BRANDESTON AND KETTLEBURGH PARISH NEWS DECEMBER 2017 1 From The Reverend Canon Richard Ginn Here comes Christmas! At Christmas we celebrate. We celebrate that God reaches out to us. We celebrate by reaching out to others. Jesus came, as a baby, and changed the possibilities of life and living. Jesus teaches that life has to be based on love. Without love, there is only emptiness. At Christmas, there are so many gatherings. We have to be generous. We can include those who may be left out. At the darkest time of the year we remember that Jesus is announced as the Light of the World. In this age of confusion, violence, and distress we remember that Jesus comes to show that there is a better way. God still reaches out to us - in hope, love, and peace. We have lots of local church services for Christmas. Please come. If anyone is unwell and wishes to receive communion at home to affirm the companionship of God at this time, please ask. On behalf of all your local volunteer ministers and churchwardens, a very happy Christmas to you all. IMPORTANT NOTICE To arrange a Funeral, Wedding, or Baptism after July 16th contact your Churchwarden. Brandeston Mary Baker 685807 or Alison Molyneaux 685244 Easton Jane Woodbury Eggins 746667 Kettleburgh John Bater 723532 For pastoral emergencies ONLY please contact: The Rural Dean The Revd Mark Sanders [email protected] Tel 768875 2 All Saints’ Church, Brandeston – Giving Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to members of the Church Electoral Roll who have recently made a regular commitment in the form of a donation on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. This will help us meet our contribution to the Centenary Share which is our greatest annual expense. This year it is likely to be £14,000. You can make a similar contribution whether or not you are on the Church Electoral Roll. If you would like further details please contact me on 01728 685807 or email me on [email protected] Paul Baker 3 New for Christmas in Brandeston this year… A CELEBRATION OF CAROLS, READINGS AND CHRISTINGLES At All Saints’ Church On Sunday 10th December at 5.30pm. You are all invited to bring your families and friends to our carol service. There will be seasonal readings and carols and we’ll finish with the distribution of Christingles. Children are invited to dress up as a character from the Christmas story. Collection in aid of the Children’s Society 4 CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES IN KETTLEBURGH 10th December – Christingle & Gift Service Come along to St Andrew’s on 10th December at 11am and join in our worship and the making of Christingles and if you can, please bring a gift for a child which will be sent to FIND (Families In Need - Ipswich). 18th December – Carol Singing Carol Singing around the village takes place on Monday 18th December. We will be collecting for The Children’s Society and bringing the Christmas message to your doors. Listen out for us! 24th December – Candlelit Carol Service On Christmas Eve at 4.30pm the church will be bathed in candlelight for our traditional service of Nine Lessons and Carols, always a wonderful start to the Christmas celebrations. Come early for a seat. 25th December – Christmas Morning service On Christmas morning our service of family Holy Communion takes place at 11am, when we celebrate the birth of Christ and have another opportunity to sing our favourite carols. 5 The Church Bike Ride Report Saturday 10th September 2017 I’m so sorry I am writing about the September Bike Ride when we are all starting to think about Christmas! But anyway……………………….. The weather on the Bike Ride day was very dismal at the beginning, but the morning turned out to be much better than we expected. Charles Freeman, Richard Baldwin, Chris McArthur and John Garratt raised between them the wonderful amount of £1009!! Thank you to everyone who sat at the churches and chapels and everyone who sponsored the riders and of course the riders themselves. Merry Christmas to Everyone. Ruth Garratt 6 Link to Hope - Shoebox Appeal 2017 Thank you to all who supported the shoebox appeal this year. Eighteen boxes in total were sent from Kettleburgh to Eastern European countries. We hope they will bring some happiness to families and older people there this Christmas. A great big THANK YOU to everyone who supported the Suffolk Animal Rescue Christmas fair in Brandeston on Nov 4th. Local thanks to Roy & Jacky O'Brian, Sue Etheridge & Philippa Demetriadi for their hard work, and to everyone who came and shopped. We broke last year's awesome record (just!) and raised a fantastic £4,400 and rehomed a Labrador on the day too! Lucy Daykin 7 WICKHAM Market Flower Club October Report £750 was raised at the Fashion Show in September. This was a fun night for visitors and models alike so what a bonus to be able to donate this amount of money to the Village Hall New Build Charity. Thank you to everyone for arrangements and support for the fundraising event at the Melton Old Church. £166 was raised. Reg, our wonderful 1st Aider was heartily thanked for his continued presence each month and presented with a gift to show our appreciation. The Advanced Arrangement Winner was Di Catling who had captured the beauty of Autumn Leaves in a stunning design. The Novice Winner was Sue Cotton who created a stunning Autumn arrangement and The Stem of the month went to Maureen Moss. Lionel Clarke the President of East of England Area NAFAS was our demonstrator for the evening. The demonstrations got off to a touchy feely start as the microphone needed to be tweaked to correct the faltering sounds. Marilyn and Jenny both had a try and fudged about while Lionel bravely put up with being tampered with!!! This Essex Boy is probably used to being in close contact with a lot of women and the Red Basket Arrangement came about un-scathed filled with Teasels, Mahonia, and Ferns, Choisya, Cones, Hydrangea and Alstromeria. It really was a basket full of Autumn. Another seven arrangements quickly followed. Lionel’s witty sense of humour causing several chuckles in the hall. A glass container filled with beads, a green glass plate, a gold vase, a white tall pot and finally a child’s wooden chair were all given the amazing Lionel treatment. Horizontal, Vertical, Contemporary, Parallel and Traditional styles were all created quickly and with an amazing variety of beautiful flowers, foliage and more delightful banter! Refreshments and Raffle followed and some lucky members won these designs to take home. The next Wickham Market Flower Club – Thursday 25th January 2018- Village Hall – 7.30pm- Demonstrator – Alan Smith-Topic “Winter Symphony”. 1st Visit is FREE so bring a friend. No experience necessary. Just come and watch a professional make beautiful arrangements. For further information please contact June Allum – 01394 384803 For more Next year’s trip could be either Ely Flower Festival on 17th/24th June to include a meal, or the Hampton Court Flower Show on 3rd/8th July. No meal on this one because of the distance to travel. Members were asked to let Geraldine know their preferences. Please contact Geraldine on 01728746697. Mandy Pryke 8 Kettleburgh Monthly Craft Club First Tuesday of the month 7pm to 9pm - Kettleburgh Village Hall If you have considered popping in, please do get in touch - it would be great to see you! Bring along any project you are working on & enjoy a sociable evening with like-minded people. We are a friendly bunch of all ages and have worked on lots of different projects throughout the year including; scrapbooking, card making, knitting, lace making, drawing, sewing, fabric painting, crochet and colouring in! It has been a great way of making new friends, swapping ideas, sharing knowledge and being inspired! If you would like any more information please do not hesitate to get in touch. Angela 01728 621447 or email me [email protected] Next Date-5th December Cost £2 to cover hall hire. Tea, coffee and biscuits provided. Hope to see you there! NOVEMBER KGT LOTTERY WINNERS 1st Prize (£25.00) Peter Dring 2nd Prize (£10.00) Caroline & Paul Wright 9 Christmas is coming and it’s time to go shopping We all love or hate Christmas shopping but if you do yours on-line you can raise donations for the Kettleburgh Green Trust and it doesn’t cost you a penny. So far, we’ve raised £626.67 via easyfundraising.org from just a small group of supporters. If you join them, we could raise even more. It’s easy to set up and most major online retailers are part of the scheme. It’s free money for the KGT and all you have to do is shop! 1. Go to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/kgt 2. Sign up for free 3. Get shopping - your donations will be collected by easyfundraising and automatically sent to Kettleburgh Green Trust. It couldn't be easier! There are no catches or hidden charges and Kettleburgh Green Trust will be really grateful for your donations. Thank you for your support. Keep in touch with us by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter @kgtchair. Caroline Wheeler-Rowe Treasurer and Fundraising Committee Chair Kettleburgh Green Trust Registered Charity 1110467 [email protected] www.kettleburgh.onesuffolk.net/KGT 10 BRANDESTON COFFEE MORNING EVERY THURSDAY THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 10:00- 12:00 TEA, COFFEE, BISCUITS There is a good selection of second-hand books for sale and we also take orders for fresh bread and eggs, along with the mobile Post Office which has an excellent selection of cards.