if enough people show an interest, install a superfast fibre optic connection to each home in the village. (You may have received a mail-shot, but we know that information did not get to some homes.)
There was a detailed presentation made of the proposal at a public meeting in the village hall earlier in March. With speeds of up to 1Gb potentially available this would be significantly better than any other provider’s offering with costs that are very competative. Additionally, a very economic telephone service would be avialable as part of the package.
This entry in the newsletter is not sponsored in any way by County Broadband, but as a Parish Council we feel that everyone who might be interested should be aware of the potential benefits. The fibre connection will only be viable if a reasonable percentage of homes signup for the service.
To find our more, go to www.stambournefibre.org.
There are incentives available for early joiners

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

In an effort to help Stambourne Neighbourhood Watch stamp out robberies and vandalism in our beautiful village, a WhatsApp Group has been set up.  This is a fast, simple, secure messaging system that is easy to use and gives us the ability to immediately alert everyone in the group of anything suspicious going on in the village or surrounding area. Contact Vicky Dowling on 07778 410376 who will arrange for you to be included. Your full name and address will also be required
ST. PETER & ST. THOMAS BECKET PARISH CHURCH
The Annual General Meeting of the Parochial Church Council takes place on Tuesday 17th. April @ 6pm in the Church. 

I would like to thank Rev. Graham Ridgwell for conducting a lovely Mothering Sunday service for us.  We had a congregation of 15 and everyone received a posy of flowers which had been carefully made by Heather.

SERVICES FOR THE NEXT TWO MONTHS

Val Kerrison
Churchwarden
01440 785752 or 078798163






PRIESTLY PONDERINGS

Happy Easter - Jesus is Risen! Alleluia!

2018 already had a busy start to the year in the church as we have celebrated a number of Baptisms and Confirmations and it is such a joy to serve our growing congregations. We also look forward this month to more news about the recruitment of a new Rector for the benefice of the Hedinghams and Upper Colnes. The benefice is a grouping of seven churches in this area, comprising both Hedinghams, Great and Little Yeldham, Toppesfield, Stambourne and Tilbury-Juxta-Clare. We currently have a vacancy for a full time priest.

Earlier in the church year we heard of Jesus being “a light to lighten the nations,” the Earth was literally ‘turning the corner’ towards the growing light of Spring. As we have been journeying through Lent and experiencing the re-thinking and reflecting on who we are in Christ, so too the snow has been melting, the birds returning, and our world is being re-thought as it breaks open. As Easter bursts upon us and we hear news of an empty tomb and the surprise and shock of the disciples, our gardens and the countryside around is straining to burst into leaf. The new life in the gardens and in the trees is a reminder to us to ‘give root’ to our faithfulness and commitment to our Christian Faith.
The church will be busy in the coming month, not only do we have the greatest celebration of the church year on Easter Sunday, but it is also the beginning of ‘wedding season’ and we prepare the churches in our benefice for the many weddings scheduled for the coming months. Easter is the culmination of God’s work in drawing us to him with his mighty act of power in the resurrection of Jesus, and is a demonstration of his love for us all. Weddings are the human celebration of the love between two people “for as long as they both shall live” and is as close as we get to understanding the love and joy that goes on eternally between God and his people.

The bursting forth of Easter and Spring both invite us to contemplate and ‘soak’ in God’s love for us – in Jesus and in Creation. It is truly the honeymoon of the church year. Christ is risen! Let us rise and go to meet him - and see you in church.

Blessings and Happy Easter to you all.

Rev. Liz Paxton

STAMBOURNE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
FROM THE CHAPEL
First I would want to honour someone I had the pleasure of meeting at a Model Railway exhibition in Cambridge in the late 80's. Professor Stephen Hawking was a generous man who loved to talk about things that gave people pleasure - particularly if it had a scientific angle - and model railways seemed to fascinate him. And it's odd how many times he mentions God in his books and throughout his career. He will now, of course, know the truth of whether there is a God or not, and if there is life after death! He went from believing that the sheer wonder of the universe and the order of the physics meant there could be a power behind it all, to his final years when he stated that the presence of gravity meant that the start of the universe was quite possible without someone to initiate it. I suppose we would have to ask the question - a question he continually struggled with - where did the gravity come from that was necessary to cause the start of the process. He even explored whether there were more universes out there somewhere!! So in my mind he never disproved God. Science seems to explain how God did, and does everything, rather than making Him unnecessary!

And the wonderful balance of everything is so extraordinary that it can be explained with mathematical equations - I would be more inclined to believe that God didn't exist if mathematics was unable to describe the universe!! The Bible talks of "order out of chaos" - isn't that making the unmathematical into the mathematical?

And of course we have the passing of another great learned man - someone who studied and understood what it is that makes us, uniquely among living things, laugh. Sir Ken Dodd, whether you enjoyed his humour or not, gave great pleasure to many people and again was very generous.  He gave great value in his shows - how many others would limit their time to what they had been booked for? And in this world today when we get charged by the hour it was refreshing to have someone who gave more and enjoyed doing it! Here was a man who studied hard to understand and to become a scholar in how to make people laugh!!



Why would I mention these two in the same article? The Chicago Tribune puts it this way:
"Dodd, who died at 90, was a lot more famous in his day than you might think. He thought a lot deeper than it would first appear. And Hawking, who died at 76, was exceptionally funny." (Thursday March 15th edition)

Stephen Hawking helped people understand the importance of wrestling with big questions - something we have tried to do with the Alpha course! Questions such as "Why are we here?" and "What is the meaning of life?" are discussed and chewed over with people having lots of different opinions and ideas and at the end leave feeling they have enjoyed the journey!
And Ken Dodd helped people find the antidote to life through laughter. He wanted to make people feel happy and for the time people were at his shows he achieved that in abundance.
And so we say goodbye to two men who worked hard at what they did, who loved life, who devoted their lives to the task before them, and who now have found the true meaning of life - something that none can do until we leave this earth.

God bless, Adrian Burr
Minister

WHAT’S ON

THE VILLAGE NEWSLETTER

The next newsletter will be June / July. Please send any contributions for this publication to Karen Crago at kcrago@btinternet.com or drop them in the postbox at Tagley Farm, Finchingfield Road by Monday 21st. May.

STAMBOURNE LADIES GROUP

SLG Stambourne Ladies’ Group
Wednesday Meetings for 2018 ALL WELCOME!
NEW! Join our WhatsApp Group.
Club Outings and Interest Groups – contact each other, choose from the assortment and invite others along. See below for our plans:
11th APRIL
7.30pm at the Village Hall. An enthusiastic and lively talk by Eve Regelous on a subject she is well versed in – The Life of a Celebrity Agent. Buffet and refreshments supplied. Bring your own tipple – glasses supplied.
9th MAY
Outing - time TBA – Coppice Trip to Radwinter with Andy Basham. A tour of Andy’s woodlands.
13th JUNE
7.00pm for 7.30pm at The Finchingfield Lion, Church Hill CM7 4NN for our annual dinner.
11th JULY
7.30pm Fun and Games with Lara Scott-Norris, Stambourne’s very own personal trainer/fitness instructor.
8th AUGUST
7.00pm on the Playing Field – Picnic at the Pavilion.
12th SEPTEMBER
Outing – time TBA – Toppesfield Vineyard. A small boutique vineyard run by Jane and Peter Moore.
10th OCTOBER
7.30pm at the Village Hall. Peter Regelous tells us about his “Life on the Road” in the entertainment industry with anecdotes galore.
14th NOVEMBER
7.30pm at the Village Hall. Felt making demonstration with great ideas for Christmas!
12th DECEMBER
7.30pm at the Village Hall. Christmas Celebration Evening.



Please call Annabel 01440 785809 or Vicky 01440 785528 or see our Facebook page for more!

STAMBOURNE VILLAGE HALL

RACE NIGHT UPDATE
On behalf of the Village Hall Committee I would like to thank Cath and Rosemary for decorating the hall and tables for the Christmas Race Evening on the 9th. December, also Cath for providing the excellent food.
I would also like to thank Kylie and Andy Sparkes for arranging the races.
A total of £978 was raised for the whole evening which included the Grand Draw.
Many thanks to all of you who bought raffle tickets and gave prizes.
The prize winners were as follows:
1st Prize of £50 – Slough Farm
2nd Prize of Turkey – Mr. Richard Wright
3rd. Prize of Xmas Hamper – Mrs D. Hartshorn
Also a big thank you to all who attended the evening which I think you will agree was a great success.

Joyce Jousiffe
Treasurer

REFURBISHMENT UPDATE

The hall belongs to you, the residents of Stambourne, and as many of you may already be aware the hall has now reached a stage where it needs refurbishment.
Last year the hall received a very generous donation from the late Brian Wright. Consequently an ongoing program of repair and redecoration has already begun.

So far….