News

On April 21st, a fascinating morning was spent walking the village from the Triangle Bridge to a little way up the hill on the Staverton Road. Led by Jenny Galton-Fenzi, a hardy group found within this small area lots of different Spring wild flowers and exchanged interesting anecdotes and information about village history. Thank you, Jenny – this will hopefully be the first of many village explorations. You can find photos of some of the flowers in the Gallery.

What did become clear was that Littlehempston has a rich natural and manmade heritage: one that is well worth exploring and recording. The Space Project Fundraisers are currently gathering ideas for a Heritage Lottery Fund grant that could include an Oral History project; exhibitions, sound installations and talks in the church; guided walks and talks for families and local schools; more activities centred on the Living Churchyard. If you have any more ideas on how we could celebrate the village heritage, just send a message to the Fundraisers.

Much effort by many people has gathered in over £71,000 with around £23,500 still to raise to pay for the work to adapt the church for community as well as religious use. A dedicated band is still working hard to bring in further funding. Would you like to help by sponsoring a pew?  Funds are needed to adapt the pews, so they can sit in their usual place for services and be wheeled back to create space for the community activities. A donation of £100 will get one pew on the move.  All contributions of whatever size are most welcome – you might like to club together with a neighbour!

If you can help or would like more information, you can phone Colin Platt on 01803 862 598 or send him a message. Bank transfers can be made directly to Village Community Space, Sort Code 30-98-69, Account No  02271067. Don’t forget to include your name, so we can say thank you!

Calling all makers of craft items, artists, photographers, poets; all knitters and creators of delicious food, produce and wine. Help celebrate local creativity by showing and selling your wares at the “Handmade in the Hems” event to be held in the church on Saturday June 23rd. If you’d like to contribute even in just a small way, please contact event co-ordinator, Chris Waters on 01803-865458, or send him an e-mail. Chris is a furniture maker and will be there, selling small hand-crafted pieces in aid of the Community Space Project. It would be lovely, if we could pack the church out with lots of different stalls, displaying local goods handmade in all sorts of media and materials. Who knows, it could become an annual event! So please help make it happen by contacting Chris as soon as possible – and if you’re not feeling creative, perhaps you can suggest somebody who is!

The big question on everyone’s lips is “When is the church going to re-open?”  Building works should be completed by the end of April, the builders will then clear the site and NatWest volunteers and Community Service participants will help paint the walls. The weekend of May 19th is The Big Clean. Villagers are asked to dig out their marigolds and head down to the church to help clean up and tidy.  Then, if all goes well, there’ll be an Opening Party on Saturday 26th May and the church service the following day. More details to follow.

But as one phase comes to an end, another one is starting up. The Community Space Team got together in March for an “Away Day” (we got as far as the Millers’ at Buckyette!) to plan how the Community Space would be run once the church reopens. Guided by Sue Wellum, the team talked and flipcharted their way through issues such as management, finance and activities, and emerged with a long “To Do” list. Activities and events were everyone’s favourite topics, as the Community Space can be adapted for a wide range of uses. If you would like to get more involved, have a great fundraising idea or would like to run an activity yourelf, please contact the Community Space Project Team.

Just a bit of news on Littlehempston’s Jubilee celebrations, so you can get the dates in your diary. The Parish Council are organising a VILLAGE PHOTO – come along on Monday June 4th at midday at the church (this is the Millenium photo). Then that evening between 10pm and 10.30pm, Littlehempston will join with communities all over the UK and light a BEACON. The venue is still being decided. On the afternoon of Tuesday June 5th, Val and John Hoare are hosting a CREAM TEA – word is that 1950’s clothes will be the order of the day, so start rummaging in the back of your wardrobe! On Sunday June 10th, Mike and Mo Wright are organising a JUBILEE WALK, starting and finishing at the Pig & Whistle. Start time is 10am and the full walk is 4 to 5 miles, so bring a picnic or treat yourself at the pub afterwards. This event is family friendly with quizzes for the children. All these events are on our calendar and more details will be added later.