The Link Magazine

Somersham Primary School

Lots to report this month.
Firstly, the toilets are finished! And very nice they look too. The children even have a sink in the corridor to wash up their art equipment. Now we are waiting for the decorators to come in to repaint the corridor and a new carpet put down. Then we start making the children stay outside so they don't make things grubby. (...joke...)

Class 2 now have their interactive white board on the wall. They were very excited about that. This can help make lessons much more interesting and fun, now all Ms. Hubbard and Mrs. Derry have to do is learn how to use it. Thank goodness for Miss Weekes who will no doubt be giving a few lessons.

Talking of Miss Weekes, did you know she is getting married in the summer? What with a wedding and Mrs. Chinnery's baby both in August, makes for an exciting month for the school even though we won't be in class.

Quite a few trips since last month.

Year Six took off to Claydon High for football and netball tournaments in their very smart kits, with, we might add, strict instructions to the boys from Julia not to roll in any mud they might find. We don't know why she said that!

Class 2 and 3 went the show ground to visit the Farm Fair and had a wonderful time. The weather was great, the animals lovely, and lots of other interesting things to see and do. Bit of a headache for the adults to keep tabs on the children when there are millions of them but nobody got lost.

Class 4, not to be left out, have had two trips, both about buildings and old fashioned houses. The first was to Hannah's house, which is still being built. They saw lots of interesting bits of building materials and where Hannah is going to sleep when she moves in. Then they took a trip into Ipswich on the Park and Ride to visit Christchurch Mansion where they saw lots of old things in the house, but really enjoyed the park much more. Mrs.Svendsen reported certain children rolling down one of the hills and then having great fun in the play area.

Lastly we must say a very, very big thank you to Mr. & Mrs. Minns for all their hard and persistent work on behalf of the FOSS Archive Film evening. This was a huge success which raised a lot of money for the school. We really do appreciate it.
That's about it for this month apart from

SEE YOU ALL AT THE SUMMER FAIR

F.O.S.S.
On behalf of all the committee members of FOSS, may we extend our sincere thanks to all those people that attended our first Archive Film Evening in Somersham Village Hall on Friday 28th April 2006. It was very pleasing to see both the hall and the car park full and to hear the conversations of friends being reunited. We all enjoyed a very interesting selection of films chosen by Mr Frances Jacobi from Ipswich, which included films on Ipswich, Felixstowe, the Greene King Brewery in Bury St Edmunds and also the film “The Harvest Shall Come” which featured shots in and around the local area, including Willisham and Barking.
For your information, our film star for the evening, Maurice Taylor, was the young character “Tom Grimwood” in the film and advised us that the film was actually made in his own house. This house was pulled down before Willisham Garage was built on the same site (i.e. close to the postbox!). The scene in the pub was filmed in the “Blackbirds” which used to be on Barking Tye and we noticed how everyone chuckled when Tom bought a pint of beer, an ounce of tobacco and a box of matches for just two bob! Those were the days.
The FOSS committee worked very hard producing cakes and sandwiches etc for the 140 people that attended our evening. Our sincere thanks must also go to John and Leita Minns, not only for their help on the day, but also for the wonderful advertising campaign that they done for us. We still have to finalise some figures, but hope to have raised nearly £550 from this evening. Thank you so much. This will enable the staff to buy some much needed books and equipment for the school.

The next few weeks will continue to be busy ones for the committee as we finalise our arrangements for our school fete on Saturday 24th June, starting at 1:30 p.m. Don’t forget that we will be having a display by the Sudbury Pet Dog Training Club, starting at 2 p.m.
If anyone would like to donate any items to the white elephant stall or tombola/raffle prizes, or if you could help to run a stall at the fete, we would be very grateful if you could contact Jenny King (01473 830623). We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at our fete.
Many thanks to all those people that have sent in their Sainsbury’s, Tesco’s and Box Top vouchers. Please continue to collect them for us and send them into the school.

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IPSWICH APPEAL FOR ROMANIA - FORTHCOMING EVENTS.
Co-ordinators Lee and Anna-Maria would like to say a big thanks to all those wonderful people who came to support their charity pig racing night on 29th April. The evening was a great success and after expenses raised £1200, enough to buy three complete computer packages for an orphanage in Transylvania.

Ipswich Appeal For Romania are presenting a Craft Fare on Sunday 18th June at Great Blakenham Village Hall 10am-4pm. Hot food, snacks and light refreshments will be available throughout the event. There is lots of car parking space and buyers (and browsers) can enter free.Ipswich Appeal For Romania are also putting on a general knowledge quiz
night on Friday 30th June at Great Blakenham Village Hall starting at
7.30pm. Teams of 4 or 6 can enter. Raffle and bar. £5 per person to enter.
Enqs for craft fare or quiz night call Lee or Anna-Maria on 01473-833292.

Somersham CSC News

The month of April was quite busy as far as Somersham was concerned. April 5th saw the 1st round of the Suffolk Under 9, Under 11and Under 13 Grand Prix at Whitton Sports Centre. There was Somersham representation in the Under 9 age group with Jack Barnes and Ipswich rider Adam Overett joint top scoring with 12 points. The Borrett brothers Fraser and Morgan also rode, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively and Joe Hodge (Gary Brown’s nephew) scored 7.

4 days later it was back to Ipswich for round 1 of the East Anglian Grand Prix series which saw the following results for Somersham riders:
UNDER 10:Jack Barnes was 3rd in the “A” final, Morgan Borrett was 3rd in the “B” final, Fraser Borrett was 2nd in the “D” final
UNDER 13: Michael Garrod and Carl Gooding qualified for the “C” final, finishing 2nd and 4th respectively.
SENIOR: Gary Brown won the A” final, Barry Copping was 2nd in “B” final after finishing 3rd in a 3 man run-off for the last “A” final slot.
The action moved to Gt Blakenham on 12th April for the 1st round of the Suffolk Under 15, Under 17 and Senior Grand Prix with Gary Brown and the Copping brothers Steve and Barry all representing Somersham. Gary scored 14 points to finish equal 3rd,Barry and Steve scored 8 and 6 points respectively to finish equal 7th and 10th respectively.

Easter Sunday April 16th saw a rare double header with Norfolk & Suffolk League matches at home to Eaton and Hethersett. The Eaton match saw a fairly straightforward 90-68 win and the meeting was ridden in good spirit with Somersham clinching victory with a Richard Williamson-Jordan Chester-Flatt 6-4 over Eaton’s Gary Colby and Daniel Hawes. Gary Brown completed a paid maximum, Richard Williamson dropped 1 point, Steve Copping had his best meeting for almost 2 seasons which he capped off by winning the final heat for his 1st race win for almost 2 seasons and Jordan Chester-Flatt impressed with some spirited battling.

SOMERSHAM SCORES: Gary Brown 18+2 bonus points, Richard Williamson 18+1,Barry Copping 18,Steve Copping 14+1,Peter Mittell 12+1,Jordan Chester-Flatt 10+1(riders are awarded a bonus point for following their teammate home in a team race).The Hethersett fixture was a much closer affair, with Richard Williamson winning a last heat decider for a tight 90-89 win. Gary Brown completed his 2nd paid maximum, while Barry Copping's pass of Mick Skinner in heat 7 was perhaps his best in a 17 point haul, this after a first race last. Dave Palfreyman made his 1st appearance of the season and was undefeated in the 4 races he completed, having suffered a harsh exclusion in his 3rd ride
SOMERSHAM SCORES: Gary Brown 17+3, Richard Williamson 17+2,Barry Copping 17, Dave Palfreyman 16, Peter Mittell 11,Jordan Chester-Flatt 6, Carl Gooding and Michael Garrod 3 each.April 22nd saw Regional Round 2 of the Wosskow Brown British Youth & Junior League staged at Somersham who had riders in the Under 8 and Under 10 age groups. In the Under 8’s Fraser Borrett won the “B” final and Joe Hodge was 2nd in the “D” final. In the Under 10’s Morgan Borrett was 3rd in the “A” final and Jake Copping won the “C” final.

The Clubman Trophy at Spixworth on April 29th,which was due to feature Steve and Barry Copping, was cancelled due to lack of entries (Steve having pulled out due to work commitments) so Barry rode in the Spring Classic and scored 8 points to finish 9th out of 10 riders.

April 30th saw us return to Whitton to face Ipswich in a South-East Division 1 match. We would come up against an Ipswich team which contained Josh Brooke, Lee Richardson and Thomas Pike (the 3 riders who rode for us on secondary licences in SE1 last season) as well as former Somersham rider Lee Pike. We were without Richard Williamson for this match and it proved costly as we went down to a 66-90 defeat.

SOMERSHAM SCORES: Gary Brown 18+4, Barry Copping 13, Dave Palfreyman 11, Peter Mittell 10, Michael Garrod 8, Carl Gooding 6
Unfortunately lack of space means I am not able to include the June events in this article but they are listed in the fixtures section on our website.

That’s it for now.
Steve Copping (sjccopping@aol.com)
Club Secretary:Peter Mittell 01473 831474

www.btinternet.com/~SomershamCSC

SOMERSHAM CARPET BOWLS CLUB

This is the month of the year when we have the least amount of news to report on the carpets bowls front. The winter league has finished and the summer league not yet begun, so for the month in between is a good time for some practice without the usual pressures of a match. This will hopefully keep us in reasonable form until the start of the new fixtures beginning in early May.

Finishing up around halfway - which ever way you look at it - up or down the Winter League (4th) suggests that some practice may hopefully help us achieve greater consistency and improve on results when it comes to matches.

We did have two in-club competitions in the month of April … the Fred Johnson Cup (a singles competition which – after a well fought out final - was won by Bell Deaves) and the John and Rosemary Shield (a pairs competition won by husband and wife team - Eleanor and Bill King). The pairings for the Shield are picked at random – names out of the hat, and it was quite coincidental that Eleanor and Bill chose each other’s names. Showing consistent form and playing good games they overcame all opposition and ran out worthy winners

The Summer League gives the clubs a change of opponents, new faces to see and friends to bowl against; and everyone are therefore looking forward to the start of the new season.

The format for the teams in the Summer League has been varied this year with triples being bowled instead of the former two teams of fours and two teams of pairs. If this arrangement is successful then it may be used again in future leagues.

Flowton Church News

For the Flower Festival Weekend, June 16/18, Rebecca Smeaton has offered to host the secondhand bookstall in the garden of their new home so please get those together and drop them off at the church in plenty of time.
Cakes, jams and pickles will be welcomed by Sue Pearman at Tanga Lodge.

Flowton Flower Festival and Open Gardens Weekend
Friday 16th June 8pm Concert in the church,
Please see other advertisement.
Contact Margaret on 01473 658330

Notes from your Community Police Officer
PC 466 Dave Clark
Hello again,
You may have heard in the press that the local Policing Plan of Suffolk is being changed as part of the Governments Neighbourhood Policing Initiative. In Suffolk this will mean the creation of Safer Neighbourhood teams, which will see Police Officers, Community Support Officers, and Special Constables all working along side staff from other organisations such as District and Borough Councils. Each team will have a remit to solve problems which could range from crime to anti social behaviour etc. A map showing the new districts and neighbourhoods has been drawn up. The map can be viewed at www.suffolk.police.uk, if you have any views on the proposals the Project team would be pleased to receive any comments.

I have received complaints about vehicles parking on the footpaths. Although it is appreciated that, in small roads, by pulling on to the path allows more room for passing vehicles it can often cause problems for elderly pedestrians or mothers with prams. It is an offence to park/obstruct the footpath for which a fixed penalty ticket can be given.
Crimes of note:
Offton – between 13th and 18th of April – another theft of plant equipment from commercial premises
Combs – 16th April – criminal damage to a motor vehicle
If you have any information or would like any advice on police matters I would be more than happy to discuss this with you. I can be contacted at Stowmarket Police station on 01473 613500 or by email david.clark@suffolk.pnn.police.uk As previously Pc Sally Parkes will be my deputy – she can also be contacted on the above telephone number or sally.parkes@suffolk.pnn.police.uk Please remember that there are occasions when I am on rest days for 4 days so if your call is of an urgent nature please ask to speak to an officer on duty.
Thanks very much.

PC 466 Dave Clark

Thank you
PC David Clark
01473 383390 Stowmarket Police Station
01473 613500 Police Headquarters

PC 466 David Clark

To go to the Suffolk Police web site please click here

To go to the Neighbourhood Watch site of Suffolk Police click here

Offton Church News

The Annual Parochial Church Meeting was held on April 24th when the Church warden and PCC members were elected. At this meeting the accounts for the year 2005 were presented and approved.
Ian Dickson was elected to serve again as churchwarden.
The following were elected onto the PCC: Mike Bolton, Paul Chapman, Anne Chapman, Josie Irons, Elaine Martin, Lucy Vignoles.

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Congratulations to Helen Decker (daughter of Steve & Elaine Martin) who ran in this year's London Marathon. From the EADT (April 25th)
“ Helen Decker, of Ipswich Jaffa, was on the elite women's start and she confirmed her terrific recent form with a scintillating 2 hours 56 minutes 52 seconds. Decker not only set a massive personal best but she also rewrote the Jaffa club record books by smashing Sarah Barrett's old landmark of 3.06.57."
Well done Helen.

Dates in September to note in your diary!

September 8th Supper in Church
September 9th SHCT Cycle Ride 10 am - 6 pm
September 10th Harvest Festival at 5 pm
September 30th Whist Drive at 7.30 pm.

Keeping Offton Church Going

I wonder if there are some readers of our magazine who could help us to sustain and maintain this beautiful building so that we can be sure that it will be possible to keep the church open and in use for future generations?

Offton Church is now costing over £200 per week to run. That may seem an awful lot to some but it includes our share of the priest's salary and expenses, the insurance to cover the building, heating, lighting and water. This amounts to over £10,000 per year and does not include any upkeep of the building.

Most of our finance has to come from our own parishioners in Offton. Some of you are most generous already in what you give and this is much appreciated, but we do need more financial help on a regular basis.

If you feel that you are able to help by giving to our church, either regularly or just occasionally, please contact me. If you would prefer your gift to be used specifically towards maintaining the building this would be done.

At St Mary's Church we have a Gift Aid Scheme whereby, as you know, for every pound given we can claim 28 pence back from the Inland Revenue.

The PCC sincerely thank all who have supported our church over many years and I can only ask you to please help us to keep Offton Church going.
I have been treasurer for quite a lot of years and have watched costs rise dramatically and that is why I am writing this letter now. Would you please consider if you could commence or increase your giving. Either would be gratefully received.

Paul Chapman (Treasurer Offton PCC)
01449 721181 Broadoaks IP6 8HJ

OFFTON FETE & FLOWER FESTIVAL JUNE 10th & 11th
See full page advertisement for full details

We would greatly appreciate your help with items for these stalls:
Cakes - contact Hilary Crick (658817)
or Alison Rumsey (658591)
Plants - Janet Crickmore (658547)
or Hilary Derriman (657431)
Tombola - Ted Sampson (658634)
Bric a brac & books - Janet Dickson (658637)
Raffle - Paul Chapman (01449 721181)
Craft Table - Peta Whiting (01449 677766)

Or phone Ian and Janet Dickson (658637) who will help!

The weekend will finish with a service

SONGS OF PRAISE in church on Sunday at 6.30 pm

Please let either Ian or Paul know if
you have a hymn that you wish to be included.
Tel: 658637 or 01449 721181

WILLISHAM CHURCH NOTES
At the time of writing the Evening Walk has not yet taken place, so the report will not appear until the July issue of The Link.

Church Fete
See poster for full details.

Quiz
A quiz sheet is currently being prepared on behalf of Willisham Church. This will be available from members of the pcc, so do please ask for a copy and set to work on answering the questions and at the same time supporting the church.

Future Dates for your diary
Songs of Praise – 10th September – Harvest and Gift Weekend – 7th/8th October – Bonfire Evening – 3rd November

Willisham Churchyard
Visitors to our church frequently compliment us on the state of our churchyard. We would like to thank Rod Holder and the many other people who work so hard during the year, keeping the grass cut and the graves tended.

We also thank the small band of people who arrange the flowers and clean the church during the year. If anyone else would be willing to join the team, do please contact Frances Gilson on 01473 658387

CHURCH FLOWER AND CLEANING ROTA

Somersham
June 4, 11 Frances Southgate
June 18, 25 Angie Osbourne
July 2 Pat Woolhouse

June Cleaning – Team C

Flowton
June 4, 11 Mrs. Carter
June 18, 25 Flower Festival
All help
July 2 Mrs. Ward

June Cleaning – Mrs. S. & Miss A. Pearman

Offton
June 4, 11 Mrs. Julie Spurling
June 18, 25 Mrs. Lois Seddon
July 2 Mrs. Janet Crickmore

June Cleaning – Mrs. Carol Langford

Willisham
June 4, Mrs. Hodson
June 11, 18 Mrs. Gilson
June 25 Mrs. Southall
July 2 Mrs. Southall

June Cleaning – as flowers

CHURCH SERVICES in our 8 linked parishes

If you think there may be a mistake in the rota please contact your Churchwarden.

June 4th Pentecost

June 11th Trinity Sunday

June 18th 1st Sunday after Trinity

June 25th 2nd Sunday after Trinity

Probable services for July 2nd 3rd Sunday after Trinity

From the Parish Registers : -
FUNERAL Joan Victoria Dodd, aged 85 years,at Ipswich Crematorium on 24 April 2006. Re-united with her late husband Victor, her ashes will be laid to rest in Somersham churchyard. We extend our sympathies to her twin sons and their families

Somersham Baptist Church

Praise on the Playing field Sunday June 11th at 11.30am followed by BBQ lunch.

We are looking forward to fine weather again as we offer praise in the open air. Last year we appreciated the extra company as over 60 people gathered for this event. We’ve ordered more burgers and hope you will come along.

Regular Sunday Morning Programme (You are welcome to join us for all or part of the morning).
10.00-10.30 Prayer Meeting
10.45-11.15 Bible Study (Communion 1st Sunday)
11.30-12.00 Worship
12.00-12.30 Sermon

Next Month; Sunday 2nd July Church Away day at Wetheringsett Manor contact Mark for further details.

Other Meetings
Children and Young People (During term time);
Wednesday Club 6.30-7.30pm for primary school children,
14+ Friday’s 8.00-9.30pm Year 9 upwards.
Meetings for Ladies;
Women’s Fellowship 2.30pm 9th June.
Friends and Neighbours 19th June 7.45pm Diamonds: a girl’s best friend? Talk by Manager of Hinds Jewellers. You are very welcome to join us!

All events are held at the Baptist Chapel, Chapel Lane, Somersham.
Contacts: Mark Newcombe (Pastor) 01473 831940. Mobile 07930 543583. mark.newcombe@btinternet.com
Edwin Mayhew 01473 658100