100 CLUB: The December Monthly Draw for the ETSR 100 Club has taken place. The winners were Mary Newington, Jane Gilbert and Sheila Parker.ETSR would like to thank everyone who participates in the 100 Club for your fantastic support for the village halls. By joining the Draw you make a significant contribution to our fund raising efforts whilst giving yourself the chance to win a monthly cash prize. If you'd like to join, please contact admin@etchinghamtrust.org.uk for more details .
ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGER: New Electric Vehicle Charger in Etchingham. The village will soon have its own EV Charger to be installed at the station in front of the Bistro. The volunteer directors of the Community Interest Company (CIC) have worked hard to raise funds and negotiate with various organisations to make this happen. The new charger should be in place early next year and is funded primarily by Southeastern with additional financial support from the CIC and Rother District Council.The Bistro was opened as a community project by the CIC in 2010 with support from Southeastern, Network Rail, Rother District Council and the Railway Heritage Trust. Colin Phillips, Chairman of the CIC said, “The new publicly available EV charger will benefit residents of the village, customers of the Bistro and visitors to the area.” Peter Stapleton, Head of Facilities at Southeastern, said, “We very much value the CIC’s presence and involvement at Etchingham, and the addition of a public EV charging point is further demonstration of our commitment to the station and wider Etchingham location.” If you have any questions please contact: CIC Director - Benjamin Sutch 07575 885585
SHOP UPDATE: From the Parish Council Chairman. As many of you may be aware the construction work required to the river bank at the back of the shop (the reason why this property has yet to be sold) is being progressed but has taken a long time to get organised. To work within 8mts of a river course requires specialist Environmental Agency permits for EACH task undertaken. Due to the nature of the repair, a Structural Engineer's detail has to be developed and submitted alongside detailed Risk Assessments and Method Statements. EPC are pleased to announce that these are 90% complete with only the formality of the issue of the permits and the engagement of a bespoke contractor to be finalised. Fortunately, in a way, the time taken to get the permits to do the work demanded by the Environment Agency from the Environment Agency – yes you did read that right – has given us the time to earmark some money at least, to go towards what will be a significant sum.
The eventual sale of the shop once the work has been completed will, it is anticipated, offset the expenditure. We have lost the ‘weather window’ to do this work for now anyway due to the winter risks of the area flooding, but it is hoped that everything will be in place to proceed with all speed once we are through the worst of the winter/early spring weather and the ground is stable enough to work on and get the task underway. If any villagers have any particular concerns or questions, please feel free to attend our monthly EPC meetings to discuss further.
CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL: The Christmas Tree Festival at St. Bartholomew’s Church, Burwash was held between Saturday November 30 and Wednesday December 4. As usual it was a fantastic display, if you didn’t manage to see it I have uploaded my photos to an online album which can be viewed at this location - https://www.flickr.com/photos/ttelyob/albums/72177720322329329/
HIRE THE HALLS: It is easy to hire the village halls for your next children’s party, celebration, club meeting or whatever else you have in mind. For all information about the halls please take a look at the updated website etchinghamvillagehalls.co.uk or contact the ETSR Administrator, at admin@etchinghamtrust.org.uk or 07855 239848.
CHURCH OPENING: The Church is open daily, 10am to 4pm, for visits and private prayer.
CHURCH SERVICES: Sunday Services are at 11am every Sunday, unless advised otherwise. Sunday December 22, Canon Patrick Sales; Christmas Eve, 8pm – Christmas Eve Eucharist, Reverend Thomas Pelham; Christmas Day, 10am, Reverend Thomas Pelham; December 29, United Benefice Service St, Philip’s, Burwash Weald; January 5, Reverend Thomas Pelham; January 12, Reverend Thomas Pelham; January 19, Reverend Thomas Pelham; January 26, (Priest TBC)
CHURCH CONTACT: For Baptisms, Funerals, Weddings and all Pastoral matters, contact Reverend Thomas Pelham 07856 256174 revthomaspelham@gmail.com , for other Church related matters contact the Churchwardens, Caroline Moore 01580 819272 and Mary Barnes 01580 819142
YOUR EVENTS: As soon as you have the details send them to me to add to this page, get the details to me as soon as you have them to get maximum publicity. Get information for this column to me as soon as possible. There are several ways to get your info to me, but email is preferred because there is less chance of errors during copying. I normally need information by 10pm on Sunday, Monday afternoon at the latest, to be sure it will be in time for inclusion. You can deliver to 2 Park Farm Close, telephone 01580 819532 or 07483 211838 or email colin.boylett@gmail.com
Thank you for supplying your news and information during the past year, please keep sending it to me, I am taking a short break now and will be back mid-January. I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.