There will be a Farmers’ Market at Allhallows Village Hall (Stoke Road, Allhallows) this Saturday, from 10am until 1pm. Pop along for local produce and many other goods.
24 March 2011
The Beacon (April) Parish Magazine of Hoo St. Werburgh - Out Now!
The latest edition of The Beacon is now available, containing details of local events and other interesting features. Although delivered to some areas of the village, copies may be purchased from local shops, including: Choicemeats at 1 Fourwents Road and the Newsagent at 35 Knights Road.
For further information, contact the Editor (Mrs Muriel Bewsey) on 01634 252129.
For further information, contact the Editor (Mrs Muriel Bewsey) on 01634 252129.
22 March 2011
New to You Clothes Sale (Hoo), Thursday 24 March 2011
The Five Bells pub in Hoo (1 Stoke Road, Hoo, Rochester, Kent, ME3 9BE) will host a 'New to You Clothes Sale' this coming Thursday, from 5.30pm to 7.30pm. The event will be held in the function room and admission is free.
The event will help raise funds for the Royal Wedding Street Party (organised by the Hoo Village Events Committee), set to take place at the end of April.
The event will help raise funds for the Royal Wedding Street Party (organised by the Hoo Village Events Committee), set to take place at the end of April.
21 March 2011
Royal Wedding Party (Allhallows), Friday 29 April 2011
Allhallows Village Hall (Stoke Road, Allhallows) will play host to a Royal Wedding Party on Friday 29 April.
Kicking off at 3pm and going til late, there will be games and fun from 3pm, including a special ‘Mr & Mrs’, Bingo, face painting and a best hat / crown competition. There will be a buffet between 5.30pm and 6.30pm and a chance for the best movers in Allhallows to show their dancing talents in a disco from 7pm onwards.
Everyone is welcome to go along and have some fun! All children will receive a commemorative ‘Wills & Kate’ medal!
Tickets are priced at just £3 (Adults), £1.50 (Children) and £8 (Family ticket). For more information or to buy your tickets – contact Maria on 07919 968353 or Lisa on 01634 272942.
Kicking off at 3pm and going til late, there will be games and fun from 3pm, including a special ‘Mr & Mrs’, Bingo, face painting and a best hat / crown competition. There will be a buffet between 5.30pm and 6.30pm and a chance for the best movers in Allhallows to show their dancing talents in a disco from 7pm onwards.
Everyone is welcome to go along and have some fun! All children will receive a commemorative ‘Wills & Kate’ medal!
Tickets are priced at just £3 (Adults), £1.50 (Children) and £8 (Family ticket). For more information or to buy your tickets – contact Maria on 07919 968353 or Lisa on 01634 272942.
19 March 2011
Appealing for your help!
I was invited along to Hoo St. Werburgh Parish Church this week to find out more about the current financial problems, which have been widely reported in local newspapers. I met Rev. Andy Harding and Church Warden Mick Hollands - pictured below - Mick (left) and Andy (right).
The Church is currently facing a huge financial problem and is appealing to the local community for help. A letter of appeal (below) will be published in the next edition of Village Voices and in The Beacon (Parish Magazine). Information is also being delivered to local residents in coming weeks.
The long and short of the situation is that the Church’s expenditure exceeds their income by at least £2000 per month. This has been made worse by the recent discovery of a major structural problem that will cost around £165,000 to repair.
Even if, like me, you aren’t a regular church goer, there’s no doubt having a Church in the village does help maintain a sense of community, so do read the letter of appeal (below) for more background information about the financial situation.
With limited options for raising additional income, the Church is desperately seeking financial support from the local community.
Attached to this post are copies of the relevant Gift Aid, Direct Debit and Donation forms. To open these forms – just click on the images and print. You can also get in touch via the Contact Page of this website and I’ll email these forms to you. The donation forms are also available at TAGGS Coffee Shop (25 High Street, Hoo).
Attached to this post are copies of the relevant Gift Aid, Direct Debit and Donation forms. To open these forms – just click on the images and print. You can also get in touch via the Contact Page of this website and I’ll email these forms to you. The donation forms are also available at TAGGS Coffee Shop (25 High Street, Hoo).
As well as the financial appeal from the Church itself, an independent petition has been launched by members of the community who want to help safeguard the Church’s future. The petition is asking the Bishop of Rochester, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, to "provide adequate funding to keep Hoo St. Werburgh Parish Church open."
Hundreds of local people have already signed the petition, demonstrating a real sense of how people feel about the local Church. It will hopefully do much to highlight the urgent need for donations.
For further information, contact any of the following: Stuart Coombes on 01634 251705, Rev. Andy Harding on 01634 250291, Mick Hollands on 01634 251979, Laura Judges on 01634 251253 or Linda Jones on 01634 253378.
Hundreds of local people have already signed the petition, demonstrating a real sense of how people feel about the local Church. It will hopefully do much to highlight the urgent need for donations.
For further information, contact any of the following: Stuart Coombes on 01634 251705, Rev. Andy Harding on 01634 250291, Mick Hollands on 01634 251979, Laura Judges on 01634 251253 or Linda Jones on 01634 253378.
10 March 2011
Grain Coastal Park - do you have any spare time to help?
Last Sunday morning I headed for the Isle of Grain to help with work being done to develop and improve Grain Coastal Park. This project, which is being led by the Kent Wildlife Trust, with the support of Grain Parish Council and Medway Council, is a great example of the community coming together to help improve our local environment.
Even though it was a really chilly day, we quickly warmed up getting stuck into the various tasks, like clearing paths, pruning bushes, painting, digging holes and preparing the ground for the installation of new information signs.
There’s still a lot more work to do to, so new volunteers are always very welcome – and a few hours a month really will make a difference!
If you're interested in getting involved, the next opportunity to lend a hand is on Sunday 3rd April, from 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm (meeting at the beach car park). There are further sessions being organised on 1st May, 5th June and 3rd July.
If you would like to find out more about this project, or to discuss how you can help, please contact Paul Pearce (Kent Wildlife Trust) on 01622 662012 or send an email here.
Many thanks to everyone pictured for allowing the use of these photographs (above).
Even though it was a really chilly day, we quickly warmed up getting stuck into the various tasks, like clearing paths, pruning bushes, painting, digging holes and preparing the ground for the installation of new information signs.
There’s still a lot more work to do to, so new volunteers are always very welcome – and a few hours a month really will make a difference!
If you're interested in getting involved, the next opportunity to lend a hand is on Sunday 3rd April, from 10am to 1pm and 2pm to 4pm (meeting at the beach car park). There are further sessions being organised on 1st May, 5th June and 3rd July.
If you would like to find out more about this project, or to discuss how you can help, please contact Paul Pearce (Kent Wildlife Trust) on 01622 662012 or send an email here.
Many thanks to everyone pictured for allowing the use of these photographs (above).
9 March 2011
A great day for George!
Together with lots of other Hoo residents, I went along to the Charity Fun Day at Hoo Village Institute on Saturday, which was organised to help raise money to purchase much-needed equipment for 5-year old local boy George Goodsell (pictured below with mum and dad).
George, who has cerebral palsy, was leading the fun when I arrived - proudly displaying a painted face, whilst tucking into some very tasty looking chips!
It was really good to see so many local people showing their support and enjoying the activities and stalls - with the cake stall providing far too much temptation for most, including me!
To end the day, there was lively musical entertainment and dancing to The Backbeats, featuring Brian Goodsell.
The event was a great success thanks to many local people who worked tirelessly to ensure everything ran smoothly. These included Nancy Waller, Linda Perfect, Kevin Sherman, Klayre Goodsell and Maureen Tong-Ralphs.
I’m really pleased to report that £2000 was raised on the day. I know George’s family will be enormously grateful to everyone for their support and contributions.
George, who has cerebral palsy, was leading the fun when I arrived - proudly displaying a painted face, whilst tucking into some very tasty looking chips!
It was really good to see so many local people showing their support and enjoying the activities and stalls - with the cake stall providing far too much temptation for most, including me!
The Rev. Andy Harding (pictured below) enjoying a much needed burger and hot drink!
Although I was only able to get along for a short time, the event continued long into the afternoon, with a special Legends Football Match (pictured below) featuring Brian Wolfe, Dave Kerr, Bob Wyles, Ken Burrett, Mick Dodd and many others.
If anyone would like to donate money to help purchase equipment for George – please get in touch via the contact page on this website and I’ll let you have the contact details for George’s family.
Many thanks to Linda Perfect for supplying some photographs, including those of the football match.