News from Maidwell – March 2024
News from Maidwell
Church Services
3 March Family Service 11:00 am
17 March Holy Communion 11:00 am
31 March Family Easter Communion 11:00 am
7 April Family Service 11:00 am
21 April Holy Communion 11:00 am
Events for the Diary
National Open Gardens – Sunday 19 May and Sunday 21 July 10am-5pm, Nightingale Cottage and Wyatts. Teas at Wyatts.
Dog Show – Saturday 15 June 12-4pm – more details to follow. If anyone would like to help with this please let Amanda know.
The Church is always asking for money, isn’t it ?
A lot of people say that the church is always asking for money. My response is to say that the church has always been asking for money. No matter how far back you go, parishioners have always been asked to support the local parish church. In the 15th century, for example, sheep would be kept and beer would be brewed as fundraisers for the church to spend on items such as candles and vestments. Individuals would also give generously according to their means.
Today, the church’s situation is no different. We have to ask locals to support it. Running a building like St Mary’s in Maidwell is very expensive. Did you know that the monthly expenses are around £1295 (parish share, electricity, water and insurance) and the income only £550 (regular giving and collections)?
Can you give a regular sum to the church each month or an annual donation? If you were to Gift Aid your donation, we could claim 25p on every pound given from HMRC, which then can be used locally!
The Parochial Church Council (PCC) regularly organises fundraising events for the church, e.g. in the last two years we have had the harvest supper, wreath making, a concert, the Christmas greetings, a dog show and afternoon teas. Thank you to all who come and support these events, it makes a big difference.
Please will you become a supporter, even if you are not a regular attender?
If you would like to become a regular giver, please contact Susan at stmarythevirginmaidwell@gmail.com or 01604 686922/07958 228690. Thanking you in advance.
James and the PCC
The Loder Hall
Many thanks to everyone who came to the Burns Night on Saturday 27 January.
Wonderful compliments were received regarding the quality of the food which was prepared, cooked and delivered by members of the Loder Hall Committee, with thanks also to Mark Duckworth for the delicious haggis and neeps.
A great night was had by all, with a twist to the traditional piping in of the haggis and the games that followed!
Many thanks to Ann and Colin Rabjohn for organising and running the event, and as always to those behind the scenes.
Table Top sale – Saturday 2 March 2024
Sort out your cupboards, wardrobes and drawers
Underneath your beds and behind your doors’
Unloved, unused, not wanted “stuff”
Gathering loads of dust and fluff,
Might make you some money to spend at your leisure
One person’s trash is another one’s treasure!!
Sort out your unwanted items/gifts/clothes/toys/bric-a-brac, hire a table for just £10, come and sell your stuff!
Sellers 09.00. Buyers 10.00
Coffee and tea available.
To book a table contact Denise Warner 07845 588773 or Judy Turland 07710420508
Forthcoming events
- Quiz and fish ‘n’ chip supper
- Summer BBQ
Dates will be confirmed in next month’s magazine.
Additional events may be organised, keep a lookout on the village WhatsApp group and Facebook page.
The Loder Hall, tables, chairs etc are available for hire at a reasonable rate.
The Hall is great spaces for private events, meetings, classes etc. please contact Ann on 01604 686967 or 07939124521 for further information and booking details.
Parish Council
In early February, some of the Parish Councillors met with Highways representatives from West Northants Council and Kier. This was the result of an ongoing discussion with WNC about the resurfacing activity that has taken place over the last couple of years, concerns about the surface of the road, lowered ironworks etc and speeding.
It was a positive discussion and you may well have seen a group of us walking up and down the A508 (which had an unsurprisingly positive impact on speeds through the village due to the high viz outfits they were all wearing!). We understand that an action plan is now being pulled together to address some of the issues identified during the walkabout and we will share this with the village when we have an update. There is also a proposal to re-surface Blueberry Lane but this is subject to funding being agreed.
In addition, the Road Safety Team are making a request for speed strips to go across the A508 to test out the effectiveness of the speed limit change at the south end of the village. We have raised concerns about this change and it is important to get some data on speeds to inform ongoing discussions. The Road Safety Team have also committed to look at other possible changes that would help slow traffic down, but continue to be very clear that double white lines will never be approved due to the good visibility on the road.
We agreed that it would be beneficial for improved communications between the parish and WNC/Kier – there is a digital dashboard being developed by WNC which will provide up to date information on works scheduled etc.
We will update you further when we have more information.
Maidwell-being
The second Maidwell-being event took place on Saturday 10 February, with a drop-in session at the Loder Hall. We had:
- A learn to crochet session
- A tech support team
- A repair station
- Sewing and crafting advice
- Rita the Refill Roadster – the mobile van from Market Harborough’s Refill Revolution, the zero-waste shop
- A Wombling sign-up station
- Lots of coffee and cakes
Rita the Refill Roadster was well attended, with people coming from other villages as well to make their purchases. She will continue to attend Maidwell-being events.
People enjoyed learning basic crochet skills and there have since been requests for further sessions.
Thank you to Joe, Kayleigh and Angela for giving their time and to all villagers who attended.
We are submitting a proposal, as requested, to the Loder Hall Committee, regarding the siting of the proposed community recycling bins and will provide an update when the outcome is known.
The Connecting Families event run jointly by ACRE and Northamptonshire Adult Learning took place on Tuesday 13 February – advice with digital skills was on offer and those who attended were offered Morse bags filled with goodies to help keep us warm and toasty. Thank you to Jenni Hedges, Teresa Humpage and Tania Sowerby.
The book exchange in the bus shelter has lots of interesting books, puzzles and games – please feel free to take anything you would like.
Our next drop-in session will be on Saturday 9 March 2024 at the Loder Hall, 11.00am-1.00pm. An addition to the session will be making pine cone bird feeders for your gardens. Whilst we will provide a focal topic for most sessions, every session will also be a chance to just come along, chat to neighbours and eat cake, so do please pop in whenever you can!
Contacts: Amanda (07707 530720), Lynne (07785 790265), Paul (07710 096590), Mary (07703 291169) and Fiona (07903 137219)
Maidwell Wombles – we still need your help!
A huge THANK YOU to all those who wombled in February, both newbies (Anne, Chris, Denise, Mark & Tim) and oldies (Alan, Lynne, Andrew and Colin – old only in the sense of long-standing!). Between them they collected a record-breaking 37 bags of rubbish (our previous record stood at 34 bags), plus larger items. Well done to all!
A big thank you also to Steph and Fidelma who gave a presentation to pupils at Maidwell Primary School in January about littering and wombling. The children were very enthusiastic and one parent reported their child explaining to them what to do with rubbish that evening, so the information clearly went in.
If you would like to join us, even if just for one session a year, it would help enormously – please contact Colin on 07771 806094.
The proposed dates (weather permitting) are: Friday 8 March (10am), Saturday 6 April (9am), Friday 10 May (10am), Friday 7 June (10am), Saturday 6 July (9am), Saturday 3 August (9am), Saturday 6 September (10am), Saturday 5 October (9am), Saturday 2 November (9am) and Friday 6 December (9am).
Maidwell Primary School
As we approach the middle of the school year, it seems almost unbelievable that time has flown so quickly as it feels like we were at the start of September only a few minutes ago! As this term draws to a close the children will be undertaking their assessments and also being creative in our art and DT lessons. Next term may bring us the opportunity to get outdoors a little more or perhaps we will have to wait a little longer. Next term is just 4 weeks and 4 days long due to Easter being early this year which means we will have longer summer terms after Easter – perhaps a chance to enjoy the outdoor space even more then.
Mr Woods
