Staplecross

Before going home, the children will be shown a short DVD and given a book to take home along with the craft items they have made. Entrance is FREE, with free refreshments for the children, but a small donation will be appreciated from the adults. Please do come & join in.

STAPLECROSS VILLAGE HALL - A huge “THANK YOU” is being sent to all the members of our community - & beyond! - for giving up some of their precious time to come along and help out at our Jumble Sale on Saturday last - (8th)The extra helping hands, made such a difference and really did make the work load lighter. It was really good to see so many answer our call (‘plea’!) for extra help, as spare time is always so precious and in short supply, that giving up some of it to come and help us was proof that ‘Community Spirit’ is still alive & well - & lives on in Ewhurst Parish Community. As a result of this, our 1st fund-raising event, a fantastic amount of 475:00 was raised and this will be added to our coffers for the continuing upgrading and maintenance of our Village Hall.

EWHURST PARISH COUNCIL: PUBLIC CONSULTATION FOR CHILDREN’S PLAY & OUTDOOR GYM EQUIPMENT. Following on from the upgrading and extending of the children’s play equipment and the provision of several pieces of outdoor gym equipment on the Playing Field in Staplecross, last year, the Council are now looking further afield...to the Herdman Playing Field in Ewhurst Green, to be precise. The added play and outdoor gym pieces in Staplecross have proved a great success and it’s a real pleasure to see the children having such fun on them whilst benefitting from being out in the fresh air. As a result of this, Ewhurst Parish Council have arranged a Public Consultancy event to take place at the Herdman Pavilion, Village Street, Ewhurst Green on SATURDAY APRIL 29th. between 10.30am and 1.00pm. Residents from the whole community are being cordially invited to come along and take part in this public consultation. We are asking for your points of view, your preferences and your choices of the various pieces of equipment that are available - via pictures, posters and a video and their suitability and practicality for this area. We shall also be asking you to take part in a small questionnaire to allow us to have some facts and figures to work with. Most importantly, - Please bring along your children and/or grand-children, as their input ( & choices) really DO COUNT as this proposed project is based with them in mind. For ‘grown-ups’ - outdoor gym equipment could save you time, mileage & effort- not forgetting gym fees ! - so come and tell us what you’d like to see here ! Members of the EPC Working Group for this proposal - consisting of Anne Reed; Jacqui Hyett; and Maggie Whitaker will be on hand to hopefully answer any question or query you may have and your opinion and contribution in this matter will be very much appreciated.

HERDMAN JUNIOR CRICKET CLUB: Just the sport to enjoy playing in our present beautiful weather as Cricket coaching for Boys AND Girls will be soon be available for all our young members of our parish. Every Saturday morning, at the Herdman Playing Field, in Ewhurst Green, cricket coaching will be available during the summer months. Anyone interested in taking part in this great sport, should please contact Dave Perkins, on 01580-830469 in the first instance, to register their interest. For all further information please call Dave on above number or check out herdmanassociation.weebly.com

ROTHER RAMBLERS: Long may this glorious weather last ! Regardless of whatever you may be doing, - inside or out, a little bit of warmth & sunshine go a long way to making us all feel better...Also enjoying all types of our unpredictable weather are the members of our local walking group, the Rother Ramblers and again have two more walks for us to enjoy if we see fit to join them. Walk No: 1 is planned for Saturday April 15th and is an 8 mile circular meander around Pevensey Levels. The meeting point is to be at All Saint’s Church, Church Lane, Herstmonceux. OS EXP125. TQ643101. (SatNav BN27 1RN) at 10.00am. Parking will be ‘On Road’ here, so please park prettily and be respectful of residents. Once more a picnic lunch is suggested and your doggy friends can also accompany you. Alison and Perry are to be your ‘walk leaders’ for this trip and you may contact them on 07969-025507 for all further information. Walk No: 2 is arranged for Wednesday 19th April and is an 8.5 circular stroll of Friston Forest and the Seven Sister’s. - always enjoyable whatever the weather. The meeting place for this outing will be the village car park at East Dean. OS EXP123. TV557977. (SatNavBN20 0DR) again at 10.00am Well behaved dogs are welcome and as usual, a picnic lunch is suggested. Frances is to be your ‘walk leader’ for today and you may contact her on 01424-754548 for more details.

STAPLECROSS BOWLS CLUB: Our own local Bowls Club, which has it’s own superb clubhouse and grounds in Northiam Road, -opposite the Playing Field & church - is always happy to welcome potential new members and players. To open their new season the members of this club are holding a ‘Coffee Morning’ on Saturday April 15th.10.30am - in their clubhouse. Do please come along and enjoy a social cup of tea of coffee or soft drink and help swell the coffers of this friendly sports club. Here, as well as enjoying a cuppa & no doubt a cake, this gives you the perfect opportunity to talk to the members about this sport, find out what is involved and perhaps consider having a ‘trial run’ later this month, as later this month, on Friday April 28th.- the club will be holding an evening event for “New & Prospective Members”. Commencing at 6.00pm this always promises an enjoyable and friendly way to try out a new interest. An ‘Opening Bowls Derive’ has also been arranged for Saturday April 22nd. This will take place at their home ground, as previously stated above, on Northiam Road, at 2.15pm for a 2.30pm prompt start. If you are in the vicinity, why not pop along, watch the fun and skill unfold and perhaps get a feel for the game.For all further details of the ‘Coffee Morning’ and other events that are planned please contact either Margaret at: [email protected] - or Brian at [email protected]

STAPLECROSS LUNCHEON CLUB: Once again, the members of this happy and friendly

little Dining Group will be meeting on Wednesday April 19th at 12.30pm. in the Village Hall, Northiam Road, Staplecross. As stated before, new members (of 50 years young and over!) are always warmly welcomed, to help keep this very friendly and happy social group from becoming just another sad village reminder of yet another lost activity. On the menu this month and back by popular demand, is ‘Mince Crumble’ with all the usual trimmings and of course, fresh seasonal vegetables. The dessert to follow, again another firm favourite will be ‘Pineapple Upside-down Pudding’ . Yummy ! -followed by tea or coffee. All this, for the miserly sum of £6:00 per person. If this is not to your taste - or dietary needs - then please let the organisers know, and an alternative meal can be provided for you, so please reserve your place as soon as possible. The monthly menu’s are always very varied, delicious, plentiful, reasonable and freshly cooked and with no clearing up or washing up involved, there’s really no reason for you not to come & be a part of it. -- so no excuses. ‘Rules’ are few & far between, - you have to be ‘of a certain age’,- and promise, whenever possible to attend each month - this avoids unnecessary wastage in food, time, money and energy - so important in this day and age, when economy matters. You don’t even have to live within the parish as many of our valued diners come from outside our villages. Also, you don’t have to have lived in the community for a generation or more, before you are ‘entitled’ to join. This means that if you have recently moved into the parish, in any of our three villages, then this could be just the opportunity you need to make new contacts, colleagues and of course, new friends. So please, just give the two organisers a ring - Sally on 01580~830000 or Dennis on 01580~830816 or Pauline on 01580-830570 for all further details and to make your reservation. Please come along and support us, and you’ll very soon be a highly regarded and much valued member of this lovely, sociable dining group.

CHURCH SERVICES: Church services for the parish of Ewhurst, will commence at St. James the Great, Ewhurst Green on Friday April 14th. Good Friday at 9.30am. This will form part of the Easter services and will include Holy Communion. There will be NO SERVICE today at St. Mark’s church, Staplecross, but another Good Friday Service at St. Giles church, Bodiam, will follow directly after at 11.15 am. This will include Holy Communion. On Sunday April 16th. Easter Day. a service - at 9.30am.which again will include Holy Communion will take place at St. James the Great in Ewhurst, followed by another Easter Sunday Service at St. Giles at 11.15am. If

there is any church matter on which you feel you may need further assistance, especially Baptisms, Weddings and sadly, Funerals, then for the time being, do please get in touch with the appropriate Churchwardens: ~ For all Bodiam matters, please contact Graham Peters - email at [email protected] or telephone number 01580~830203. For all Ewhurst Parish matters please contact Jo Goodwin - email [email protected] or telephone number 01580~830601. Help in some way is always at hand and always so generously given, so do please contact them.

EASTER BANK HOLIDAY WEEK-END. This is the first of our English ‘Bank Holidays’ and is especially enjoyable as we have two days supposedly free from our daily grind and as it consists of a four day week-end break I hope you have fun and much pleasure in enjoying it in the way it suits you.May the weather stay warm, dry and sunny to allow us to enjoy ourselves outdoors, be it in the garden weeding in preparation for the months ahead, hiding Easter eggs for the children to have fun finding, or visiting family or friends to share this long weekend with or at long last, visiting a place or garden of interest, long on your list to discover and explore Enjoying a sport via playing or spectating or just being ‘at home’. The choices are endless - but they are yours to make, so make this a weekend to remember.

PLEASE CONTACT ME: If you are arranging an event in the foreseeable future, --- whatever the nature of the event and however large or small, if you’d like some extra coverage for it, - courtesy of the Observer Newspaper - then please get in touch. If it’s of interest to you, - it’s of interest to us. it’s never too early to send in any of the details and to tell us what you are planning. Many of you will be turning your thoughts to other events in the near future - remember - Spring is now officially here, despite our changeable weather, by the long Easter weekend, so many of you will be planning events for us all to enjoy, so please do contact me, as I’d love to hear from you and to help ‘spread the word’ on your behalf................Thank You.

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