St Mary’s Church · ingredient which is known to help with skin conditions, digestion, joint pain, immune system, general wellbeing and energy. Packed with vitamins and nutrients

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St Mary’s Church West Chiltington Faithful Hopeful Joyful Prayerful

A Great Start to The New Year

As you all most likely know we are a very fortunate Parish and we are very blessed. On 28 January 2020 we attended the induction of our new Rector The Revd. Stephen Merriman. What a wonderful way to start a new year. Stephen, Beth, Hannah, Joseph, Isobel and Thomas, two dogs and a few guinea pigs moved into the Rectory at the end of January and have now started to settle into a new village, schools and make new friends. So join us in a truly West Chiltington fashion and please give them a warm welcome. We had a wonderful Christmas at St Mary's and do so hope you have visited our beautiful stable that housed, Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, shepherds and kings and some animals. If like us you were amazed by the construction then do join us in thanking Rob Neal-Smith who, designed, made and put the idea into a reality and also to Andrea Carlson-Hedges who painted all the figures. Just to give you a 'heads up' come and check out the Easter story (nearer the time). Our services were very well attended and we had a wonderful Ladies that Boogie concert, produced by Amanda and her superb LTB. A huge thank you must be given to them all. Our carols and nine lessons was so moving, with a wonderful choir and musicians giving up of their time and our heartfelt thanks must go to them all, but especially to Alison Littleboy who organised and developed the extended choir. As always she gave up her time and put so much effort into ensuring our service was one of the best we have had for some time. Well what can we say about the Christingle, we just love doing this service and as always, adored the fact our Church was very full and

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we were able to meet up with many of you that always support this service every year. As is St Mary's tradition we then gave away a gingerbread house to a lucky young person. "SEE YOU ON THE 24th December 2020"! Well we are signing off again, as Revd. Stephen Merriman will be taking the reins of the Rector’s Report from March, so our dear friends, thank you for all the support you give Diane and I , for your love and prayers and for just being you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts and we look forward to seeing you in one of our services.

St Mary’s West Chiltington A beautiful Church

A beating heart in our village A family to us all

Pam Wells Diane Bennett

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St Mary's Pastoral Support Team

St Mary’s has a new pastoral support team. Each member of the team has completed a short period of training and have been approved by the diocese. Checks on each person have also been made via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The objective of the pastoral team is to offer friendly and supportive home visits to anyone within the parish. If you or anyone you know would like a visit please contact the parish church office on 01798 813117 and a member of the team will contact you to arrange a home visit to suit you.

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What’s on at St Mary’s in February

Sunday 2nd 8am – Holy Communion (BCP) 10am – Family Communion Wednesday 5th 10am – Holy Communion Sunday 9th 8am – Holy Communion 10am – Holy Communion 6pm – Evensong Wednesday 12th 10am – Holy Communion Sunday 16th 8am – Holy Communion 10am – Holy Communion Wednesday 19th 10am – Holy Communion Sunday 23rd 8am – Holy Communion 10am – Holy Communion Wednesday 26th 10am – Holy Communion 7pm – Ash Wednesday service

There are no Friendship Lunches in February and March

Lent lunches every Thursday 12 - 2pm

from 27 February onwards in the Church Hall

Friendship lunches then resume on the 16 April

All welcome

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Dear Friend A very blessed new year to you. This year there are several exciting events taking place, some are outlined below: there are two Charity lunches by Family Support Work, one on Thursday 13 February in Worthing and the other is at Hastings on 4 February (contact Melissa on 01273 832963 ext 304). FSW will talk about the work that they do. (P28) the Open Gardens is happening this year in June, always a good way to get ideas for the garden and to buy some artwork! (P6) the Creative Treads Project: create your own piece of bunting. (P17) this year is the 50th anniversary of the West Chiltington Horticultural Society. (P27) Don’t forget Pancake Day is on Tuesday 25, happy pancake baking! God bless, Maria

Prayer for the month

Perfect, absolute peace surrounds those whose imaginations are consumed with you; they confidently trust in you.

Isaiah 26:3 The Passion Translation

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The Christmas Story in 3D for the Village, made by two parishioners, was enjoyed by many children

Rob Neal-Smith and Andrea Carlson-Hedges designed a child-size stable for the Nativity scene which has been enjoyed by many children and villagers in the churchyard of St Mary's Church in West Chiltington. The solidly built stable appeared during Advent and was constructed by Rob. The figures which were designed and painted by Andrea appeared a few days later. This was really done for the village children so the Kings, or

Wise men arrived a little early! They are meant to arrive around the 6th January which is the time of the Epiphany. Rob fitted lighting inside the stable so that it was all illuminated at night. This was

also featured in the West Sussex County Times. The infant Jesus arrived in the manger on Christmas Eve, just in time for the very well attended Christingle Service which was led by Pam Wells and Sally Boyland. Every one of the many children went home with a Christingle, which is made from a fresh orange which represents the world. It has a red ribbon round it signifying the blood and love of Christ which was shed for us as a sacrifice of forgiveness for our sinfulness. There are four cocktail sticks pointing to the compass points North, South, West and East, with sweets and dried fruits on them showing the fruits of God's Creation provided for us all, and finally the candle lit on the top of the orange is God and the Light of Christ, bringing hope and light into the darkness. The collection was given in aid of The Children's Society.

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West Chiltington and Nutbourne Open Gardens Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 June

We are opening some of our gardens again in June 2020. This is for the West Chiltington and Nutbourne Open Gardens and Art Trail, which has been very successful in recent years. Money raised will be used to maintain our beautiful thousand year old church of St. Mary's. The fabric of the building needs much restoration. We are looking specifically for a few more gardens in the more modern part of the village, around the areas of Rambledown Lane, Nyetimber Copse and Lane, Mill Road, The Martletts, Common Hill, Haglands Lane, Crossways, and the Harborough Hill area and the Nutbourne area. Gardens do not need to be immaculate or large. In fact small is very good, and all we need is people who are enthusiastic about their gardens and who have put in an effort to make it interesting. We also need a few local artists and crafts people to exhibit and/or sell their works in these gardens. We will find you a nice garden to display your pictures and craft items and if you sell, we ask for a small donation or percentage to be donated to our cause. Refreshments are available at some of the gardens and offers of cakes at the time will be most welcome. Our new High Sheriff, Dr Tim Fooks will open the event and visit some of the gardens. Let us show what talents we have in our villages here. If you wish to know more please contact Andrea on 01798 812957. Thank you.

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Vestry Meeting and Annual Parochial Church Meeting (APCM)

The above meetings will take place consecutively in the church hall, St Mary’s Church, West Chiltington, on Sunday 29 March at 11.30am. Churchwardens, Parochial Church Committee members (PCC) and new representatives to the deanery synod will be elected and reports will be given on the work of the church during the past year. The first meeting of the newly elected PCC will immediately follow the APCM.

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Lent Lunches The annual Lent lunches will be held in the church hall, St Mary’s Church, West Chiltington every Thursday from 27 February until 2 April starting at midday. Please come along and enjoy soup, bread, cheese and pate in the company of friends old and new. A £5 donation for lunch will be much appreciated. All donations will be split between two charities – Family Support and Christian Aid.

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Family Support Work Storrington Storrington Deanery is holding a FSW Fundraising Lunch on Tuesday 18 February 2020 at Pulborough Village Hall. The tickets are £12 and please bring your own wine/soft drink and glasses. The guest speaker is Peter Nottingham, Conservation Manager, talking about 15 years of looking after Arundel. Please contact Alyson Heath on 01798 873795 to purchase tickets.

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Fryern Ladies’ Probus Meeting Thursday 2 January 2020

What finer way to start the New Year than by having a substantial, celebratory lunch followed by a talk on Healthier Living – at least we got it in the right order! The Speaker of the Day was Louise Camby who gave us an excellent and informative talk on Aloe Vera, also known as The Wand of Heaven. The gel, from this powerful and medicinal plant, is an amazing and natural ingredient which is known to help with skin conditions, digestion, joint pain, immune system, general wellbeing and energy. Packed with vitamins and nutrients this gel can be delivered to the consumer, in a variety of different products, to help them with so many health challenges and conditions.

Louise had a full range of Aloe Vera products to present to us and many samples to try. Many of us were already acquainted with some of the products, particularly the 99.7% Forever Aloe Vera Gel Drink. Imagine slicing open an aloe leaf and consuming the gel directly from the plant – these drinks are as close to the real thing as you can get and help maintain our natural energy levels. We were keen to know more about the Forever

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Company background and were told that the company was founded in 1978 by CEO Rex Maughan and is based in Arizona. Over the past 42 years it has grown and currently trades with 161 countries and owns 60% of Aloe Vera plantations worldwide. It also manufactures and markets bee derived personal care products, dietary supplements and cosmetics etc. Indeed Louise also has a most informative talk on the bees and the amazing products from the hive. She has had first-hand experience of working on beehives, covering how a hive works, evaluating the substances from the hive and how they help bees and humans. Since bees are essential to our eco-system it is in our joint interest to prevent their decline. There were many questions and we all appreciated her time with us. Indeed we shall be ladies in a well-informed area as Louise has also been booked for The West Chiltington Women’s Institute meeting on Thursday 9th January and some of us will be in attendance glowing with the abundance of Aloe Vera products!

Russ Fry

Shrove Tuesday 25 February

The word Shrove comes from the word “shrive”, which means to absolve. When Jesus died on the

cross, He said “it is finished”, meaning our sins have been absolved, have been forgiven – allelujah!!

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WEST CHILTINGTON PROBUS CLUB Probus members and partners ended 2019 in style with a wonderful dinner at the West Sussex Golf Club. A total of 66 members and partners enjoyed excellent food,

served with good company and a large slice of magic and repartee by David Croucher. A night to remember. The club meet for lunch every month and we enjoyed the company of two exceptional speakers in December and January. In December, Andrew Foster provided a most moving personal account of the role the Scots Guards played in the Falklands War. Andrew, an

intelligence officer in the 750-man battalion recounted both the difficulties encountered, and the courage and determination shown by armed forces not fully prepared for this conflict. Major-General Mike Scott led the Scots Guards on the most savage single action of the

Falkland conflict: the assault on Mount Tumbledown, the final push before the fall of Port Stanley in 1982. This month Sarah Lavery, a chartered engineer gave an excellent overview of the Thames Barrier and Planning for the Future. Sarah worked as an operational manager on the Thames Barrier (the first lady to operate the gates after the Queen) before

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heading a team to review long term flood defences for London. It was interesting to note that in common with many cities, London is built on a flood plain and has experienced 5 severe floods in the last millennium. The strategic plan sets out operational plans to cater for sea levels rising by up to 4m. Sussex will be affected with much of the south coast and the River Arun being flooded. In the past Steyning had a port, that could be an opportunity for the future! It was reassuring to know that long term development plans are under consideration in many areas. Our lunch meeting is on the first Wednesday in the month. Membership is open to retired PROfessional and BUSiness men, if you would like to know more please contact our Secretary David Goddard: - [email protected]

THE ARTS SOCIETY SOUTH DOWNS

Wednesday 5th February

Anthony Russell will give a talk on The Mystery of Holbein’s Ambassadors

Wednesday 4th March

Mark Hill will give a talk on The History of the Fountain Pen

Meetings at Fittleworth Village Hall

Coffee from 9.50 Lecture 10.45 New Members, Visitors (£6) warmly welcomed

Please call Hilary – 01403 785302

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WI Meeting Thursday 9 January 2020

To the resounding chorus of “Happy New Year” the ladies welcomed each other for the first meeting of the year- 2020 perfect vision ahead! The speaker of the day was Louise Camby to talk about The Health Benefits of Aloe Vera. She had

arrived early and had set up a most impressive table of Aloe Vera products; accompanied of course by a healthy looking Aloe Vera plant. Louise has spent many years promoting the health benefits of this miraculous plant which interestingly so is also related to the garlic and lily family. Evidence of its use can be traced back through thousands of years in time with famous historical characters like Cleopatra, and more recently Ghandi, appreciating its overall beneficial effects – even the Japanese had their own word for it meaning “no need for a doctor”. True enough as throughout her talk Louise mentioned just about every bodily ailment which could be treated with Aloe Vera products such as gut health, shampoo oil, face mask, perfume, arthritis, minor injuries, skin care, aches and pains, tooth hygiene, hair rescue, joint health – the list goes on and on – so to summarise “All First Aid Kits in a Tube!” There was also a range of animal products and a multipurpose detergent! It was interesting that in the audience were 5 ladies who had, previously, only in fact a week ago, had heard the same talk given to The Fryern Ladies Probus. The coincidence in booking the same speaker was quite freakish but most beneficial to these particular 5 ladies who could only benefit from a repeat performance – so important after a certain age! This double whammy could only improve greater understanding of the importance of this powerful and medicinal plant, which is packed with nutrients and vitamins, so that we can all live to a ripe old age. Since our WI will celebrate our 100th Birthday in February 2021 we all expect to celebrate our own centenaries with the assistance of Aloe Vera – Louise you made a hit! A great talk, a great subject and a great afternoon. Pat Beard thanked Louise whole heartedly on our

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behalf and said that Aloe Vera was a great advert for reduced visits to our GP, Dentist and to the Vets! Thank you Louise, for such an informative talk, and we shall welcome you back for your other talks on CBD (legal cannabis) and The Amazing Products from The Hive, at a later date. The meeting concluded with in house business with Pat Price winning the £300 Denman Bursary Draw, choosing our resolution which was “A Call to Increase Potential Stem Cell Donor Registration” and potential plans to celebrate our centenary in 2021 in great style. We also received grateful thanks from Safe in Sussex Women’s Refuge for our 13 bags of donated toiletries, presents and children’s activity bags. Our next 99th Birthday Meeting will be on Thursday 13 February at 2.15pm – visitors are always welcome – please contact 01798 812715

Russ Fry

The Arts Society West Sussex

On Tuesday February 4th, Gavin Plumley will talk on

The Hungarian Metropolis: Art and Culture in Budapest

Budapest was formed in 1873 by the unification of Buda and Pest.

The talk explores how the Hungarians came to understand their

national identity through architecture, painting and music.

On Tuesday March 3rd there will be a Ploughman’s Lunch at 12.30

followed by a talk at 2pm given by Daniel Robbins on

The Studio Houses of the Holland Park Circle

In the late nineteenth century, an extraordinary group of houses

were built on the edge of Holland Park. These provide a fascinating insight

into the wealth, status and taste of successful artists of the period.

Meetings held in Fittleworth Village Hall at 2pm

Doors open 1.40. Tea and coffee after the lecture

Please call 01903411086 or contact [email protected]

Visitors most welcome - £5

www.theartssocietywestsussex.org

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West Chiltington Village Show Saturday 11 July

Competitions, Stalls and Volunteers Competitions are at the heart of our village show and we were delighted with the increase in entries last year. We really appreciate the effort people put into their entries and would love to display even more this year. Why not have a go! There is something for everyone: gardeners, florists, artists, crafters, bakers, embroiderers, knitters and photographers. You have six months to plan, develop, create and grow items to exhibit at this years’ show. We would like more children and young people involved and have

updated classes for them. We now have specific classes for children in the Home Produce section: encourage them to have a go and have some fun! And for the first time we have an interesting class for individuals or groups, visit the web for more details or

contact Pat at [email protected]

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The show is a great opportunity to showcase your products, If you would like to book a stall, contribute to the raffle or help out on the day, please contact Nick at [email protected] or leave a message on 01798 368655 Visit our web site for all competition, stallholder and volunteer information and lots more www.westchiltshow.org

THE ARTS SOCIETY – SOUTH DOWNS

Wednesday 25th March

LARS THARP

SPECIAL INTEREST DAY

Beyond Earth - Stone Age to Space Age A Brief History of the World in Clay

Two Lectures, Lunch and a Road Show

Fittleworth Village Hall 9.45 - 15.00

Guests welcome £35 For further information: 01798 815824

Meetings at Fittleworth Village Hall

Coffee from 9.50 Lecture 10.45 New Members, Visitors (£6) warmly welcomed

Please call Hilary 01403 785302

www.theartssocietysouthdowns.org.uk

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Mary How Trust Film Society presents

Downton Abbey Mary How Trust Film Society will be screening Downton Abbey on Tuesday 25 February at 7.30pm at West Chiltington Village Hall.

This film is generously sponsored by Freeman Brothers Funeral Directors, as part of their “165 charitable acts for 165 years” celebration of their anniversary throughout 2020. Tickets cost £6.00. Loyalty card: watch 6 films and get your 7th free! Sign up for your free monthly Film Society e-news – your chance to watch trailers and see what’s coming soon. Contact: [email protected] Tickets available on the door, and from:- - The Mary How Trust screening rooms & office – call Clare Flexman on: 01798 877646 - The Mary How Trust charity shop in Pulborough - The Card Centre, Storrington - Cherilyn/Nisa Local, West Chiltington Would you like to sponsor a movie? Receive VIP tickets to the film and help the Mary How Trust’s important health screening work. Please contact the Mary How Trust for details: 01798 877640, [email protected], www.maryhowtrust.org

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Rotary Club support for the Storrington Christmas Pop-In Lunch

Storrington & Pulborough District Rotary Club helps some of Storrington’s senior citizens get into the Christmas spirit at their

December Pop-In Lunch

The Christmas Pop-In Lunch is the December event of the Storrington Pop-In Lunch Club which meets monthly throughout the year. The Club meets on the 1st Thursday each month in Storrington Village Hall. Members are primarily elderly members of the local community. Some 40 guests attended the lunch this year enjoying a glass of wine and traditional Christmas lunch. Special guests were well known local folk singers Anne Sartain and Alan Wheeler who entertained the diners and led them in singing Christmas carols. Storrington & Pulborough District Rotary Club has sponsored and run this free community Christmas event for many years. A dedicated team

of Rotary Wives provides the lunch and other Rotarians help prepare the hall, serve the food, wash up and tidy up afterwards.

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Rotarian organiser Norman Boyland said: “We were delighted to once again host this special occasion and give some of the more elderly residents of Storrington an excellent meal, a couple of hours of fellowship and some happy memories.” This year the Pop-In Lunch welcomed support from the Waitrose Community Matters grant initiative which provides help for vulnerable members of the community. For further information contact: Norman Boyland at [email protected] or on 01798 815117

Is prayer your spare tyre, or your steering wheel?

Corrie Ten Boom

West Chiltington Floral Club (Affiliated to NAFAS)

We enjoyed a great start to the Christmas festivities with a superb Christmas demonstration by Margaret Rumens on the 5th December. Looking forward our programme for 2020 kicks off with a demonstration by Linda Brayne entitled New Beginnings on 18 February at 2pm. Unless otherwise stated, meetings are held at West Chiltington Village Hall, Mill Road, West Chiltington RH20 2PZ, 7pm for 7:30pm (1:30pm for 2pm in February & November). For more information, please contact: Brenda Bull on 01798 813712.

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Fryern Ladies’ Probus Meeting 5 December The Fryern Ladies’ Probus Christmas meeting was held as usual in The Roundabout Hotel. Surrounded by tasteful, festive decorations the ladies relaxed for Christmas card distribution, pre-lunch drinks and Christmas cracker pulling before partaking of the promised, seasonal four course meal! It had been a busy week, for some of the ladies, as the previous Thursday outing had been to Hever Castle in Kent where there had been a Christmas Fair and roundabouts to enjoy. Within the Castle itself were further opportunities to explore a little of Ann Boleyn’s Tudor history; as from 1462 to 1539 it had been the seat of the Boleyn Family – a great prelude to Christmas. The speaker of the day was a gentleman called Jonathan Jones whose talk title was suitably named Christmas Cracker. Jonathan, being a most experienced public speaker/performer, has delivered over 800 talks, since taking early retirement from his previous career, and is also currently the Honorary Town Crier for Farnham, Surrey! Indeed we were fortunate in booking him as he will not be accepting any more speaking events from the end of this year. Jonathan gave a most interesting and thought provoking talk on all aspects which make up Christmas. He gave a miscellany of prose and poetry which included well known aspects of belief, behaviour, humour, tradition and values etc. which contribute to this festive season. Some of these were well known like “T’was The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clark Moore, “The Journey of the Magi” by T.S.Eliot, “Nursery School Nativity Play” by Joyce Grenfell, “Christmas 1914” by Rifleman Graham Williams, “The Boy who Laughed at Santa Claus” by Ogden Nash and “Talking Turkeys” by Benjamin Zephaniah. The further rendition of “Twelve Days of Christmas – a Correspondence by John Julius” amused us greatly as it recorded the daily thank you letters from

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one increasingly bemused young lady to her unseen admirer – a reminder to us all to “Think before you buy” re Christmas gifts as chaos could well develop!

We were also advised about the tradition around Christmas puddings (from Victorian times) and that 13 ingredients must always be used to signify the 12 apostles plus Jesus. You also have to stir east to west and all of the family must participate – similarly you have to stir clockwise (if you stir anticlockwise you stir in the devil) a wooden spoon signifies the crib and sixpences are to be encouraged. The well-known children’s nursery rhyme of Little Jack Horner was ridiculed as plums

were never used in pudding making and Little Jack Horner would have only pulled out a sultana, raisin or current. All too soon time was up and Betty Parker thanked Jonathan on behalf of us all for his entertaining, colourful and reminiscent talk.

Russ Fry

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong.

1 Corinthians 16:13 New Living Translation

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Probus Club of Storrington and District Storrington Probus had a busy run up to Christmas. Members enjoyed a visit to the Aviation Museum at Tangmere where the club was welcomed and given an interesting talk by one of its volunteers. He explained that Tangmere began as a fighter station in the First World War and in the Second World War became a staging post for agents on their way to France. After the war it was the base for high speed flights and the world air speed record was broken in 1946 and 1953 by Neville Duke. Some members had the chance to “fly” a simulator and finished the day with an excellent lunch at the Gribble Inn nearby. Later in the month members enjoyed the Annual President’s Ladies Dinner which, as always, was well attended. The club president John Wilkinson and his wife Kathy officiated the proceedings ably assisted by Vice-President Roger Overton-Smith. More than seventy members, friends and family celebrated in style, with a fine meal provided by the chefs at the West Sussex Golf Club and afterwards members danced

and thoroughly enjoyed music and vocal entertainment by Kerry Le Bern. The Christmas festivities were finalised with a trip to Gun Wharf Quays in Portsmouth

where members went shopping in a super atmosphere of lights and

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decorations. Later on, they all met at the Old Custom House for lunch and having pulled crackers and removed their paper hats walked to The Theatre Royal for a performance of The Nutcracker. A wonderful day with great entertainment organised by Alan French. If you would like more information regarding The Probus Club of Storrington, please visit the website: www.storringtonprobus.com

He who is not loving did not know God, because God is love

1 John 4:8 Young’s Literal Translation

CPR and Defibrillator Training 16 March and 2 May

Heartstart is an initiative from British Heart Foundation to teach emergency lifesaving skills to the British public. The course includes: how to: recognise a heart attack and a cardiac arrest, help an unconscious person, perform CPR, help someone choking, respond to serious bleeding. A Free ‘Heart Start’ session will be held at West Chiltington Church Hall Monday 16 March at 7pm and on Saturday 2 May at 10am and lasts around 2 ½ hours. The course is delivered by members of CHART, Community First Responders for West Chiltington and Pulborough. Numbers are limited but we can add your name to a waiting list. If you would like to attend a course, please go to the website www.chartonline.org.uk or phone 01798 812619.

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STORRINGTON FILM NIGHTS

Storrington Film Night is organised by the Rotary Club of Storrington & Pulborough District. The next film on Wednesday 12th February, will be “Downton Abbey”, starring Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, and Michelle Dockery. The eagerly anticipated film on the life of the Crawley family. The showing commences at 7.30pm, at Sullington Hall, Thakeham Road, RH20 3PP.

The March film, on Wednesday 11th, will be “Fisherman’s Friends”, starring James Purefoy. Ten fishermen from Cornwall are signed by Universal Records and achieve a top ten hit with their debut album of Sea Shanties. Tickets are £5 and are available from the Card Shop in Storrington. Any unsold tickets will be available on the door, on the night. There is a Bar and a Raffle during the interval. Anyone requiring transport

should contact Roger Jamieson 01798 813956. For further information please contact Ken Collins 01903 740745.

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2020 is going to be a quieter year for the society with our usual two productions, but no drama festival or an anniversary celebration to organise and stage. However anyone looking for an interesting and challenging hobby is welcome to join us by contacting our membership secretary Christine Pearson by email to [email protected] . Auditions for our May production of ‘The Darling Buds of May’ have been completed. Unfortunately we are as yet not fully cast and may therefore have to replace the production with another play or plays. More details will be forthcoming in the next newsletter. Our casting problems revolve around younger people in the age range 12yrs to 25yrs, both male and female. So if you know of anyone interested in performing on stage please contact Christine as above. The February Member’s Evening will be a Quiz Night organised by Angela Sloan followed by a Fish and Chip supper with the usual raffle and bar to complete the evening. Tickets (£5 for members, £10 for guests) can be reserved by emailing [email protected] . The date of this event is Saturday 22 February and will take place at the Village Hall, doors opening at 7.00pm. The Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held on Monday 24 February again at the Village Hall.

Geofrey Steward Chairman

You are all God’s children by believing in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26 God’s Word Translation

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West Chiltington Theatre Arts Club February 2020

Our thriving club meets at the Village Hall on the second Tuesday of each month (except August) at

2.30pm. We have a speaker on many aspects of the arts and other interesting subjects. With the pantomime season over we can now resume our theatre trips. On 6th of this month we shall visit the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford for “Dial M for Murder”. Our coach will leave the village hall car park at 12.45pm. On 11th the club will meet at 2.15pm, a slightly earlier time, in order to hold our Annual General Meeting. This will be followed by a talk entitled “The Warrior Queens” by Tony Turner. Our amended system for membership renewal for 2020 went according to plan with the result that we have well over 150 members. Plans for further theatre trips are well in hand. On 19th March we shall return to the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre for a production of “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”. The controversial book which was the subject of court action in the 1960’s marked a great change in British literature and theatre. Should you wish to join the club please contact Geoffrey Adams on 01798 812984. This will be my last contribution to the Parish & Village News. I would like to thank the editors past and present for their help in bringing the Theatre Arts Club to notice.

Geoffrey Adams

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West Chiltington Horticultural Society for people who enjoy gardens and gardening

This year, 2020, not only marks the start of a new decade but also the 50th anniversary of the Horticultural Society. I wonder if those founder members had any idea that the Society would still be going strong 50 years later and, if they could have looked forward, what changes they would have seen to our West Chiltington gardens. As always, we will have a varied and interesting programme of talks and events that we hope will stimulate everyone’s interest and help us to continue to improve our own gardens. We start on February 12th with a talk by Fergus Garrett, Head Gardener at Great Dixter, which was Christopher Lloyd’s garden. Fergus is well known for his appearances on TV and as a gardening author and it should be an inspiring and fascinating evening. The popularity of the event means that entry is by ticket only. Members should, by now, have received their free tickets but some tickets may still be available for visitors priced £5. Please contact [email protected] for details.

Our monthly meetings are on the second Wednesday each month (7.15 for 7.30 start) and this year will include talks on “Aquatics for All”, “The Earthworm”, and “How to Get the Best from your Dahlias,” a group of plants that seem to have regained the popularity they had when they the Society was founded 50 years ago. Also, we have trips arranged to Kew Gardens and Great Dixter and this year our annual Summer Show will be on 13th June with the Autumn Show on 5th September. Full details of our programme and of the monthly competition table are on our website. For more information about the society contact Carys Pickett 01798 815371, email [email protected] or go to the website www.westchiltingtonhorticulturalsociety.co.uk

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Dear Friends We had an extremely busy December, making sure that all of our families could enjoy Christmas despite their difficult circumstances. We held Christmas parties in every area we

work, some of our families enjoyed trips to the pantomime and we were able to distribute 100 fresh turkeys in addition to 109 Christmas hampers so that everybody could enjoy a proper Christmas dinner. Now the excitement of the Christmas period is over, we are looking ahead to the rest of 2020 and how we can continue to progress with our plans. We have received many new referrals over the last couple of

weeks and are working hard to accommodate them all. Unfortunately a large funding application we submitted in late summer was rejected just before Christmas – this would have enabled us to further expand our work to new parts of Sussex, so now we are taking some time to reassess our plans. We have a busy events calendar in 2020 which includes our annual sponsored Easter Walk on Monday 13th April. We are also holding two lunches in February – one in Worthing and one in Hastings – to

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give people the chance to meet a practitioner and learn more about our work in the local area. Please get in touch with Melissa on 01273 832963 if you would like to know more about any of these events. December’s work in numbers

192 individual meetings with families supporting 16 grandparents, 191

parents and 216 children

42 supported meetings with other agencies

24 group sessions supporting 17 grandparents, 432 parents and 584

children

193 food deliveries made

Prayer points

For one of our practitioners who suffered a very close family

bereavement 4 days before Christmas

For wisdom for our Trustees and senior management team as they

discuss the way forward after the unsuccessful funding bid

For T and her family – both parents have terminal cancer and she and

her siblings are facing a very uncertain future in addition to taking

important school exams this year

Nikki Kerr, FSW Director of Fundraising and Marketing

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West Chiltington and Storrington Branch

On 5th December the Rev’d. Cannon Kathryn

Windslow very kindly led our Advent Service at West Chiltington Church. We were joined by invited guests and Anna Forster, as well as playing the organ for us at very short notice, also played a beautiful piece of music by Schumann on the keyboard. Afterwards we all enjoyed a Festive Tea provided by the members. Proceeds from the raffle and donations amounted to £111 which will support the Eastbourne Family Contact Centre, one of our MU Projects. On 9th January 15 members enjoyed a New Year Lunch at Joanna’s in Storrington. Bishops from across the world will be visiting the UK in July for the Lambeth Conference. Mothers’ Union will be playing a large part in providing hospitality and looking after the wives whilst they are here. Twelve Bishops and wives will be staying in Chichester Diocese and our Prayer Shawl Ministry team will be knitting 6 shawls as gifts for 6 of the wives. Another Branch will provide the remainder. Donations of double knitting wool, or money to purchase wool would be very helpful and much appreciated. Such donations may be given to Jeannie Watten or Jean Hunt. Our first meeting of 2020 will be on 6th February at 2pm in West Chiltington Church Hall. We will be holding our AGM followed by a quiz to “Name that Plant.” We offer a warm welcome to the new Rector of West Chiltington The Rev’d. Stephen Merriman, his wife Beth, and children Hannah, Joseph, Isobel, and Thomas. We hope they will be very happy living and working in West Chiltington and we look forward to meeting them.

Jean Hunt

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West Chiltington Parish Council U-turn on Gritting cuts As you are probably aware by now, West Sussex County Council has retracted the decision to withdraw gritting on

certain roads, some of which would have affected parts of West Chiltington. The Parish Council expressed its concerns which were taken to WSCC by our county councillor Pat Arculus and cuts to the number of roads gritted in cold weather in West Sussex have now been reversed in the face of huge public pressure. The county council has confirmed that the former gritting routes will be reinstated this winter. A spokesman said: “The cabinet member for highways and infrastructure has asked officers to ensure that sufficient gritting equipment is available to reinstate the former gritting routes during this winter. We are now looking to restore the gritting programme to previous levels. It will happen as soon as practicable.” Purple Bus Run by Sussex Clubs for Young People, we were very pleased to see how well received the Purple Bus was at our Meet and Greet event on Saturday 30th November. We are delighted to announce that the Purple Bus will be visiting West Chiltington regularly once a week for 15 weeks starting in April – look out for more details. This initiative will be the beginning of a project to see how much interest there is in forming a permanent Youth Club, all comments and feedback will be most welcome, as well as offers of help with the project and/or the running of a Club. Look out for Speedwatch! Thanks to a grant to the West Chiltington Speedwatch group, they have been able to purchase the equipment needed to start providing a presence and help prevent speeding. Several sites in the parish have already been identified. Please be aware that the majority of the roads are 30mph and the approach roads to the Old Village crossroads have a

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20mph limit. The new group would always welcome more volunteer members – not all jobs involve being out on the street. For all enquiries please contact by email: [email protected]. NB: Whilst Speedwatch has been formed because of the many complaints to the Parish Council about speeding vehicles, West Chiltington Community Speedwatch is an independent initiative and is not run by the Parish Council. Facebook We are always looking to improve ways to communicate news and events of the day relating to West Chiltington. We have an excellent website which provides all the information about the council, documentation and up to date events. We also have a Facebook page and here you can receive all our posts – you can keep up with road closures, notices, weather, events and more. Please go to ‘West Chiltington Parish Council’ and Like us.

To contact the Parish Council: The Parish Office, Church Street, West Chiltington, RH20 2JW. The office is normally open Tuesday-Thursday 10am – 2pm. Phone before visiting. 01798 817434 Email: [email protected] /www.wcpc.org.uk / Find us on Facebook

As the rain and snow come down from heaven and stay upon the ground to water the earth and cause the grain to grow and to produce seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry, so also is my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It shall accomplish all I want it to and prosper everywhere I send it.

Isaiah 55:10 – 11 Living Bible