Westfield village voice

This Week:

Tuesday 7.30 pm Prayer group – 59 Heathlands

Wednesday 9.30 am Holy Communion; 7.30 pm Mid-week Study Group – Cockmartins, Westfield Lane.

Prayer Team. At St John’s there are always someone from the prayer team available at the back of the North aisle after the 9.30am service and after the 10.30am Family Service to pray confidentially with anyone who wants someone to pray with them. If you would like someone to pray with you just go and ask.

Wednesday Bible Study continues this coming Wednesday, 25th April, 7.30pm at Howard and Cathy’s home, Cockmartins.  We will be looking at the book of Acts. Come and join us, you will be very welcome.

Caring and Sharing. We support a project in Columbia that helps street children in Medellin. year we are celebrating 30 years of the Caring and Sharing project. There is a special Eucharist at St Mary’s Church in Eastbourne on Saturday 12th May at 10.30a.m. Bishop David Wilcox is the speaker

Church Finances. We continue to work hard to balance the books and thank every member of the congregation for their continued financial support. We are more than aware of the precarious financial climate in which we live, but thank God for the generosity of our congregation.  As always throughout the year it is inevitable that we lose a few regular contributors to parish funds. We remind everyone that even without a Vicar we still have to pay our contribution to the Diocese as well as all the other regular parish expenses. Any increase in regular giving is always welcome and there are ways to increase the funds that we receive without necessarily increasing the amount you give. If you are a UK tax payer then the Gift Aid scheme allows us to claim back the tax on every pound donated to us. For further details please speak to Peter Aubrey or Brian Collins.Advance notice of forthcoming events. Further details will appear in the weekly notices and parish magazine.

May 7th (Bank Holiday Monday) Loaf Project - May Day Cycle Ride from Canterbury to Hastings or for those who prefer, to walk, Join one of the Loaf Walks. A choice of 4, 9 or 18 mile routes exploring country footpaths and beautiful areas between Rye and Hastings. (Please see church notice board for further details).

Westfield Community Choir meets on Wednesdays, from 7.30-9pm in the Community Dining Hall.  New singers are welcome, and can treat their first one as a taster session (£5).  Ring 01424 753684 for more information.

Westfield School News. We returned on Monday 16th April. We are also collecting Sainsburys and Tesco vouchers and are very grateful for any villagers donations. They are welcome to drop into the school office or Richard at the newsagent is happy to collect them for us. If anyone has any spare tractor tyres, our Reception class is looking for a few for their outdoor area for planting. Please can people call the school office before donating just incase we get a huge response.

Westfield Football Club is closing their season with plans underway for their annual ground work & maintenance programme. Should you wish to be involved & are able to offer some help or support please email the Secretary Gill Jordan on [email protected]

The Westfield Hub. Following the sudden closure of the Old Courthouse, the Westfield Community Hub have been invited by landlord Martin Hope to move their venue to The Plough pub in Westfield. They are very grateful to Martin and are delighted to be able to announce that from today, Friday 27th April, this will be our new venue at the usual time from 10:00 - 12:00 noon. Apologies to those people who were planning to go to the quiz at The Old Courthouse which was cancelled. The Hub quiz night has been rescheduled to Sunday, 13th May  at The Plough. They look forward to welcoming you all there.

Westfield Rollerbooting Club meets at Westfield Community Hall every Friday from 4.30-6pm. It costs £1.50 per child and there is a tuck shop available. Very small children younger than about 3 must be accompanied by an adult. Organisers are CRB checked and first aid trained. There are some spare boots available to borrow. Further information is available from Rachel Pritchard 07866 894397.

Westfield Community Hall is now available for hire on Monday evenings from 7.15pm. It also has a Facebook page. Ring 01424 754446 to book the hall.

Westfield resident author Nick Brown continues his guided walks in the area, all carry a charge of £3 per person. All walks are circular and start at 10.30am, and dogs are welcome. Please check his website www.spanglefish.com/1066routes for more detailed information. It is advisable to book in advance by ringing Nick on 07918 907265. Nick’s book ‘The 1066 Country Walk’ is recommended by the 1066 Tourist Board and signed copies are available from him.

Future guided walks include :

Saturday 26th May @ Guestling

Saturday 9th June @ Brede

Wednesday 13th June @ Great Dixter, Northiam

Thursday 21st June @ Battle

Sunday 8th July @ Firle

Wednesday 15th July @ Queens Head, Icklesham

Saturday 28th July @ Bodiam Castle

Sunday 26th August @ Pevensey

Saturday 8th September @ Alfriston

Wednesday 19th September @ Ticehurst/Bewl Water

all of which are featured in the Exploring East Sussex Magazine

Nick is also the organiser of the 1066 Relay. The second staging of the 1066 Relay takes place very soon on Sunday, May 6, with 50 - 60 teams from the South East expected to take part. The 33.25 mile course follows the 1066 Country Walk, starting in the grounds of Pevensey Castle. The route passes such iconic landmarks as Herstmonceux Castle and Battle Abbey, before going through some breathtaking countryside between Westfield, Icklesham and Winchelsea to finish in Rye. The event raised over £1600 for local charities last year.  Nick is looking for volunteers to marshal in the Westfield, Doleham and Icklesham areas; ring him on 07918 907265 or visit the race website: www.spanglefish.com/1066relay.

The Westfield Wildlife website is worth a visit. Go to http://westfieldwildlife.wordpress.com to share wildlife observations. Any wildlife observation whether mammal, bird, insect, or flower may be posted on the website, and photos are particularly welcome. Have you seen a hedgehog recently? Westfield Wildlife is appealing for all hedgehog sightings, including any road casualties, because their numbers have declined so drastically over the last few years

Westfield Golf Fellowship’s search for a local “Bubba” is their next fixture at Chart Hills on April 26, which is full. The results will appear here soon after. After that their next competition is the annual 3 day tour, this year returning to Bournemouth. Again this is full. For more information please contact Nick or [email protected]

Rye and District Lions Club were delighted to make a second donation of £500 to the Oliver Curd Trust. £140 of this was raised by the Lions collecting as part of the Christmas Festival Parade with Father Christmas, and the Lions agreed to increase their donation to the Trust to £500. At the previous year’s Festival, by having a stall in the part-closed High Street, they raised a total of £400. Over the last twelve months Rye lions have raised a total of £14,000 of which 75% was donated to local charities and good causes, 9% to national appeals and the remaining 16% to international appeals such as the tsunami in Japan. The Oliver Curd Trust was set up in January 2008 by Oliver’s parents Richard and Sarah, in memory of their son Oliver. Oliver was diagnosed with a rare bone cancer, a Ewings Sarcoma in April 2006. He completed treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital in May 2007, but sadly lost his long brave fight with the disease in November 2007. The objective and purpose of the charity is to provide fully equipped holiday accommodation to families supporting children and young people in the UK, suffering from childhood cancer and other life threatening illnesses. The Oliver Curd Trust is a charity that seeks to provide holiday memories, happiness and periods of escape for these children and their families during very difficult and trying times. More information about the Trust can be found on their website at www.theolivercurdtrust.co.uk . Rye & District Lions would welcome enquiries from any adult in the area who would like to have fun whilst raising money for those less fortunate who should ring 01797 252921 to find out more about the Lions or visit their website at www.e-clubhouse.org/sites/ryedistrict/ for information. The Lions now have a video; just type in ‘The Lions Story’ on Youtube to find out all about the Lions.

Rye Lions next major fund-raising event is the Annual Rye Raft Race & Fete on Sunday 5th August and any organisation wishing to enter a raft should ring Bob Harvey on 0845 833 2825. Stall places at the Fete are filling fast and stall-holders wishing to reserve a space should contact Reg Emson on 01797 224174.

The Rye and District Association of the National Trust hold a variety of local walks. If you wish to take part in any walk please confirm at least 24hrs before by email: [email protected] or phone: 01797 260637. 

For information and news about Westfield, please see the village website www.westfieldvillage.co.uk.

To send information for the Westfield Village Voice, please email [email protected]

George Sunderland, Heathlands