Boxes will be emptied in Stratford Rd. on Wednesday May 14th. and Thursday 29th.
The boxes can contain food/ drink/ aerosol cans, clean aluminium foil, mixed glass, newspapers/magazines and mixed textiles and clothes.
FairTrade Coffee Morning
Many thanks to all who supported our FairTrade Coffee morning on 7th March. Goods value £175.50 were sold and £42.65 given in donations.
Worth Considering
A message from the Ambulance Service Personnel. The ICE campaign Message from the Ambulance Service
We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory. If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn’t know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this ‘ICE’ (In Case of Emergency) Campaign.
The concept of ‘ICE’ is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As mobile phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name ‘ICE’ (In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents there were always mobile phones with patients but they didn’t know which number to calL. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognised name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialling the number you have stored as ‘ICE’.
It really could save your life, or put a loved one’s mind at rest. For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.
DON CROSS: Road Signs
Don Cross kindly came to the rescue when the April evening of skittles had to be cancelled. His illustrated talk about road signs more than made up for any possible disappointment.
Two very early examples of useful aids to travel were the clocks on toll houses that helped stage coach drivers to keep to approximate time tables and the sturdy posts that prevented vehicles, riders and walkers inadvertently straying in cold and murky weather from the safety of paths across the moors.
Mile stones, as can still be found, were first erected in the eighteenth century though the Dover Road ones were erected in 1663, but it was the nineteenth century with the coming of the railway and the advent of the combustion engine that demanded the erection of generally recognisable signs. The 1903 Motor Act allowed four “official signs”: Circle, Triangle, Diamond and Red Circle to be used as well as assorted warnings devised by the motoring organizations.
The European Convention in 1909 tried to universalise signs but Britain wasn’t having any as all their roads had perfect surfaces. ( Salisbury Council: please note: those were the days ).
In the thirties and forties today’s signs evolved so that by 1963 the U.N. ones were adopted. 1935 saw the birth of the Highway Code.
The audience was much amused to see how signs could be misconstrued: Offending car parkers would be ‘executed’ and those who threatened bridges would be liable to ‘transportation’ - the latter in its day possibly true.
Today, mercifully advertisements on buildings and hoardings are forbidden as they distract the driver from the road and offend vistas, but as adjuncts to social history they are serious visual aids; one noted the changes in the school warnings.
The charity favoured by the speaker was care of The Great Bustard and £40 was forwarded to that effect.
The next meeting is due on Wednesday, May 14th at 7.30 p.m. in the Reading Room when Andrew Baldrey will speak on “Renewable Energies and the Home Owner”.
Yvonne Fox
Can you help by opening and closing the church when you are out for your morning /evening walks? Contact david Todd on 336692 for more details if you are interested.
Our March meeting was a lecture given by Mrs Harman, who had spent much time researching the history and naming of both snowdrops and pulmonarias. The talk was illustrated with colour slides showing the sometimes minute but interesting differences in snowdrops, and pictures of the people who discovered or bred the different types. Their names are well known to bulb fanciers, Sam Arnott, John Gray, Mrs Backhouse and Marjorie Fish being just a few. Snowdrops are best planted “in the green” just after flowering and can be obtained from the growers in late spring. The most sought after can be hard to find, and expensive but can be well worth the trouble if you are keen.
Pulmonarias have developed from the red and blue mixed flowers on one plant (often known as “Sailors and Soldiers”) to single colours, with beautiful deep bright blues, pale lilac blue or white. There is also an interesting variety of leave shapes and colours to be found, with leaves being spotted, white splashed or plain bright green and long and thin as well as rounded. A good tip we were told is to shear the old flowers and leaves to ground level after flowering, then they will grow new leaves which remain bright for the rest of the summer. Snails and slugs do not eat them!
The members of Hale and Woodgreen Horticultural Society are opening their gardens “Just as we are” to support the work of the Hospice on Sunday 11th May from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entry fee £3. Further information phone Andrew Finn 01725 513405.
Nearer home the gardens at Mawarden Court will be open on Sunday 1st June from 2 - 5p.m.
Our own Gardening Society Open Gardens will be held on Sunday 22nd June - more details next month.
Our own Mawarden Court is opening the garden for the NGS on the 1st June, courtesy of Mr and Mrs Colin Harris. This reminded me of some facts about the scheme which it is hoped will also interest magazine readers.
In 1924 Lady Loder made £170 by opening the gardens at Leonardslee(now for sale complete with lawn mower wallabies)! Following a suggestion by Elsie Wagg, a member of the Queens Institute of District Nursing, in 1927 609 gardens opened and raised £8,191 for the Queen Alexandra Memorial Fund. In 1928 the QNI made garden opening an annual event. 1929 saw 5,000 copies of the “Gardens Open” list printed by the QNI, however each county produced their own lists, with Sussex opening more gardens then any other county, printing 50,000 lists. In 1931 Scotland` Garden Scheme is founded.
The charge made in these early days was one shilling per head - this equated to a gardeners wage for a morning or afternoons work. Visitors were known as the “Shillingses”. During 1934 £12,225 was raised for the charity, despite the serious economic situation with 2 million people unemployed.
Gardens remained open during the war years, although the list was much reduced and considerable space was given over to vegetables. When the NHS was set up n 1948 funds were still needed for the welfare of elderly and retired district nurses, so NGS fundraising continued. 1950 saw the first “Yellow Book” printed, although in 1956 the Organising Secretary produced the book at her home using just a manual typewriter. The admission price had remained at one shilling until 1964 when owners were able to charge more.
In 1966 Fisons produced a 20 minute film about the NGS “In Search of an English Garden”. During 1970 1,234 gardens opened, raising almost £52,000. The first “trowels” were presented in 1981 to owners who had opened regularly for more then 21 years and the first computer appeared in the NGS offices! In 2000 over 3,300 gardens were listed and £1,534,860 raised for charities which included £700,000 for Macmillan Cancer Relief. Frogmore opened for the fifty fifth year. 2002 saw the 75th anniversary, nearly 50 of the 600 gardens that opened in 1927 still open but only the Queen`s home at Sandringham has opened every year.
‘Fact & Faith’
- Next meeting May 27, 7.30 pm 5 Shelley Drive
Last time, we were few in number, but this gave a special opportunity for offering support to one another in a way that wouldn’t be possible with a larger group.
One of the wonderful things about God’s love is the way he ‘over-rules’ situations. We may get confused and worried and even feel on our own. But God knows exactly what is happening and cares about even the smallest details, so we can trust him to show us the way to go and give us the strength and wisdom we need, when we invite him to come and be part of it.
This may sound pathetic, and we may feel we need to be strong and look strong. But life is often not like this, and what will help us and others is to be vulnerable, so that we leave space for God to show us a better way. My own (Ian) experience, years ago, of damage to a vocal cord illustrated this for me vividly. Losing a trained singing voice actually led to a much deeper experience of God and worship with others. Also, closer connections came with people who were struggling with anxiety or disability.
Next time (May 27th), we plan to continue looking at the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ and ‘What happens when we die?’
Welcome to all. -
Ian and Felicity Leakey
- Janet Brownlie saw her first swallow of summer 2008 on March 27th
April Results
1st Zena Carpenito Brown ball 96 £40.00
Congratulations to all
April`s winners!
The May draw will be held on Friday 30th May during morning assembly. Good luck!!
Restaurant in the Village - last one for the time being!
The dates for May are Saturday 24 May 7.30 for 8.00 and Sunday 25 May 12.30 for 1.00. We will be serving an English seasonal menu and as before we will serve a welcome drink and a three course meal plus coffee for a suggested minimum donation of £15.00. Diners are welcome to bring their own drinks to have with their meal.
To book ring 01722 335691
Liz and John Waterman
(a) Payments from Exlraordinarv Income (i.e. Specifically donated for each charity)
15 Jul The Trussell Trust (Patronal Festival collection) 160
(b) Payments from total “Titheable” Income (Ordinary Income including I.R Tax Rebate):
2 Jan The Friends of Salisbury Cathedral 30
* This total represents 9.36% of 2006”Titheable” Income
ANNUAL TOTAL £7,196
In my treasurer’s report to the Annual Parochial Church Meeting on 22 April I started to present my understanding of the effect on the level of return of tax rebate on “gift aided” contributions made by taxpayers to charities, including churches, of the reduction of the 22% “standard” (or “basic”) rate of income tax announced in last November’s budget speech in Westminster. Several of those present persuaded me that there would be no reduction in the level of the rebate when the 20% standard rate of tax took effect (from 6 April 2008) and I have since researched the subject by calling the Diocesan Office, who advised as follows:
“Gift Aid gets reprieve
In a surprise move, the Government announced that charities will be reimbursed for the Gift Aid losses incurred when the basic rate of tax changes in April. From 6 April, churches and charities will have to claim at the new basic rate of 20% (giving a reduced refund of 25 pence for every pound given), but HMRC have confirmed that they will calculate and pay transitional re1ief to make up the difference to the current rate of 22% (28 pence for every pound given).”
Church House advice is that this will be for three years.
I am delighted to be able to pass on this good news, and would urge any taxpayer making a charitable donation to ensure that it is “Gift Aided”. In the case of donations to St.Lawrence church please use a yellow envelope from a church pew, or speak to me (‘Phone 323549) and I will deliver one.
John Williams,
We will be thinking of you all at St Lawrence on Thursday (May Day) as we celebrate Ascension Day by the Glencoe Lochan at 8.00am.It will be our last Service as Team Rector & Priest in Charge of the West Highland Mission (St Mary Glencoe;St John Ballachulish;St Adamnan Duror in Appin; St Brides Onich; Holy Cross Portnacroish; St Columba’s Gruline Isle of Mull; St Paul’s Kinlochleven;Kentallen Chapel; the Islands of Coll,Tiree,Eigg and Iona).
Fiona and I will then take two years out to modernise or re-build her cottage on Loch Fyne - side at Loch Gair. Hopefully if we get our sums right, we can afford something small in England for our later years!
Eleanor(22) is working in Bournemouth, Bella (21) finishes at Leicester University this summer.
With love to you all from us both,
Fiona and Peter Rice
Calling all dog walkers
The Stratford sub Castle Gardening Society
Can you beat this?
STRATFORD-SUB-CASTLE SCHOOL PTA 100 CLUB
2nd Michael Parker Red ball 19 £20.00
3rd David Todd blue ball 26 £15.00
Child Welfare Scheme - Nepal
8 Castle Keep
Summary of Charitable Donations Made by the PCC
14 Nov The Poppy Appeal (Remembrance Sunday Collection) 487
23 Dec The Stratford Singers (Selected Charities - Nine Lessons and Carols Service) 220
27 Dec Salisbury DBF (Juba School Appeal)(2007 Harvest Project) 1,661
SUB TOTAL 2,528
12 Sep The Bridge Project 500
24 Oct Churches Together in Salisbury 100
29 “ Shaftesbury Court 300
Naomi House 300
The Trussell Trust 300
Salisbury Hospice 400
Hudson Road Day Centre 250
The Clothing Trust (Salisbury) 200
The Holy Land Institude for the Deaf 250
Salisbury Samaritans 400
The John McNeil Trust 400
The RUSH School Bus Appeal 200
10 Nov The Friends of Guiding at St.Francis 400
27 Dec Salisbury DBF (Juba School Appeal)(PCC contribution) 138
31 Dec Stratford-sub-Castle C of E VC Primary School 500
SUB TOTAL* 4,668
Gift Aid Tax Rebate
PCC Treasurer
Greetings from your Jacobite correspondent!!
