The Messenger June 2020 This months Clergy letter is by Rev. Mark Windsor During this period of lockdown we have also been locked out of our churches. I don’t think I ever envisaged, as a Vicar, having to reinforce the message that our buildings were closed to people going in. How do we reconcile this seemingly incompatible sign with the message that the church is open? Does a locked door represent an immovable barrier in drawing people into God’s presence? How do we get round it? “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. (John 20:19-20) Jesus did not need to find a way to get round the barrier of the locked door to meet with his followers. John tells us that he came and stood among them. Hence we do not read later on of his disciples discussing the time when Jesus picked the lock and appeared like a thief in the night amongst them; or of them reflecting on the moment when he showed his hands and side after shoulder-charging the door open. The locked door wasn’t a barrier to Jesus then and locked doors are not are barrier to God meeting with us by his Spirit now. Indeed if you read about Jesus’ life and ministry in the Bible you discover that there were many other barriers for us that could not hold him. After his triumphal entry and demonstration of divine authority on that occasion comes a moment of tender humanity, as Jesus shows them his hands and side. It is a reminder that God in his great power draws near us and God in his great tenderness draws alongside us. In the joy of Easter comes the revelation that the risen Lord Jesus is present with us wherever we are. Our church buildings may be closed but we continue to share God’s love in joining with the excellent work within our communities to look after our neighbours in need. Our team clergy and lay ministers are available for you to contact as usual if you need our support in any way. We are preparing online services of worship each Sunday too for you partake in and view on our Team website (www.valeofpewsey.org ). There you will also find plenty of other resources to spiritually uphold and encourage you at this difficult time. May the Lord bless you and keep you. “Almighty Father, who in your great mercy gladdened the disciples with the sight of the risen Lord: give us such knowledge of his presence with us, that we may be strengthened and sustained by his risen life and serve you continually in righteousness and truth” Rev Mark Windsor End of life specialists launch appeal for support during Covid-19 pandemic The Coronavirus pandemic has affected the nation in different ways but one area that has been hit harder than most is the charity sector. For local charity Prospect Hospice, demand for services is increasing while, at the same time, vital funding dried up overnight. The charity continues to deliver essential specialist end of life care to local people, but is now struggling to find the funds to do this. To combat this, the charity is launching an appeal to raise £2million to ensure its crucial services continue during this time and in the months and years to come. Irene Watkins, chief executive of Prospect Hospice, said: “The hospice is still supporting this community, but to respond to the current needs for Covid-19 we have had to dramatically change and increase the size and scope of our services. “This means we are supporting people in their homes on a scale of operation we have never attempted before, we’ve re-deployed staff to ensure that our skills are used in the best possible way and we’ve invested heavily in PPE to protect our key workers, our patients and their families.” As a local independent charity, Prospect Hospice depends on nearly three quarters of its income to come from local people but since the end of March, many fundraising events have needed to be cancelled and all hospice shops have closed meaning the traditional ways people used to support the hospice are no longer available. Talking about funding of the hospice at this time, Ms Watkins said: “As you’d expect, we have cut costs wherever we can, and the Government recently committed £200 million to support hospices across the country. From this Prospect Hospice has received an allocation of £341,000, which we welcome, however, in the current climate, we calculate that over the coming six months the shortfall from lost income will mean that we will still need to raise a further £2 million to deliver the hospice service. This I know is a big number but we simply must raise it.” Continued… Care from the hospice is delivered free of charge to patients in the Swindon and north east Wiltshire area but the hospice incurs large costs in order to do this and, during the Covid-19 period, it is costing the hospice £17,197 a day to run all of its services. Broken down, it costs around £26 per day to fuel a nurses car so they can visit patients in their own homes, around £177 will pay for all of the specialist medical supplies and equipment that we need to care for a patient, and the average cost of a single person cared for at this time is around £601. Prospect Hospice has been part of the local community for 40 years but it now needs your help to be here for the next 40. To donate and support Prospect Hospice, visit www.prospect-hospice.net/donate. FROM THE REGISTERS Funerals: May they rest in Peace. Vera Underwood Funeral on 24th March at Milton Lilbourne Joy Bignold Funeral on 27th March at West Wilts Crematorium Frank Lewis Funeral on 30th March at Pewsey . Our ‘plains and conservation’ report Again our mostly dry weather has continued, however, this has been coupled with draughts from the north bringing unseasonable frosts which has damaged some fragile plants unless well protected. We have been lucky to see a Barn Owl most early mornings quartering the rough grass beside the salad field in front of our house. The pair nest most years in the box that I put up some time ago in a barn down there. Regrettably, due to “lock-down”, we are unable to get up on the plain, but the spring chalk down- land flowers should be well out attracting butterflies like the Adonis Blue and Skipper. If the wind is from the south, you can usually hear armoured and artillery exercises. But with our prevalent north wind, that has been quiet. Interestingly, Range Control calculate the projected noise levels every day to ensure that it will be in limits. Our garden has been quiet but too cold to sit out (This was 12 May). Just before the Pandemic struck; A travel log by Hilary Hollinsworth, who reports, “once everything settles down there will be a talk in Easton and with the U3A” 2020 - A South America and Antarctic Trip A long held wish to visit Antarctica and south America was realised at the beginning of this year. Thanks to great help from our travel agent, an amazing itinerary was created. We flew from Heathrow at the end of January to Rio de Janeiro – a welcome change to hot and humid! Our hotel was on the famous Copacabana beach – marvellous. Our local guide took us to all the well-known sites – Christ the Redeemer statue which is truly enormous (the hands are 5 metres across!), Sugar Loaf Mountain, the cathedral (rather similar to Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral) and the older parts where there is Portuguese style architecture, We also visited the Botanic Gardens where there is a wonderful collection of orchids. From there we flew to the Iguassu Falls on the border with Argentina. Our hotel overlooked the falls on the Brazilian side and again magnificent views. We took a very wet boat ride right up to the falls to experience the full force of the water! The next day we travelled to the Argentinian side and walked around the falls – more extensive paths – there are 26 falls altogether and the sheer volume of water is incredible. From there we flew to Buenos Aires, taking in a city tour and a Tango Show. The next stop was an Estancia hotel where we were given a demonstration by one of the gauchos of his horsemanship. The hotel is a stud for polo horses and we were able to watch a game. Back to Buenos Aires to take the ferry across the River Plate –the widest estuary in the world to Colonia in Uruguay - a small country, not as prosperous as Brazil. There is an historic part with both Portuguese and Spanish architecture. From there we took a coach ) to the capital Montevideo (there are no trains in Uruguay). We took another city tour and in the evening went to a show (part of the Continued… month long Mardi Gras Festival ), comprising local talent. Our Spanish is not good but the show seemed to be a variation on the Cinderella theme and was very funny. In the building there were was a museum of carnival costumes which were very colourful and beautiful.