The Link Magazine

Congratulations to:
Peter Carter and Jacqueline Smith who married at Flowton on 22nd September and are now living at Cedars Park, Stowmarket.  

We wish them all many happy years together

Farewell to:
Colin Smith of Springfield Road, Somersham, who died on September 19th, aged 67 years. His funeral took place on October 1st in Somersham Cchurch, followed by burial in the churchyard. Our thoughts are with Linda, her children and grandchildren.

May he rest in peace

************************************************
Sunday November 3rd at 3.00pm
Our Annual Service for the Bereaved
will be held in Great Bricett ChurchThe Preacher will be the Reverend Barbara Stanton, Priest-in-charge of Bildeston with Wattisham and Lindsay, Whatfield with Semer, Nedging and Naughton.

Invitations have been sent to relatives of anyone whose funeral has taken place from our 8 parishes during the last 2 years, but all are welcome to attend and if you wish your loved one, whenever they died, to be remembered by name please contact:

Revd. Linden Fletcher on 01473 657768,
Or Michael Hodgson on 01449 720365,
or Mary Carter on 01473 658522

SOMERSHAM VILLAGE HALL
All booking enquiries:
Mrs Hilary Bridger - 01473 831552

Flowton Church News

Tuesday November 6th is the date for the half-yearly Parish Meeting in the Church Vestry – all welcome.

CHURCH SERVICES in our 8 linked parishes

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

Please contact a Churchwarden if you think that there is a mistake in the listing. Thank you.

4th November 22nd Sunday after Trinity

11th November 23rd Sunday after Trinity

18th November 24th Sunday after Trinity

25th November Last Sunday after Trinity

OFFTON AND WILLISHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Council at its next meeting on November 12th , and thereafter, will include on the Agenda an item "Public Participation Session", giving an opportunity for any members of the public to address the meeting on business items included on the agenda

Having been kindly allocated a piece of ground by Mr Jonn Hitchcock, a seat has been placed near to Tye Farm.  The Council is grateful to County Councillor Julia Truelove for a grant of money towards its cost and to Councillors Keith Earl and Andrew Cox for installing it.
The seat at Flint Cottage Offton has been repaired and is now safe to use

The next Council meetings are on November 12th and January14th
Pip Sands   Parish Clerk
Tel 01449 721173

SOMERSHAM CARPET BOWLS CLUB

With the new season started and only four weeks of the new Winter league under our belts, there is unfortunately - due to unexpected fixture cancellations and therefore beyond our control - not a lot of bowls news to report for the month of September.
The first two matches for league play against Elmsett and Tattingstone were both postponed, and are re-scheduled to be played later in the season.

Consequently our first foray into competitive bowling was straight into home and away leg Cup matches against Martlesham who were always going to be tough opposition as they usually play in the top division. Hopes of causing an upset were soon dashed: in the home leg of the encounter Somersham were without some regular bowlers and although Somersham showed valiant effort, the visitors ran out winners by 14 shots and took the win.

Hoping to find some improvement for the return match it was off to Martlesham a few days later to complete the away leg. Whilst coming to grips with their mats from an early stage, and two of the fours pushing their games to a close finish, it proved again to be the home team showing the better form and Martlesham ran out very worthy winners.

The overall result in their favour sees them going through to the next round of the Cup to play Barking … and we wish them well.

With a more regular number of league matches due to be played over the next few weeks, the Club look forward achieving good and consistent results which we hope to report on – success or otherwise -in the next edition of the Link.

Somersham Baptist Church

180th Anniversary. To celebrate the founding of the Church and the Lords kindness to us through the years, on Sunday evening 4th November at 7.00pm we have a buffet followed by a presentation on the historical background, origins and life of the church by historian Paul Davies. Again do please join us.

Remembrance Day Service 10.45am Sunday November11th. Again we join with the Parish Church at St Mary’s to mark the sacrifices made in armed conflict and acknowledge the mercy of God towards us a nation. Our 10.00am prayer meeting will be held at 1 Church Close.

Regular Sunday Morning Programme (You are welcome to join us for all or part of the morning).
10.00-10.30 Prayer Meeting (11th November at 1 Church Close)
10.45-11.15 Bible Study (Communion 1st Sunday)
11.30-12.00 Worship
12.00-12.30 Sermon

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 Friday 9th November.
Contact Mark if you need transport.
Friends and Neighbours 7.45pm 19th November, ‘Green wellies and manure’ with Christine Hart.

All events are held at the Baptist Chapel, Chapel Lane, Somersham IP84 QE, and Transport is always available.

Safer Neighbourhoods

Mid Suffolk South Team
Mid Suffolk District Council Offices,
131 High Street Needham Market
Suffolk IP6 8DL
Tel: 01449 724997
http://www.onesuffolk.co.uk/safersuffolk

Hello again ,
Crimes of interest
OFFTON
13 th September – damage was caused to play equipment by driving a vehicle through a fence

Protect it, Register it campaign
Suffolk Police are joining forces with online property database Immobilise to help keep property safe and reunite stolen items with their rightful owners across the county.
Many items of identifiable property are either lost or stolen each year. By taking the time to register property on the Immobilise database, people can take a positive step towards reducing the crime, as their property would be identifiable to all law enforcement agencies across the country. This in turn will help the police reunite property to their lawful owners and will also help to catch criminals.
Almost any possession with a serial number can be registered for free, including:
* Mobile phones
* Ipods, other MP3 players and games consoles
* Laptops, computers and PDAs
* Satellite navigation and in-car equipment
* Bicycles
Watches, jewellery, art and antiques can also be registered for a small fee. Users who upgrade can also add photos and certificates of ownership to their account.

Inspector Ben Cook, Suffolk Constabulary’s Crime Reduction Officer says: "Many items of property we recover from criminals are not restored to their rightful owners, as without information on serial numbers or property marking we do not know who they belong to. We will now be routinely checking the Immobilise database, which will give us an additional method for locating the owners of property.

"Spending five minutes registering details of your valued possessions on immobilise.com means your details are instantly available to us and all other forces across the country. If an item is stolen you can update your record to tell us, so if we or any other force find your MP3 player, sat nav or bike, we have proof it belongs to you, not the offender. With the theft of such items becoming increasingly common, this database is a valuable tool to hit back at these criminals and bring them to justice.

"The Immobilise data base can also be used before purchasing second hand electrical items. By checking the CheckMend facility on the website before buying, it is possible to identify a stolen item. My message is to never buy any item that has not got its serial number displayed, as I can not think of any reason why they would need to be removed legitimately."

Suffolk Police have produced a leaflet to help people gather information on their property to add to the database. These are being handed out at schools, colleges and businesses. When people register on www.immobilise.com database they also get the chance to win one silver 4GB iPod Nano per week for the next ten weeks, thanks to support from Bennetts Electrical and the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit.
To enter the draw and a chance to win one of ten iPods go on the www.immobilise.com website and register your identifiable property; ensure you tick ‘Suffolk Police’ when you get to the section ‘where did you hear about immobilise?’

If you have any information or would like any advice on police matters PCSO 3155 Sian Uttley or myself would be more than happy to discuss this with you Our contact telephone number is 01449 724997

Our e mail addresses are sian.uttley@suffolk.pnn.police.uk or
david.clark@suffolk.pnn.police.uk

Please remember that there are occasions when we on rest days for 4 days so if your call is of an urgent nature please ask to speak to any officer on duty.

Thanks very much PC 466 Dave Clark

Mid Suffolk South Safer Neighbourhood Team

F.O.S.S.

The Friends Of Somersham School would like to begin this article by wishing you all a “Happy New Academic Year”. It does not seem possible that we are already half a term into the new school year. We would like to welcome the new children to our school and hope that those children that left in July enjoyed their Christmas Leavers Disco and have now settled in well at their new schools. Our final profit figure for our fete at the end of June ended up being just short of £1200 so we were all delighted with this amount.

In Mid-October we were holding our AGM at the school and we will report in next months Link magazine the appointments and news arising from this meeting.

We are already well on our way to planning some events for 2007/08. The school fete has already been discussed, but themes and dates will be confirmed at a later date. We are having a Body Shop Party on the evening of Wednesday 14th November in the school hall starting at 7.30 p.m. This is usually a really nice evening and an opportunity to do some early Christmas shopping without having to travel into town! We charge an entry fee of £1.50 which includes a glass of wine or juice and some nibbles. We usually have a raffle and a make up demonstration and you also have the opportunity to try some of the products. Even if you do not want to buy any products, it is a nice evening out. We hope some of you will come along and join us!

On Saturday 17th November from 10a.m – 1 p.m. our usual photographer Hazel from Tempest will be coming along to the school to do some Christmas photographs. Why don’t you take this opportunity to have an up to date family photograph taken or just some nice casual photographs of the children, babies or individuals. We have been extremely pleased with the photographs taken in previous years. Just come along between the above times and we will get your photographs taken as soon as possible. You can bring the family pet along too! The photographs are usually returned and delivered within 2-3 weeks.

We will also be selling gifts that the children can buy with their pocket money for Mum and Dad. Second hand books and some nearly new items will also be for sale and of course there will be refreshments available. Between 10a.m and 12p.m. there will also be a workshop for children to have a go at making some hand made Christmas Cards.

Please can we ask you all to continue to collect any vouchers that become available at the local supermarkets and send them into the school. These are usually handed out at Tescos and Sainsburys. We also collect the Nestle Box Tops and recycle old mobile phones and toner/ink cartridges. The income generated from the recycling and the tokens collected are much appreciated at the school.

Somersham Church Notes

Please note that on 11th November Remembrance Sunday the service will start at 10.45 am. We are pleased that the Baptist Church will once again be joining us.

The Christmas Bazaar will be held on Saturday 1st December from 2 till 4 pm. There will be all the usual stalls, games and attractions.

At the time of going to the printers, the Folk Evening has yet to happen, but a special thank you to the four local bands who have been rehearsing for the evening. A full report will be in the next Link.

Harvest Festival gifts were once again taken to the Women’s Refuge, where they are greatly appreciated. Thank you to all who brought gifts, and especially to the school children, who came in for their Harvest service on the Monday.

If you bring your dog into the churchyard please keep it on a lead and clear up any mess it may leave!

Thank you

Somersham & District Community Association

Despite the terrible weather during the summer nearly all the hoped-for improvements to the Playing Field have been completed. The heavy rain played havoc with the timing for completing the tennis courts, the siting of the extra storage container, and work on the new sports pitch. However the container is in place and awaits a couple of coats of green paint to help it blend in with the surroundings; the tennis club hut could well do with the same treatment. The tennis courts are fully equipped and proving popular, although access is a bit tricky while the Sports Pitch is being prepared. A junior coach has been helping out and the Sports Development Officer for MSDC and the Lawn Tennis Association held an event in October.

The new Sports Pitch was ploughed and rolled and a few stalwarts have been on stone picking duty – they deserve a medal; however mechanical stone removal will still have to take place. All the rubbish has been removed. The lighting for the arena is now complete and the area is presently lit from 6pm to 9pm. The completion of the lighting will enable the Association to claim the balance of the funding from Foundation S&A. The cycle speedway circuit has been banked and the British Qualifier and the East Anglia Grand Prix rounded off the season. The new footbridge is in place and the Crispin memorial plaque installed. Photographs of the finished bridge have been sent to the Crispin family who sent their thanks and asked to be remembered to any who knew them. As well as all the improvements outside, the damage caused by the robbery at the Pavilion has been put right and a new TV set installed.

Somersham should be proud of and grateful to all those who have worked so hard to get the Playing Field Project this far, from the fund-raisers to the volunteers who do much of the work needed, as well as the local professionals who give their time and advice free of charge. The facilities now offered would not be available without them. Naming them will no doubt bring blushes but you will know who you are – a big thank you for past help and that still to come.

Just because most of the improvements are either complete or very nearly so does not mean the Committee can sit back and enjoy the fruits of many years labour. Ongoing costs for maintenance, insurance, grass cutting, etc. will all have to be paid for. No grants are available for running costs. We need lots of people to hire the pavilion for parties and meetings, and to make full use of the Sports & Social Club. It would also be great if someone out there came forward with some new ideas for raising money. Think about it when you are using the facilities and contact Mike Shelmerdine if you have any good ideas.
(Tel- 01473 831661 or Mike@sable86.freeserve.co.uk).

Nicky Heming

Somersham Parish Council
Forthcoming Parish Council Meetings
Date Time Venue

Wednesday 7th November 2007 7.30pm Committee Room, Village Hall
Wednesday 5th December 2007 7.30pm Committee Room, Village Hall

Housing Needs Survey
From time to time residents voice their concern to councillors at the lack of affordable housing in Somersham and how their young families will need to move away to get on the property ladder. Last year the parish council asked for volunteers to work with the council to produce a questionnaire to ascertain the needs of the community regarding affordable housing. Very disappointedly no responses were received. In view of the comments still being expressed by some residents, the council is again looking at the feasibility of conducting a housing needs survey in Somersham. All that is needed is a small working party from the community to work with the Rural Housing Enabler in compiling a questionnaire pertinent to our village. The parish council needs your input in moving forward with affordable housing provision which could enable your family to remain in the village. Please contact any one of the councillors, or the Clerk, if you can spare just a few hours to enable us to get on the first rung of our ladder.

Financial help for Local Organisations
If you are a local organisation and are planning a local project for the future, the parish council may be able to help towards the cost. Any requests for financial support during the year 2008/9 should be made by the end of November at the latest, so they can be considered by the parish council during its budget deliberations. Please write to the Clerk giving details of your organisation and the project you are considering.

Council Vacancy
Somersham Parish Council has one vacant seat and is looking to co-opt another member to the council. These are changing times for parish councils with the likelihood that principal authorities will devolve more powers to parish councils over the next few years. If you would like to be a part of these exciting times in grass roots democracy and help influence the way in which Somersham develops, further information on joining the parish council can be obtained by contacting the chairman, Richard Browne on 831321, the Clerk, or any of the other councillors.

Snoasis
The over-run of the Public Inquiry looking at the Snoasis planning applications resulted in a deficit in the expenditure of the Snoasis Community Alliance which has had to turn to its members for more financial support. Somersham Parish Council agreed to make a further contribution of £750 towards these additional costs. The decision of the Planning Inspector is expected in January 2008.

Free Fire Safety Checks
Suffolk Fire and Rescue is offering free home fire safety checks to people who have a carer. A Fire Officer will visit the person’s home to assess the risks. If you have, or know anyone who has, a carer, please telephone Ipswich 260586 to arrange your free home fire safety check.

Patient and Public Forum Recruitment
The parish council has been contacted by the Commission of Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) which is seeking volunteers for forums in this area. Forums are made up from groups of volunteers who have an interest in health and the way that local services are delivered. Forum members come from a broad variety of backgrounds and have a range of experiences and skills. Further details are available from Aneka Watts, Recruitment and Membership Officer, CPPIH. Tel: 0121 222 4419, or email aneka.watts@cppih.org

Somersham Hedgerow Survey
The parish council is very grateful to Richard Toone and his team who have worked so hard over the past 2 years in successfully completing the Somersham Hedgerow Survey. Following the loss of the previous team, the parish council struggled to find someone else to take on this task. Thankfully Richard came forward and has done an excellent job in surveying and cataloguing the hedgerows in the parish. Hopefully this will help protect them for many generations to come.

Audit of Accounts 2006/7
The auditors have now completed the audit of the parish council’s accounts for the financial year 2006/7 and had no concerns in the way the council is conducting its finances. Copies of the auditor’s report are on the noticeboards.

Finally
Members of the parish council are keen to improve the community for all, but do need to know what hopes and aspirations residents have. Please pass on your suggestions, ideas or opinions to any councillor if there is anything you feel could be improved or changed for the benefit of the community.

Janet Clarke Tel. No. 01473 830398
Clerk to the Council E-mail: janetinclaydon@aol.com

Somersham Primary School
Time is marching on and soon there will be preparations for Christmas – a rather scary thought. All the pupils are working hard and enjoying the new challenges of the Autumn term.

Class 1 (years 5 & 6) are studying Queen Victoria and investigating how children lived during Victorian times. They are looking forward to their Victorian Day at school; the opportunity to dress up and experience Victorian school life and rules. Just a little bit different from today - and with no computers!

All of Class 1 are lucky enough to be learning the clarinet this year with a visiting tutor, alongside Miss Knowles. Mrs Derry is teaching Class 2 (years 3 & 4) the recorder too, so hopefully we can look forward to the children showing off their newfound talents soon – maybe performing at Christmas? Class 2 have also been studying Henry VIII and the children seem to like the more gruesome aspects of this topic!!

The current topic in Class 3 (Reception & years 1 & 2) is ‘Ourselves’ and pupils have been using the idea of aliens visiting as a stimulus. As part of this Somersham Space Odyssey, maps for aliens have been drawn, pictures painted and farewell cards made.

We are very fortunate that Rebecca Smeaton, a parent Governor has recently launched a French Film Club at the school. In the Summer term the children watched Etre et Avoir, ‘to be and to have’, a film set in a very small school in rural France and shown in French with English subtitles. The brioche in the interval proved to be just as exciting, although we do wonder what other French delicacies the children may be sampling ahead?! In October the children watched Red Rackham’s Treasure, one of Hergé’s Adventures of Tintin. Both classes 1 and 2 are learning French and enjoy the opportunities to embrace all aspects of French culture and further their knowledge.

The whole school continues to participate in ‘Activate’ for ten minutes at the beginning of each morning and afternoon session. Activate is a series of ‘brain gym’ exercises which progress week by week. The children enjoy these fun sessions and they have a positive effect on their schooling – as well as keeping the teachers fit too!

Members of Class 1 have been training at the start of the Autumn term to be ‘play leaders’, to encourage the rest of the school to play games during their lunch time break. Somersham school also continues to provide lots of opportunities to play sports via links with Premier Sport and the South Suffolk School Sports Partnership – either in school time or as an after school club. This term hockey, tag rugby and gymnastics are being taught along with the very popular, 4 week Judo club.

If you would like to visit our school or obtain further information, please contact Mrs Maguire, school Secretary on: 01473 831251.

OFFTON CHURCH NEWS – NOVEMBER 2007

Recent Events

Harvest Festival – This was held on 9 September and enjoyed by a fair sized congregation. Our thanks go to all who decorated the church so beautifully and for the gifts provided. All gifts were given to the Salvation Army at Stowmarket for distribution.

Whist Drive – This annual event was held in the village hall on 29 September, and was once again led by John Minns. £140 was raised for church funds. Our thanks go to Anne and others for providing the refreshments, and of course to John Minns for the way he kept the evening flowing. Once again, John said that this would be his last Whist Drive, but with so many people enjoying his humour and abilities ……well …..who knows next year!

Future Events

The Supper in Church event that had been scheduled for 6 October unfortunately had to be postponed. The new date is not available as this article is being written to meet publication time scales; however, it may be in November. Anyone interested in attending should contact Mike Bolton on the number below. Tickets cost £10 and are limited to only 20. The ticket price covers a 3-course meal plus a first glass of wine. There will be a raffle to swell the coffers. The church heating will be on, the church interior will be beautifully lit, and the emphasis will be on good conversation and happy friendship.

Our annual Autumn/Winter Quiz will be held possibly in the New Year in the village hall. Although the entry cost will include tea and coffee in the interval, participants are encouraged to bring their own food and drink, and to lay a table to make a full evening of the event. Teams of 6 are ideal, but if you wish to come on your own, you should be able to make up teams with other people. This is a great ‘fun’ evening, and apart from prizes for the winners, there will also be a raffle. Further details including the date will appear in a future Link magazine.

Church services this month are listed on the inside cover of this magazine. You may like to note in your diary that the Christmas Service at Offton will be held on Sunday 16 December at 1000 hrs.

Recruiting

Offton PCC still has room for more willing members. If you would like to take part in this activity, or have any questions regarding what is involved, please call one of the following:
Ian Dickson Tel: 01473 658637
Paul and Anne Chapman Tel: 01449 721181
Mike Bolton Tel: 01473 658304
Peta Whiting Tel: 01449 677766

Church Fact File

Over recent months in this column, children have been invited to make a date link between events taught in their history lessons at school with dates published here about the development of Offton Church over the past 900 years or so. As no response has been received so far, the writer assumes that periods around the 14th century are too early for modern history students. So here is something much more up to date to challenge the youngsters.

In 1858, a certain Rev. John Thompson started his ministry at Offton where he remained as parish priest for the following 45 years. Shortly after arriving, his young daughter, Helen, died. In her memory, Rev Thompson had a new, beautiful, four-light East window made in stained glass by Mr John Hardman. The window illustrates Jesus blessing the children, among whom Helen is said to feature. Rev Thompson and his family generously bore all the costs. This window is worth a visit and must to viewed from inside the church with the light shining through to reveal all its glory.

So come on children: in memory of young Helen Thompson, what historical events took place in or around 1858? Something must have happened somewhere in the world that year. Answers to Mike Bolton please.

Barking Pre-school
(Registered Charity 1020882)

The children have been enjoying seeing some more real life animals. We have had a visit from Zoolab where Peter bought in some mini-beasts and talked to the children all about them. The children (and parents) were able to ask questions, touch and even hold a giant snail, millipede, a hissing cockroach and even a snake. The children were very brave in wanting to hold them although not all of the adults were quite so keen!

The children meet every morning at 9.30 until 12 noon during term time. The pre-school is run by a committed and enthusiastic team of qualified Early Years Practioners, who work hard to organise a wide variety of fun and educational activities including crafts, cooking, music, story telling and construction. The group is well equipped with many new toys and books, and has a spacious area within which to play. There is also a secure garden, behind the hall, which is used when the weather allows.

We currently have some spaces in our 2½ to 3 age range and a number of funded spaces for 3 and 4 year olds. Children are able to stay with us until they are ready to join mainstream education in the reception year and we are happy to work with any school although the majority of children go to either Ringshall or Somersham Primary School.

The continued success of Barking Pre-school relies upon sufficient numbers of children to make it viable. If your child is not yet old enough to start but you would like to know more about the pre-school please contact us to arrange a visit and come and see what we do. With a first child it is often confusing about when they can start pre-school, what happens there and what to expect. We would be happy to chat to anyone to help make this process any easier. If you have or know of any children who would like to attend Barking, either at pre-school age (who could start now) or any younger children (who would like to reserve a place for in the future) then please contact Veronika Pryke (our pre-school leader) on 01473 658368 or Helen Smith on 01473 833285.

Just a reminder about our Christmas Shopping Event being held on 8th November at Barking Village Hall from 7:30pm. Come and spend an enjoyable evening doing some Christmas shopping without all the hustle and bustle of Ipswich town centre. Tickets cost £2.50 and include a drink and some nibbles and can be purchased in advance from Sally (01473 833056) or on the night. Our next event is the Christmas Fayre, which is on Saturday, 1st December between 2 and 4pm. There will be plenty of children’s games and Christmas crafts and of course our grand prize raffle will take place. More details will follow.