Fairlight

MOPPs today and next Friday: Today, Friday, May 5, there will be Tai Chi with Sarah Kimber, as well as Nicola’s Age UK toenail cutting. Lunch today will consist of steak and mushroom pie, followed by fruit crumble and custard. Next Friday, May 12 it’s welcome to old friend Keith Osbourne with his Music for Health, with lunch that day being baked salmon with Hollandaise sauce and fruit cheesecake and cream for afters.

Having enjoyed Robert Pasterfield’s monthly newsletters when he was the group’s co-ordinator, now that Carolyn Smyth has taken over from him, you can enjoy, in their turn, her newsletters. They’re there, in full, on the MOPPs website.

Jumble at Pett Methodist Chapel: There’s a Jumble Sale at the Chapel in Pett, and it’s tomorrow, Saturday, May 6 from 10 am to 12 noon. Give them a look – they may have just what you’re looking for!

The Wine and Social Club: The Club’s May meeting is on Monday next, May 8 starting at 7.30 pm, and it’s a Race Night – which are always popular.

Fairlight Parish Assembly: This year’s Parish Assembly, which will include an announcement of this year’s recipient of the John Lutman Award for service to the Community, is next Friday, May 12. The proceedings, in the village hall, commence at 7.30 pm.

Christian Aid time is here again!: As a whole village, we can be proud of the annual support we give to each Christian Aid campaign. The House to house collection starts shortly, and before that there is a Coffee Morning coming up at St Peter’s on Saturday next, May 13 from 10 am to 12 noon

It’s Open Day at the Bowls Club: On Saturday, May 13 2.30 pm everyone with any interest at all in bowling, whether in the expert or novice category, is invited to go along to the Bowls Club, off Commanders Walk and adjacent to Wood Field Rec. to have a go, and to see the Club’s fantastic facilities.

Lower Waites Lane Association: The Association is having its AGM on Sunday, May 14 at 2 pm in the village hall. Everybody who lives on the lane or in any of the roads off it is invited to attend, and all are reminded that their subs are now due!

Who’s for walkies?: Already popular are the fortnightly Walking for Health sessions, which start from the village hall at 10.30 am on specifies Mondays. The next schedules event is on Monday, May 15.

The Tuesday Ladies Club: The ladies meet on Tuesday, May 16 in the village hall starting at 2.15 pm, when they will be entertained by the excellent Judith Kinnison Bourke who this time will be telling of her Oxford Canal Family. Don’t forget that visitors, including menfolk, are welcome for a mere £2.

Coffee Morning for the British Legion: Fancy a mid-week coffee? Or tea, cakes and some music while you sip and nibble? Than the Royal British Legion’s Coffee Morning, at the Fairlight Lodge Hotel from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm on Thursday, May 18, will be just the place for you and yours. Raising funds for the Legion, it’s £5 for adults, and £2.50 for the over fives – and they’ll find masses of space to have a run round. Five years old and under go free. More details? They can be obtained from Margaret Pulfer on 814866

The Fairlight Art Club’s annual Art Show: It’s coming along in May as usual, but this year it will be following a different format, being held over two days in the village hall. On the Saturday of the Show, which is May 20, it will include the wine and cheese you all expect, running from 6 to 9 pm, enabling you to enjoy supper and a glassful while you browse and purchase. Tickets are on sale to the Post Office at £4 each. If you leave it, it’ll cost you £5 on the door on the night. As usual we will have our wine and Cheese evening on Saturday 20 May, 6pm to 9pm where you can browse and/or buy whilst enjoying a glass of wine and a supper. The tickets are now on sale at the Post Office and Stores £4 in advance or £5 on the door. You can also book by calling 814178. The ticket price includes a complimentary drink and supper. On Day 2 on the Sunday, May 21, the show will be open from 10.30 am to 4 pm, with free entry and with tea and coffee on offer. Any purchases may be taken away at the time of buying and will be replaced with other pictures, so you could see a significantly different show on the Sunday if you attend both days!

The Residents Association AGM: This coming up towards the end of the month – actually on Wednesday, May 24 at 7.30 pm in the village hall. All are cordially invited to attend, though the organisers point out, reasonably, that only members may participate in any voting.

The Playgroup: An invaluable facility within the village, the Playgroup is currently running smoothly into the summer months, with more outdoor fun sessions for the youngsters. Numbers at present are more than adequate, without being excessive, though it is ominous that several will be moving up to new schools at the start of the new academic year. If you are the parents or grandparents of little ‘uns who are ready, agewise, for a playgroup activity from the autumn, have a word with the playgroup organisers as soon as possible and secure a place or places. You won’t regret it!

Bid for Rother cash: Applications are now being accepted for the first round of funding from this year’s Rother District Council community grants scheme. Grants of up to £30,000 from a total funding pot of £130,000 are available to help organisations provide community facilities, buy equipment or host local events. Last year, almost £60,000 was awarded, including £22,000 for improvements to Bexhill Sailing Club, £3,000 for a new play space at Netherfield Pre-School and £500 for a website to encourage people to use Camber Memorial Hall.

Organisations hoping to benefit must show evidence of support from the local community, and must also have the support of their local ward councillor, who will also be able to advise them on submitting their application. The deadline for applications is Saturday, July 15 2017.

The scheme offers small grants of up to £500, medium-sized grants of up to £5,000 and larger grants of up to £30,000 for projects with long-term viability, for which applicants must show details of how ongoing costs will be met. The maximum grant is limited to 50 per cent of the total cost of the project.

The council’s grants panel will meet in August to discuss the round one applications and present recommendations to cabinet, which will make a final decision on successful grants in September.

A second round of applications for community grant funding will open later in the year.

More information is available online at rother.gov.uk. Our local ward councillors are Roger Bird and Chris Saint, whose details can be found on the Fairlight Community website at fairlight.org.uk

Parish Council meeting: There is little to report from the April meeting, which was short, calm and dealt with all the day-to-day matters that arose. It is as if the Council is taking it easier, justifiably, after the major issues of the last few years, like stage III of the berm, with its money raising necessities, the community shop, Knowle Wood, twitten questions and so on. Only five members of the public attended the meeting.

Potholes: A marked improvement in Waites Lane and a few bits of Battery Hill, but big holes are still left next to the ones they’ve just filled. One repair out of several on the Hysted – Pineridge stretch, and a pittance paid to potholes in Martineau Lane. That last section on the south side of Fairlight Road before Martineau Lane now has, not gutters but deep gullies. The surface of Battery Hill continues to be based on a template of corrugated iron, laid transversely across the road.

It must be Summer Time: Right at the end of April, Broadway was treated to the first sighting of a rarely-spotted Belgian coach, a massive visitor more usually and frequently seen at the height of summer. The smooth approach was followed by a patient reversal, accompanied by some faint and frantic drumming, which may have been due to a badly programmed TomTom.

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