Produced by The Hempnall Group of Churches Thought for the Month… Hello everyone, “So much beauty we need to look after”, said the boy, as he, the mole and the fox looked out onto the great beyond. (from The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackery, it’s a book well worth a look, beautifully illustrated with a few simply chosen words) Whether we are looking close up to a dew laden spider’s web or earth worm or further away to one of those glorious red Norfolk sunsets, there is “much beauty” around, above, and below us. Planet Earth, we are told is about 4.5 billion years old. It holds us up literally and supplies what is needful for life. We, humankind, are latecomers to this planet. If you look at the age of Earth as a 24 hour clock, we showed up at about 11.43pm. How can we care for its beauty and in so doing care for each other? Words like: threat, uncertainty, risk, disaster, extinction, crisis is language often used in relation to Climate Change. It seems there is a lot of fear around. Perhaps we can look at things differently. If we see and delight in the beauty of the world, (as the boy, the mole and the horse did) we will naturally long for others to share that same joy. Working with each other and our planet we can face the challenge ahead with hope and optimism. Pie in the sky? I don’t think so, but come and see what you think. You are warmly invited to a series of evenings, (see opposite) as we explore the challenges and opportunities we face locally and internationally. We all have something to contribute. Let us tread gently together for the sake of the world. With my love (Team Vicar) 2 OUR CLIMATE CHALLENGE A series of three evenings exploring the challenges of our climate and how change can be affected for the good of our planet and all its peoples March, 5th,12th,19th, 7.30pm at St Margaret’s Church Hempnall, The Street, Norwich NR15 2AD 1. Climate Change and Citizen Action Thursday March 5th 7.30pm with Dr Martin Mahony and Dr Helen Pallett. Both are lecturers in Human Geography at the University of East Anglia. 2. Enjoying Creation and Effecting Change, Nationally and Internationally Thursday 12th March with Tessa Wardley. Tessa is an author of several books, e.g. The River Book, that seek to connect children and adults to the natural world in ways that are engaging and fun. Tessa currently works for DEFRA. 3. Joining the dots between Faith…Culture…Climate Change Thursday 19th March with Professor Mike Hulme, Professor of Human Geography at The University of Cambridge and will explore the contribution of faith and culture to the debate. 3 What’s On in Our Villages…… 75TH V.E DAY ANNIVERSARY In preparation for the 75th V.E Day Anniversary, Friday 8th May 2020 (Bank Holiday) we are proposing to hold a village event that would bring us all together to celebrate the peace we now all enjoy following the sacrifices made by so many, including our own brave residents. This is be a free event open to all and an opportunity to get together and have some fun. It is hoped to apply for a road closure to enable us to have an informal parade from a central village location to the Village Hall followed by a picnic in the park, with perhaps some entertainment and activities. This is currently only a proposal and we would like to involve as many people from our village as possible, we hope you can get involved by joining us to form a steering group to enable this all to happen. We have already had some positive indications from the local council regarding some funding. Please feel free to contact Diane Ingram or Katie Barnes, we would so appreciate some support. There will be a preliminary get together on Tuesday 28th January 7.30pm at The Mill Centre to finalise some ideas and make a formal plan for the event to take place. Please help us in creating a memorable celebration that everyone can enjoy. Diane Ingram – [email protected] 01508 498549, Katie Barnes - [email protected] 07940436805 FOOD BANK On behalf of all The Food Bank recipients, and the staff who work so energetically and understandingly to help them, thank you for all your donations last year – sadly still needed in 2020. Our next collection is on SUNDAY 2ND FEBRUARY AT BEDINGHAM CHURCH. At Christmas we often receive special items of food we cannot eat for various reasons, the Food Bank accepts these gifts gratefully, but please check the sell-by dates – as with all items! We recently heard of someone who had to really make herself seek out a Food Bank to serve her desperate needs. She had suddenly lost all previous means of support. The helper at the Food Bank listened and provided for her needs. She returned some time later to thank them all, and to say she now had a job, a safe home, and enough to live on. Items can, as usual, be left at the Hempnall Church Office, Mon- Thurs, 9am-1pm. May you all be truly blessed in your giving and receiving. 4 THE MILL CAFÉ, HEMPNALL COFFEE & LUNCH February 3rd. Future dates 2nd March & 6th April. Please join us. All welcome! For more information please contact: Margaret Sparham (Wed and Thurs on 499766 or 499579 at other times) Hempnall Mill Centre, Mill Road, Hempnall. NR15 2LP www.hempnalltrust.org Registered Charity No. 1074433 HEMPNALL MILL CENTRE – LUNCHEON CLUB Wednesday and Thursday 10am-2pm from £5.50 Morning tea or coffee served on arrival from 11am a two course lunch served at 12 noon, pick up travel can be arranged - for more information: Margaret Sparham (as above) COMPUTER CLASSES NCC ADULT LEARNING at The Loft, Hempnall Village Hall Sessions began on Wednesday 22nd January for 10 weeks starting at 1.45pm for 2 hours. Would you like to join us? Please contact Yvonne Davy 01508 499405 email [email protected] for further information WOODTON & BEDINGHAM MONDAY CLUB Next meeting is on Monday 3rd February at 2 p.m. Everyone is most welcome, do come and join your fellow villagers for a pleasant social afternoon. For further information please contact Janet Chadwick on 01508 483996 or Pam Mariner on 01508 483796 TOPCROFT SOCIAL CLUB QUIZ 8TH AND 29TH FEBRUARY Max. 6 per team - £2 per person - 7.30 for 8 p.m. start Good Prizes and friendly competition For more information please ring Christine on 01508 482268 THE ARK For pre-school children Will be meeting on Wednesday 12th February in Hempnall Church. 2.00pm; Crafts, singing, story, refreshments. All are welcome to drop in anytime. Please contact Jackie 01362 288195. 5 WOODTON & BEDINGHAM LADIES TOGETHER Our next meeting will be on the 12th February and our speaker will be Charles Lewis with a talk about Frogs and Toads! Visitors and new members are always welcome at our monthly meetings which are held in Woodton Village Hall on the second Wednesday of each month. For further information please contact Tricia Gunson on: 01508 558101. VALENTINE'S DINNER AT TOPCROFT SOCIAL CLUB Saturday 15th February. 7.00pm for 7.30pm. Tickets £12.50. Check out our Facebook page for further details or contact Step 01508 482209 or email [email protected] THE WINTER WALK FOR FEBRUARY Will take place on Sunday 16th February at Old Hall Farm, Woodton, NR35 2LP (by kind permission of the Mayhew family). Meeting in the car park at 2pm where a walk of approximately 3 miles has been arranged, followed by refreshments in the café. NO MUDDY BOOTS IN CAFÉ/SHOP PLEASE – Bring a change of shoes. Sorry, no dogs on this walk. For further details contact Ron on 01508 499428. KETTLE ON!! 3rd Friday in the month, 2.00pm-4.00pm at Hempnall Mill Centre Come for a cuppa, a chat and meet new people. A facility provided by The Mill Centre for our villagers. Do come, we look forward to seeing you! HEMPNALL ART CLUB Peter Brook, a Yorkshire Artist was the subject of our evening with Adrian, an interesting evening using just black and white paint. Christine organised an evening making a door wreath. We decorated a tree at the Christmas Tree Festival at St. Mary’s Church, Long Stratton, with all three of our clubs painting baubles, slices of wood, knitting, crocheting, sewing and paper folding, to cover our seven foot tree. We came 3rd in the public vote. Our Christmas “Do” was held at The Mill with lunch, quizzes and bingo. 6 We have a full calendar of events coming up in 2020, including workshops, demonstrations, plein air painting, coach trip and of course our regular weekly meetings in the Nelson Suite. Hempnall Art Club meets on Monday afternoons 1pm - 3.30pm, Tuesday mornings 10am - 1.00pm and Tuesday evenings 7pm - 9.30pm. If you would like any more information about our club, please telephone Tina on 01508 499376 or contact Christine, email address is [email protected] or pop into one of our groups for a coffee and see what we get up to, new members are always welcome. You can find us on Facebook too. Thank you…. HARVEST COLLECTION Thank you to all who contributed to our Harvest Collection, the money raised was £171.04 which was sent to the Farming Network Community. HARDWICK VILLAGE POPPY APPEAL Thank you to everyone in the village for their donations.