An email has arrived today from the Chancellor of the Diocese granting us the Faculty we need to start the restoration work ! It carries some further directions and qualifications, but we can at long last look forward to work starting early in the new year.

I can’t express the relief I feel that at last we can begin to move forward, and please may I say another “thank-you” to all who have helped to get us this far, and for the community’s patience. It feels we have turned a huge corner today.

What a lovely touch too that it comes on our St Nicholas’ Day, remembering an ancient Bishop who is best known for his unexpected gifts to those in need around him.

I saw an extraordinary advert recently ! It was for Disneyland Paris, and the suggestion was that a trip there would make an ideal Christmas present. I couldn’t quite believe it, not because Disneyland isn’t a fun place to go (unless you hate queuing and it’s in France in December!), but because we are already being told that this Christmas is going to be a miserable one due of the recession.

We have heard people bewailing the fact that they won’t be able to afford to get the children what they want (or what they expect) this year, and see retailers in permanent sale mode.

So the suggestion of a holiday at Disneyland as an ideal gift is perhaps a little odd. In fact it’s the first time I think I’ve ever seen a holiday being suggested as a Christmas present. Maybe it’s an attempt to suggest to people that it really isn’t that bad, and all this talk about recession is over-dramatised. I wonder how long the advert will run …

The statements above remind us of what Christmas has become for many people – a chance to spend a lot of money. That’s why we seem to be being prepared for lots of disappointment from families who didn’t get what they want, and from retailers who found people didn’t shop until they dropped.

It’s true that part of Christmas is about celebrating with families and exchanging gifts. After all, there were angelic celebrations the night Jesus was born, and the wise men brought him valuable gifts …

But an important part of our Christmas celebration is who Jesus was and why Jesus came. The carols we sing are full of this wonderful news.

Our celebrations are not just about seeing family, buying presents, eating well, and watching James Bond – though all these things are great fun ! Christmas is about celebrating the birth of the one person who can really make a difference in our lives – clearing away the rubbish that lies there, and giving us a fresh start.

Why ? Simply because God loves you.

May I wish you a very happy Christmas, and a new year filled with hope and new beginnings.

Rev Martin Green

Tickets are priced at £7, and are available from James Fleurty Tel: 01926 315 003.

The Concert is entitled “The Turning Year”, and will feature not only Christmas music of the period 1725 – 1860, much of it from church composers local to Warwickshire, but also takes a look at other church and secular compositions relating to the changing seasons and country customs. These are supported by Readings and anecdotes from a variety of authors and other sources.

The Concert affords another chance this year to bring out the group’s Mummers play, specially created using material and characters from such existing local scripts as those to be found at Pillerton and Ilmington in Warwickshire, Sulgrave in Northants and Lower Heyford in Oxfordshire.

Immanuel’s Ground is Warwick’s West Gallery costumed Quire, singing music from roughly the period 1725 – 1850. This includes not only the sacred music sung in rural parish churches but also secular part-songs, glees and catches and the popular music of the period. The Quire is accompained by a smallnumber of instructments as would have been found in any village band of the time.

Download the Immanuel’s Ground newsletter covering the concert.

For more information on Immanuel’s Ground, please visit their website at http://www.immanuelsground.com/.

THANK YOU !

First may I thank you all so much for the support you have given for the Out of the Blue Festival last month. It looks at the moment as if we have topped £9,300 towards the Restoration Project as a result of the week weekend, but more importantly, it was great fun to gather together as a wider community for a weekend of great events! Even sitting in a chair getting wet sponges thrown at me did not dampen the warm and positive atmosphere of the Saturday afternoon, with the schools’ performances, the puppets and the many and vaired activities that made up that Family Fun afternoon.

The Friday evening with Adrian Plass had us rolling with laughter and the Saturday evening was a concert with high quality, uplifting music. Sunday’s service drew over 200 people from around the area to enjoy the puppets and the Bishop, and a few stayed afterwards to enjoy a picnic.

All in the all, it was a great success, and people are already asking whether we can do it again !

May I say a personal thank you to all those who participated in any way, especially to the small team of people who helped oragnise it. But most of all to Chris and Avril and the team at the Exhibition Centre who gave us the weekend to use, and who worked so patiently and helpfully with us throughout the weekend. We are extremely grateful to them – and what a great venue it is, right on our doorstep!

Plans with Coventry Diocese
You will also be delighted to know that we have finally been able to submit all the detailed plans to the Church authorities in Coventry for final approval. They meet in July to discuss the plans, and we hope to have a decision from them fairly quickly. Once the formal approval is received, we will have to display it at the church for 28 days, and then the plans will be put out to tender to various heritage-approved contractors. And then … then we will get a contractor on site !!!

I know it has been a long haul, and thank you for your patience, but we are nearly there in terms of getting the work actually started. As there is a year’s worth of building to be done, I am pressing the Church authorities to move swiftly so we can get started, with an aim to have it open for Christmas 2012. I am hoping they take this on board, and that nothing else holds us up.

Church Open Day: August 13th (12-4pm)
The final piece of news is that before the contractors arrive, we will have an open day at the church. Earlier this month, we took years 5/6 from the school into the church room, showing them what was left and then looking inside the ruined church. It occurred to us that hardly anyone in the village will have been able to do this. So we will aim to open the church and church room on Saturday August 13th from 12:00-4:00pm, lay out some of the items that have been salvaged for people to look at, and then offer brief and helmet-ed trips into the building. It might be a good way to raise a little more towards the Restoration Fund, so we may have a small entrance charge, but I hope that won’t put anyone off coming.

On Friday, well known humorous Christian writer and speaker, Adrian Plass will be starting the weekend festival in grand and entertaining style, with “An Evening with Adrian Plass“.

On Saturday, there will be a Family Fun Day from 12-noon, with Archery, Bouncy Castle, Alpacas, Games & Activities, Pony Rides, Arts & Crafts, Wandering Magic, Hog Roast, Ice-Creams and Cakes ! There will also be an Open Stage for School Performances, A Top Gear Challenge and much, much more! From 7pm on Saturday, there will be a Concert for Brass and Voice.

On Sunday there will be a Deanery Festival Service at 10:30am.

For more information about the event, including ticket prices and where to purchase tickets, please see the above for Adrian Plass, and here for Saturday and Sunday.

The Hinckley Search Society have now hit £1600 raised for the church. Congratulations to all members of the society !

Mark Pickles, Hinckley Search Society committee member, hands over £280.00 to Don Simpson.

The Society has more events planned for later on in the year.

Photo courtesy of W Burton

Wayne Burton (commitee member) was pleased, on behalf of the society members and guests, to hand over the proceeds from the event to Don Simpson.

The event raised £230 for the St Nicholas Restoration Fund.

The society has another event planned for 13th March.

Wayne Burton handing over proceeds of the day to Don Simpson.

Photo courtesy of W Burton.

At last, some good news !

At the end of January, we heard that we have been granted planning permission – so we can at last go ahead to the next stage of preparing the tenders. The delay awaiting this decision will mean that our projected start date is put back, but we are still hopeful that we might be able to get contractors on site later this year, if we have no more delays.

The building team have now met with all the design consultants again to start this detailed preparation process, and we are keeping in close touch with the Diocesan authorities who will be giving the final official permissions, called a Faculty, so that our work dovetails with their meeting schedule. Please keep praying that this process goes smoothly. We want to get the contractors here as soon as possible now.

In the meantime, some of you may have heard about a fund-raising Out of the Blue “festival” being organised this summer at the Warwickshire Exhibition Centre on the Fosse Way on June 17th-19th. An exciting programme is taking shape for the weekend, and the Saturday afternoon is planned to be a family fun event ! We are hoping to have all kinds of sideshows and games and activities that we can all enjoy, and raise some money for the restoration project while having lots of fun !

We already have the Warwickshire Archer and some creative art workshops booked, and the delight of cream teas, but we need lots of sideshow games and activities. So if you would like to be involved and could offer to provide and run a simple activity, please get in touch by returning the slip at the bottom of this bulletin. And if you aren’t able to be involved, do book the dates and come along. The weekend is a gift from the Exhibition Centre to help us raise money for the church project, so let’s make the most of it.

And finally, a reminder for the forthcoming concert :

At ST. MARKS CHURCH, Rugby Rd, Milverton, Leamington Spa
Friday 18th March @ 7.30pm
Presented by RUGBY SCHOOL, THE ARNOLD SINGERS

It will be a memorable evening of fantastic and varied music that will move and enchant you.

Tickets now available £11, £10 conc, £5 under 16
from: Don Simpson (01926 426652) or the Post Office, Radford Semele

All proceeds will go to St. Nicholas Church Restoration Fund

At last we have some more good news.

The DAC, which is the church of England’s body that oversees the care of church buildings, has given their formal approval for the plans we presented to you to go forward. This is the church’s equivalent of planning permission, and they are very happy with the plans so far. We will have to get their continued permission as the interior detail develops, but this is an important step forward.

We are still awaiting the decision form the local planning authority, but as soon as that is granted, we can at last begin to develop the detailed plans for the church. It has taken such a long time, and I think none of us anticipated this process being quite so drawn out, but each stage we reach appears to have its own timescale to it and we have no control over how long that is to be. But we are getting there !

So in the meantime, let me tell you of some fund-raising activities, with the emphasis on fun :

Quiz Night & Fun Food Auction
Radford Semele Bell Ringers invite you to a Quiz Night & Fun Food Auction on Saturday 20th November 2010 (7.00 for 7.30 start), in the Community Hall, Lewis Road, Radford Semele. Tickets £5 per person in advance – bring a team or get a team together on the night. Tickets available from Claire (01926 886408) or Fiona (01926 425442). Come with a plate (or 2!) of food to be auctioned! Drinks & a Raffle!

Christmas cards
We have produced some Christmas Cards to be sold in aid of the restoration project. There are 3 beautiful designs, and they will be sold in packs of 6 cards (2 of each design) at £4 a pack. They will be sold in various places in the village – the Radford Rendezvous coffee mornings, church, post office, RED hair stylists, store and directly from Helen Robertson (01926 339978)

Please consider supporting us by sending out these Christmas cards this year.

Classical Guitar Recital
We are delighted to tell you that Ray Burley, the internationally renowned classical guitarist will be giving a classical guitar recital on Saturday Feb 5th at St Michael’s Bishops Itchington. Tickets will cost £12 (£10 concessions) and are available from Rev Martin Green (01926 613466).

This will be a stunningly good evening, so make sure you come along and bring friends! Tickets are already going, so buy yours early … we have limited numbers.

That’s all for now, but watch out for more events as they come …

With best wishes,
Rev Martin Green

The event raised £160, bringing their total fundraising to date to £1090 !

Congratulations to all who have been involved in the events. The society would like to extend special thanks to Don Simpson for his work in organising the land available for the events. More events are being planned.

Dave Mann handing over proceeds of the days detecting of £160 to Don Simpson.

Photo courtesy of W Burton.

You can find out more information on the concert and how to get hold of tickets here.