Saints Alive: Stanhoe and Barwick Newsletter

December 2013

Dates for your diary:-

5th Dec: – WI monthly meeting – see below

13th Dec: – WI Christmas lunch – see below

14th Dec: – Christmas Food Fayre – see below

Stanhoe & Barwick WI News

Tuesday 5th December: monthly meeting at 2:30pm in the Reading Room, Cross Lane. Entertainment and substantial refreshments! Visitors are always welcome at our meetings.

Friday 13th December: Christmas lunch at the King’s Head, Bircham. Advance booking required. For further information please contact Geraldine (518025) or Pamela (518033).

Stanhoe Parish Council:-

Parish councillors are members of the longest established tier (over 100 years) of local governance and deeply democratic – all the members of a council will have offered themselves to the electoral process. Unlike all their counterparts in other tiers they receive no remuneration whatsoever and serve on their councils with the sole aim of making life better for their residents. Parish councils are embedded in their communities and as such are directly accountable to their electorate. Parish and town councils are now more important than ever as government of the regions fades to a memory and internal political wrangling characterises county and district councils. (Source-Norfolk Association of Local Councils)

Stanhoe Parish Council is approaching a watershed; many if not all the councillors have served for some years and intend to stand down at the election in May 2015. If insufficient members of the village put themselves forward for election, it is likely that the affairs of the village could be in the hands of Borough Councillors, living many miles away. If you value the input that the parish council has in governing village affairs and safeguarding the future interests of villagers, albeit at times somewhat limited, please put yourself forward for election in 2015. The council meets once every two months for about two to three hours in the village hall. You would also be welcome at one of our parish meetings – as is anyone who would like to come along. The next meeting is on 8th January at 7:00pm and every other month thereafter on the second Thursday of the month (with the possible exception of May). For further information, please contact the chairman, Terry Austin (01485 518033) or the parish clerk, Elizabeth Thuburn (01485 518409).

MEHM trust:-

The Trust has acquired a wheelchair for the use of anyone who would like to borrow it. It is now parked in the Reading Room, in the cupboard in the disabled loo.

It’s a generous donation from John and Sandra and, for a village like ours, it could be pretty useful! To avoid it becoming too much of an administrative burden, we will probably need a logbook to record when it has been inspected and who has borrowed it. Charles has offered to try and organise this. Any suggestions will be welcome. The wheelchair is in pretty good order and Charles has put it on Keith’s expanding list of maintenance jobs to give it a check over. But most important is it is used as much as possible. For more information go to:-

https://stanhoe.org/news/497/173/Wheelchair-gift

Friends of Burnham Market Car Scheme 100 Club:-

The October winners in the draw came from Brancaster (2 winners) and Spalding. Anyone can join the 100 club. There are 4 draws a year with a first prize of £75. To join and support this worthwhile cause ring Daphne on 01485 525511.

Stanhoe Christmas Food Fair:-

Saturday 14th December, 10am till 1pm in the Reading Room. The perfect opportunity to stock up on homemade Christmas goodies, including cakes, puddings, biscuits, sweets, jams, pickles, chutneys, pot-pourri and more! Coffee, tea and mulled wine will be served. Raffle. Entrance FREE, proceeds from sales will go to All Saints Church, Stanhoe, with a percentage to the MEHM Trust (Reading Room).

All contributions welcome – please call Jill Hargreaves on 01485 518269 or Pen Roche on 01485 518324 if you can help!

Collection of food for the Purfleet Trust:-

Stanhoe & Barwick WI are doing a collection of food for the Purfleet Trust in time for Christmas. Based in King’s Lynn, the trust provides relief for people who are homeless, or whose lifestyle puts them at risk of homelessness.

If you can spare any tins of food (particularly meat and vegetables), long-life milk, toiletries or any foodstuff that will keep then please take your contributions to the library in the village hall on Tuesday mornings between 10–12.

Contact Geraldine Butcher on 518025, geraldine@stanhoe.org if you have any questions.

Brancaster Camera Club:-

If you are interested in what we do and would like to come along, we would be pleased to see you in Brancaster Staithe Village Hall at 7:30 pm on club evenings. Contact Jim Till on 01485 210013 or Wendy Calow on 01553 674725.

And finally:-

May you have a joyous Christmas and a peaceful New Year.

Saints Alive editor , 7 Station Road, tel 517 005

Copy deadline for the printed issue of Saints Alive
is the 15th of the previous month