PARISH COUNCIL MEETING – Thursday 21st MayThis was the first meeting (and AGM) of the Parish Council to be held since the May elections and it was held on 21 May 2015 in the village hall.

This being the Annual General Meeting of the Parish Council the first task was to elect a Chairman and Vice-Chairman for the coming year. Martyn Fall was elected Chairman and Michael Crago Vice Chairman.

The Parish Council is made up of the following members – Martyn Fall, Michael Crago, Andrew Drysdale, Vanessa Young and Jenny James. Oscar Pickess and Sonia Antonioni have both stepped down as Parish Councillors and we would like to thank them for all their hard work over the years.

Pavilion – As you may be aware the Parish Council were successful in obtaining a grant from the Community Initiatives Fund of Essex County Council to replace the roof of the pavilion. This has now been carried out and I am sure you will agree that it looks very good. Hopefully, it should keep the pavilion weathertight for many years to come.

Playing field – I am sure most of you will have seen that a new piece of play equipment has been installed. This was a result of a grant obtained from Greenfields Housing Association and we thank them for this generous gesture. None of this would have happened without the efforts of Sonia, who worked hard to obtain the funding and we are very grateful to her for this.

Village Sign – The old wooden village sign was blown down in a storm and with thanks to Martyn and Sonia from the Parish Council, a replacement is now finished and ready to be put up.

Highways – As previously stated the potholes on our roads are a continuing problem. Please remember that anyone can report these by logging onto the Essex County Council website and following the links, www.essex.gov.uk.

Footpaths - Jenny James has reported that there are some signage issues on the footpaths and these will be passed onto Essex County Council to deal with.

Accounts – The accounts for the year 2014/15 have been agreed by our internal auditor and will be submitted to the external auditor for approval.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday 16 July 2015 at 7.30pm in the village hall.

Minutes and agendas are available on the website at
www.Stambourne.com

Debbie Hilliard
Parish Clerk
Tel: 01440 785629
Email: debbiehilliard614@gmail.com

QUIZ – A THANK YOU

The committee would like to thank Cath, Liz and Paul for organising the London themed Quiz on Saturday 23rd May. I am sure that other people as well as myself thought it was a very enjoyable evening. During the interval we had a delicious meal of seafood and salad, finished off with a birthday cake which we had to celebrate Dave Murph’s 80th birthday.

A marvellous sum of £453 was raised for village hall funds – well done!

Our next Quiz Night will be on Saturday 5th December when our annual Christmas Raffle will take place. Please make a note of this in your diaries and we hope to see you then.

Joyce Jousiffe
Treasurer

ST. PETER & ST. THOMAS BECKET PARISH CHURCHCHURCH NEWS

The Church’s services followed the new regular pattern of a Communion by extension taken by Joan Redmond at 11.15am on the first Sunday, Holy Communion taken by the Vicar on the second Sunday at 9.30am, no service on the third Sunday and Holy Communion taken by the Vicar or Morning Prayer by David Brown at 9.30am on the fourth Sunday.

There will be a Christening of Charlotte Sammons on 5th July at 12.30pm after the Service at 11.15am.

The wedding of Lisa Wiffen to Captain James May will take place on Saturday 15th August at 3.00pm.

Last year an area was prepared, rotovated and sown with wild flowers at the back of the church yard by Oscar Pickess. It should be flowering well at the time of the village fete and Scarecrow exhibition.

The most important work on the maintenance of the church will be the roof repairs which are scheduled to start after the wedding on 15th August. Mr David Waller has organised this. It needed patience and a great deal of industry and tact, filling in the endless forms to get the required funding grant, and the faculty to do the work.

Richard Day
Val Kerrison
Church Wardens




STAMBOURNE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH Adrian BurrThanks to all who came, all who helped, and all who shared their plants with us on Tuesday 19th May! We had a lovely show of plants (see pictures on Facebook, Stambourne Chapel) and many people shared the lovely cakes and refreshments too for what was a great day.

Back in November last year we had a visitor to the chapel from Canada. He said he was making a film about C H Spurgeon, the famous "prince of preachers", whose Grandfather was minister at Stambourne for 54 years. Well the film is complete and can be watched on YouTube and it makes interesting listening. There are views of the chapel and surrounding area as well as around Stambourne, and the basic history of the man and his time at Stambourne is beautifully recorded. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a6R96XhPaA&feature=youtu.be or http://throughtheeyesofspurgeon.com/ for the film makers web site.

Since then we have had at least three visitors to the chapel including a bus full of people from Texas and a group from Northern Ireland! We will be doing our best to sing the praises of Stambourne as a place to live!

On another note people from churches all down the Colne Valley will be joining together to praise God and thank Him all that is going on. That is on Saturday 27th June at 5pm - all are welcome to come and join in!

So life is busy at the Chapel. We have a few changes to make so that we can accommodate the cars for a wedding, (6th June) and we continue to meet several times a week. But busyness isn't all we are called to be. Sometimes being still and praying is all we can do and we have seen answers for several people this last couple of months. We meet each week to pray on a Wednesday evening at 7pm. If you have prayer needs please drop a note through our letter box, or call Margaret on 01376 345337 with your request. We will pray anonymously if you prefer so you don't have to tell us anything except that you would like prayer. We do encourage you to pray privately as well.

Recorded in the book written by the disciple Matthew, Jesus said (chapter 7 verse 7) "Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you." And all this with just a little faith - as big as a mustard seed!

We are debating whether we should we run a Holiday Club this year. Our leader from last year has come up with a sports theme and we would like to know when children can come? Drop me a note with which week would be best for your children (4-11's) to come. Alternatives are Week beginning 27th July, the 3, 10 or 24th August. We usually run the club for three mornings - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with a BBQ on the Thursday lunch time. A warm and lively welcome awaits!

If you would like to learn more about Christianity and faith check out the web site http://christianity.org.uk/ - it provides answers to many frequently asked questions, but if you can't find an answer there, do give me a call and we will try and help...


Halstead Food & Craft Market
Saturday 20th June, High Street, Halstead, 9am -2pm. 

The monthly market sees the return of regulars such as Mystycroft Meats, The Jam Shed, Mitch's fruit and Veg, Star Fish, Beehouse Honey, Itsy Bitsy Baby Clothes, Freechooks Farm and Ruddy Marvellous to name but a few stalls selling not only food produce but D.I.Y paraphernalia & crafts. Busking and Street Entertainment is also permitted on these days. Free parking for 2 hours in Solar Superstore.

Further details market@visithalstead.co.uk
Updates www.visithalstead.co.uk

Facebook Halstead Street Market, Twitter @lovehalstead

Halstead Food & Craft Market (held on the 3rd saturday of the month)
Saturday 18th July, High Street, Halstead, 9am -2pm. 

Halstead Food & Craft Market (held on the 3rd saturday of the month)
Saturday 15th August, High Street, Halstead, 9am -2pm

Halstead Food & Craft Market (held on the 3rd saturday of the month)
Saturday 19th September, High Street, Halstead, 9am -2pm

Halstead Food & Craft Market (held on the 3rd saturday of the month)
Saturday 17th October, High Street, Halstead, 9am -2pm

JUMBLE SALE – A THANK YOU
Thank you to every one who has helped at the jumble sales and donated to all my sales over the years..we have raised thousands of pounds for the Essex Air Ambulance and other Charities.

Annabel Veter is going to take over from me so I would like to wish her good luck and hope that she will get as much support from the village as I have.
 
 The jumble sale on 2nd may raised £1370.00. £40.00 to pay for village hall hire. A cheque has been sent for £1330.00 to the air Ambulance.

LOIS HUNTER

 
JUMBLE SALE – GOING FORWARD
The village jumble sale is changing....and we need you!

As many of you know, Lois Hunter has been running our jumble sale for the last 35 years with lots of help from her team of wonderful volunteers. Lois decided that May's jumble sale would be her last, she has decided to retire. During her time she has raised the fantastic sum of over £30,000, donating it to the Essex Air Ambulance and other charities. At the jumble sale on 1st May, Lois and team raised the wonderful sum of £1,330.
My name is Annabel Vater. I have lived in Stambourne for six years with my husband Huw and our two daughters Bethan and Rosalyn. I have decided to take on running the jumble sale and have very big shoes to fill. The next jumble sale will be held on 7th November, raising money for the Air Ambulance and Ridgewell Mother and Toddler Group, who are in desperate need of funding. I have decided from now on that half the money raised will go to the air ambulance and half to local causes in need of funding. If you would like to put forward groups or organisations that need extra funding please contact me. I am also in need of new volunteers, as many of Lois' faithful volunteers are retiring too.

If you can spare a few hours on Friday 6th or Saturday 7th November to help set up or help run the jumble sale that would be fantastic. If you would like to donate anything for the jumble sale please contact me.
Contact information: Little Chapley, Dyers End. Tel 01440 785809 or 07585 615118. Email stambournejumble@gmail.com

Please like our Facebook page, "Stambourne Jumble"
Many thanks, fingers crossed
Annabel Vater
DIARY DATES
JUNE
20th – Halstead Food and Craft Market
27th – Colne Valley Praise at The Chapel
28th – Stambourne Village Fete, 12 – 4, Playing Field
Steve Platt Email : me@stephenplatt.com or phone 07767 357016