AUGUST LOCKDOWN NEWSLETTER 2020
BROAD TOWN PARISH COUNCIL – July Meeting headlines
The Parish Council held its second Zoom meeting in July and was pleased that 4 members of the public joined the meeting online. Although not ideal, this method of holding meetings is working well and we would encourage anyone interested in the next agenda to join us. We are very happy for people to join for public participation and then leave if they prefer not to stay for the whole meeting.
The Parish Council are grateful to a resident who has contacted us about concerns on traffic safety in the north of the Village. Five incidents have been witnessed since lockdown, but none were reported to services by those affected. Further concerns were raised regarding road safety for children travelling to school. The Parish Council is aware of the road safety issues at this area of the village resulting partly from the sharp increase to the national speed limit at this section of road. Unfortunately, when we have raised concerns previously regarding road safety in this area, we have been advised that metro counts, which would provide necessary evidence of the severity of the problem, can’t be completed at a national speed limit area. However, we are keen to raise the issue again and push for support for action. The Parish Council will take the issue up with the Community Area Transport Group as an area priority for Broad Town once the CATG meetings are running again. We will compile the information on the road safety in this area in advance of the next CATG meeting whose support we will need for any future action.
In accordance with government advice, the play area has been reopened. Please follow the NHS advice on the posters displayed at Redhills. On reopening, we have noted some minor repair and maintenance needs and whilst we progress with repairs please be aware that the activity board is taped off and currently out of use, awaiting repair. We are also progressing with a one off clean of all the equipment and hope it will all be fully operational in advance of the upcoming school holidays.
The requirements of the Transparency Code and of the Website Accessibility Regulations require us to review and make some changes to our Parish Council website. This work has been going on for a while and we are delighted that we can now publicise our new website location: https://www.broadtownparishcouncil.org.uk/ . Many thanks to all involved in making this happen.
Next Meeting Monday 10th August 2020 at 6.30pm. All are welcome and joining details and the agenda will be posted on our website and on the notice boards in due course.
Broad Town Church July 100 Club Draw
1st Prize – Christine Marshall
2nd Prize – Janet Drury
3rd Prize – Jackie Jordan
FACE COVERINGS BIG thanks to the 5 B.T. ladies, who once again have come up trumps - we now have another 40+ face coverings available in an assortment of styles, patterns, and colours.
If you need any, please phone 731564.
We have given out 80+ face coverings and so far, have raised over £300 for the Alzheimer’s Society.
FOOD BANK
Another fantastic collection in July - Thanks to everyone for donations. Next collection will be 8th & 9th August.
* Between 1 March and 30 June this year the RWB Foodbank had 115 referrals compared to 27 during the same period in 2019 !!
ONLINE FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR CHRIST CHURCH, BROAD TOWN
We have set up an online giving account for Christ Church Broad Town using the Online Donation provider "Give a Little". This facility is available to use on Christ Church Broad Town's page on the "A Church Near You" website. The following message will be displayed next to the donate button: -
During this difficult time, the work of our church is reliant on people's generosity, a generosity that is a hallmark of a lived-out faith and a testament to it.
We give to our church in a variety of ways, but with the past closure of all our buildings we have not been able to receive all the gifts that we usually would, so we really need your help now. If you are able to give more at this time, please visit our online donations page.
ON THE JOY OF VOLUNTEERS August 2020
Let us now sing the praises of famous men,*
our ancestors in their generations.
The churches that stand in your village communities depend on the ministry of so many women and men who are volunteers. Those who offer their time, physical strength and energy, their intellect, thought and their gifts of listening to and supporting others. In recent months they have continued to phone and check in on friends and neighbours; to keep the local foodbanks going with collections; they have made laundry bags for nurses’ uniforms; helped with breadmaking advice, made facemasks. They have continued to care for the church buildings and the churchyards around them.
They are producing ever changing risk assessments to reopen for private prayer, or a small wedding of 10 people, or a funeral and seeking to enable us to reopen for public worship. They have learned and adapted to new technologies to enable an assembly for some children leaving primary school. Even those who share and assist with leading services across our six churches – a team, Karen, the newly appointed associate priest, our two locally based chaplains Padre Keith and Jonathan Beach, the retired clergy from our deanery Michael Jones, and Alan Taylor and the gifted and dedicated home team of lay people of Janet Drury, Richard Holness and Elaine Leighton are volunteers. This isn’t to begin to include those whose flowers, cleaning, setting up for communion, musical gifts and so on are essential for our worship to have the beauty, reverence, joy and delight.
In our changing world as we move carefully out of lockdown there are many among all those who cannot return to serve safely. Some are moving on with our thanks and prayers. All of us desire to use the time of reflection that we were given, even if we would not have chosen it; to think deeply and prayerfully about how we can move forward. In truth, this is because we cannot return to how things were, and do so sustainably. People continue to serve in our communities; to work to preserve and maintain the sometimes burdensome heritage of our buildings, beautiful though they may be; to keep the essential legal and governance matters going and to find ways to deepen, offer and share our faith, which is so often the fuel for all the other gifts of those who volunteer.
So I seek to reassure you that while public announcements may look as if opening up is slow in our rural communities that the love of God and neighbour continues to be expressed and we are together working towards a time ‘when all are safely gathered in’.
Some of them have left behind a name,
so that others declare their praise.
9 But of others there is no memory;
they have perished as though they had never existed;
they have become as though they had never been born,
they and their children after them.
10 But these also were godly men*,
whose righteous deeds have not been forgotten;
*Lots of them were women actually! The verses come from a book from the Apocrypha (part of the bible that varies in different Christian groupings known as Sirach or Ecclesiasticus chapter 44)
Rachma