Boughton News

News and events from Boughton

"Breakfast club -"what's that?" someone asked me last week. It should have said 'breakfast church' in the magazine, but it's the same. I couldn't really tell them much, as it was a first and I wasn't involved in the organisation. However, I kept being told a lot of people had signed up and I went along on Sunday morning without really knowing what to expect. The church had been in the hands of builders all week, but it had been transformed. Tables had been borrowed and laid out for a banquet. It looked absolutely wonderful and was a foretaste of what we will be able to do in the future. Sandy had been up since dawn, slaving over several stoves I would think and several others, Moira, Frank, Andy, Peter and Pippa were milling around doing the final preparations. Thirty people sat down to a magnificent breakfast of bacon, egg, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, juice, coffee - does Frank eat like this all the time? It was absolutely delicious and gave the opportunity to talk to old friends and meet newcomers to the village for the first time. That was the breakfast part of the morning, and then came the church bit. John had carefully prepared a talk on the theme of gardens, looking at the garden of Eden, the garden of Gethsemane and the garden of Paradise. He talked about God's love for us and our place in the community of believers.

The purpose behind the morning, which is planned to be the first of a series, was to open up the church to people who might not have come to a service and to look at the teachings of the Bible in a fresher way. It's sometimes called 'Fresh Expressions' and tries to reach out to people in a different way. Even if the people who were there don't come again, for that short space of time they were part of the family of people who live as a community.

Many, many thanks to everyone who on the PCC subcommittee who came up with the idea and worked so hard to put it into operation. The next one is the second Sunday in August!

Bucket Challenge.

Saturday August 13th. - Judgement Day.

Please bring your Buckets to the Churchyard during the morning. Judging will start at 1.00pm. We expect the Judges to take some time to complete their deliberations so some refreshments will be made available while we all wait. When complete, the Presentations will start. Followed by some more refreshments.

We have seen some excellent Buckets on our rounds so the competition is pretty stiff - " it's a hard School " as they say. Good luck to all entrants and for the inter-village challenge also.

Please would all participants take their Buckets home with them after the event.

Best Regards Frank & Geoff.

On the outside looking in

Well, no, it was just the opposite, really.

My first vision of Boughton was through a car window when my son and daughter-in-law brought me here on the way home to Sydney. This was just before Christmas and weather was absolutely appalling - snow and ice and possibly raining. At the time I was not feeling great, having earlier been in hospital for a while and I was going to live with my daughter and son-in-law.

My mind wandered to another time some years earlier when we moved to another village not so far away. Things went very well until my wife decided she would like to join one or two local organizations. After one or two meetings she found they liked to do things the way they had always done them and really did not appreciate newcomers suggesting new ways and ideas. She left after that but I must confess that we eventually made many good friends there and we were somewhat sorry to leave.

So wondering if I would have to wait some years before being found acceptable and in a rather distressed state of mind which rather mirrored the weather I tried to settle down.

My daughter and her husband had taken a great deal of trouble to make everything easy and pleasant but I did not appreciate what they had done. In fact I was like the television character very grumpy and most disagreeable, a pain in the neck to everyone. They were most patient and ignored my attitude although I now know that it must have been disappointing for them.

Finally I was able to get out with the improving weather as I had bought a four wheeled scooter and that proved to be a boon. Up the road then and the first person I met was a gentleman cutting grass around the pond. He could not have been more pleasant and we chatted a while and I left feeling much happier. Well, that really did set the tone, and as I met other people in the village they were equally kind and considerate.

My worst fears then were allayed, thanks to the help of my family and the residents of Boughton and I look forward to making more friends and learning to love Boughton.

Thank you all.

Leslie.............

The Church Project , new beginnings

As I write this, it is the first week in July and the building work has started in the church, to provide kitchen and washroom facilities. Villagers have seen the portakabins arrive along with the customary blue loo. We have spent several weeks sorting and packing up the contents of the vestry: this has been an interesting voyage of discovery of some old, and definitely very dusty, items. Thanks go to all the helpers and to those storing items.

It is planned to take photos every weekend to show the changes as they happen: there is already a difference. Everything is covered in dust sheets during the week making the interior look very strange. The work is estimated to take ten weeks but as we all know this can drift as snags arise, and have to be overcome.

As someone who has been part of the committee from the early days, it feels as though something, which often seemed just a pipedream, has become a reality. It is both the beginning of the end and the start of something new.

Now the committee is looking at the possibilities of wider community use that the re-ordered church will permit, with the intention to put together a programme and booking system. Whilst the PCC still has responsibility to maintain the building, we would welcome help in day to day running of the secular side. If you are interested and would like to assist in any way i.e. committee member, caretaker, activity organiser etc please let Chairman Alan Wilkinson know on 500242 or rosemaryawilkinson@gmail.com

We are grateful to all those who have provided the grants to fund the work. It is brilliant to see everything finally come together. WREN, who has allocated us a princely £30000, is a not for profit business that awards grants to community projects within 10 miles of a landfill site from funds (landfill tax) donated by Waste Recycling Group (WRG) to the Landfill Communities Fund. Other grants receivable are £5000 from the National Churches Trust, £5000 from "Love Norfolk", £7500 from Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council and £5000 from the Church and Community Fund. Together with the legacy of £5000 from our former secretary Pam Jennings, and our own fundraising we have enough money to cover the capital costs and associated fees. Oh yes, and Anglian Water is connecting us to their services free of charge.

The church will not be left open on Saturdays during the building work. Should you wish to visit, please contact key holders Pam Wakeling, Frank and Sandy Reid or myself.

Moira Saunders