1. Art and Diseño

Little Staughton News – February 2015
From the Chair (Tony Moss)
Finally
We are in the middle of a really cold spell of weather,
and it does not look like it will get any warmer for at
least a week or so. A good time to check on the Borough
council web site for the winter weather news, details
below. However one note of caution as I have had
complaints that the roads have not been salted or gritted,
when in fact they have. We are subject to vagaries of
Bedford Borough Council for this. Whilst this may
appear to be the case the timing of the runs maybe
before it is dark or the temperature gets really cold and it
can appear that the roads have not been treated, so take
care. It does seem strange to me that the effectiveness of
the gritting is minimal at best as the road surface is
colder and more likely to have ice patches. Over in Great
Staughton their roads seem to have a layer of grit/salt on
them as the night progresses, which does appear to more
effective!
If you have not yet registered to vote in the forth coming
elections on 7th May than you can do on line at
https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote you will need your
national insurance number to hand (if you have one). If
you do not have the internet then please call the Borough
Council who can connect with the correct department.
Council Tax
With the winter weather on the doorstep the Borough
Council’s gritter tweets service is available at:
Last month I said that the parish precept – the amount of
the council tax that goes towards running the Parish
Council – would have to increase this year. During the
past year we have used a significant amount of our
reserves to fund our developments that the council has to
maintain for the benefit of the village. In fact without a
significant increase, we could be in danger of running
out of money.
From the precept income, our single biggest expenditure
is for our clerk (which we have to have). This cost is
over 75% of our precept.
Based on a band D property the amount of council tax
paid last year was £23.02. This year this will be
increased to £27.40, which is an increase of 8.4 pence
per week, or 36.5 pence per month. Which works out as
an increase of 19%.
As results of this precept level and the expected levels of
expenditure this year we are revising our budget so that
we can maintain support for what we need to do. This
does also mean that if there are any major items of
expenditure that arise during the coming year, a separate
fund raising plane will have to be put in place to meet
the demand.
I will publish the budget for next year starting on 1st
April 2015, when the Chairman’s Annual report is
published next month.
If you have any queries about this then please do get in
touch.
Parish Council Contact Details
Chairman: Tony Moss- E [email protected]
M 07770 354292
Clerk: Lindsey Walton – E [email protected]
M 07900 177855
Winter Weather News
https://twitter.com/grittertweets
The winter maintenance webpage is available at:
http://www.bedford.gov.uk/winterupdates
Village Litter Pick
The annual Village Litter Pick will take place on
Saturday 7th March, 10.00-12.00 midday, meet at the
Village Hall. Please join us!
Kymbrook Lower School
BLUE BAG COLLECTION –
WEDNESDAY 18 th MARCH 2015
A Big THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the
Blue Bag collection in OCTOBER 2014. With your
support we managed to raise a fantastic £376.80 for
KYMBROOK LOWER SCHOOL funds – which is
greatly appreciated!
Our next collection will take place on WEDNESDAY
18TH MARCH, so please start saving your old clothes,
shoes, bags, belts, soft toys (no sheets, curtains, towels,
duvets or pillows please). You don’t need to use a blue
bag - black bin liners are acceptable.
Please leave bags outside your house by 9.00 am on the
18th March. (If you have any problems, please call
Rebecca Brightman on 378839)
The money raised from this collection is being put towards purchasing items
from our Schools’ Wish List.
This newsletter is sponsored by Paul Feneley
‘Maintain your home with a little help from Mr Maintenance’
M. 07932 739 011
Little Staughton News – February 2015
All Saints’ Church
Services
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8 February, 10.30 am, Great Staughton
15 February, 9.00 am, Little Staughton
22 February, 10.30 am, Great Staughton
22 February, 3.00 pm, Guides’ Thinking Day
Service at Little Staughton
1 March, 9.00 am, Little Staughton
Church Lighting
During January, the church was lit by two kind sponsors
who prefer to remain anonymous. If you would like to
mark a special occasion or remember someone by
lighting the church, please contact Gill Shaw on 376530.
It only costs a minimum donation of £10 per week.
Friends of All Saints’ Church 200 Club
January’s winners were:
 1st Prize
£80 John Darlow
 2nd Prize
£40 Linda Fagence
 3rd Prize
£20 Mike Ayrton
 4th Prize
£10 Hazel Brown
If you would like to join the Friends of All Saints’ 200
Club or would like further details, please call 376530, or
[email protected]. Your support will be
much appreciated.
Annual Church Dinner
The Friends of All Saints Church annual dinner is on
Saturday 7th February 2015. Tickets cost £25.00 each
and are available from Marion Davies 376713.
From Revd. Judi Clarke
Dear Friends,
May I begin by thanking everyone who helped to make
Christmas in All Saints Church so special in 2014. For
the many people who found time to clean, arrange
flowers, rehearse music, ring bells, decorate, and provide
refreshment, and especially all who came along to
celebrate with us the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord and
Saviour.
It was wonderful to see the church so full of people
throughout the weekend of the Christmas Tree Festival
which was indeed a great success and ended with the
Christingle Service on the Sunday afternoon. Then again
on Christmas Eve the church was full as we blessed the
crib, enjoyed the Christmas Story and sang carols
together. We now look forward to more ‘special’
celebrations on Mothering Sunday and Easter Day (more
news of these in the March Newsletter).
In the Church Calendar we celebrated Candlemas on
Feb. 2nd, when, 40 days after his birth Jesus was taken by
his parents to the Temple in Jerusalem to be presented to
God and Simeon. A holy man and the prophetess Anna
both recognised him as the Messiah; they greeted him
with joy but prophesied pain too.
It is this celebration that clearly turns our thoughts from
Christmas and the Epiphany towards Lent and the
Passion of Good Friday, then on into the joy of Easter
Day. Ash Wednesday on February 18th is a day when
we face up to who we really are – created, human and
mortal, and recognising our own time-bound existence,
we look to use the 40 days of Lent following as a time to
be more disciplined in our prayer and care for one
another, remembering the eternal and always-present
nature of God in our lives, and his generous love, mercy
and forgiveness for each one of us.
With love and prayers Judi
Revd Judi Clarke will resume her Monday afternoons
in church in the spring. In the meantime, she can be
contacted any time on 01480 861215 and via
[email protected]
Baptist Church
This month for the first time we are holding a
Community Church Service on the 8th February in the
Village Hall (see below for full details).We hope that
this will become a regular event and that you will be
able to join with us at this Service. The idea of the
Service is to enable us to get to know the community of
Little Staughton better and share together in worshipping
God. The Service is open to everyone and we would
love to see you and get to know you.
If you have any views about this Service which you
would like to share, please feel free to contact us either
by email or phone at [email protected] or
01480 812037
Come and join us at
Little Staughton Community
Church Service
At 10:30 am on
Sunday 8th February 2015
In the Village Hall
Followed by refreshments
Everyone welcome
Led by Little Staughton Baptist Church
This newsletter is sponsored by Paul Feneley
‘Maintain your home with a little help from Mr Maintenance’
M. 07932 739 011
Little Staughton News – February 2015
Sunday Services - 10.30 am and 6.00 pm
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1 February am and pm Mr P Davies
8 February am Community Service in the
Village Hall. Rev R Watkins pm Rev R Watkins
15 February am and pm Mr G Tolley
22 February am and pm Rev RWatkins
Midweek Meeting
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Tuesday evening at 7.30pm
Fellowship and Coffee Morning
Wednesday mornings at 10.00am
All welcome
Livewires
Thursday evenings during term time
at 6.15pm - 7.15pm
for children aged 5 to 11 years
Note: There will be no Livewires on 19th February. Half
Term
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only
begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have everlasting life." John ch3: v16
Village Hall
Afternoon Tea
Friday 20th February, 2.30 – 3.30 pm
All welcome; please come along
Village Hall AGM
Tuesday 17 March, 8.00pm in the Committee Room of
the Village Hall. Everyone welcome!
Village Hall Race Night
Saturday 21 March, 7.30pm start with the first race at
8.00pm. Tickets cost £7.50 to include a ploughman’s
supper and are available from Paul Feneley 376309,
Marion Davies 376713 and all committee members.
Please join us for this fun evening and help raise funds
for the village hall.
Yoga
After losing Sandra, we have found a new lady, Linda
Tonque, who will start classes again on Wednesday 4th
March. Linda has been teaching since 2001 and is very
experienced. The class will run from 10.00 to 11.30 am
and cost is £6 per session.
Everyone is welcome, whatever your age or ability.
Contact Linda (01480 350345) or Sue (378837) for more
details.
The Crown Quiz Nights
All quizzes start at 8.30 pm: teams of up to six people,
entry is £2 per person.
Dates are:
 February - 9th and 23rd;
 March - 9th and 23rd
For further information please contact Mary Hopperton
(376515) or The Crown (376260).
Cricket Club
Little Staughton Village Cricket Club is a village club
playing friendly matches against varied opposition
mainly at home on the playing field, during the season
See website (LSVCC.blogspot.com) for more details, or
contact Adrian Thrasher (07834 602 086), or James
Hopperton.
Neighbourhood Watch (NHW)
Our monthly crime stats have remained at zero for some
time now. There have been reports of suspicious activity
in and around the village, but by reporting such incidents
we have almost certainly prevented any crimes from
being committed. Keep up the good work please!
Remember the number 101.
Take all necessary steps to protect your property
whether house, outbuildings, equipment, car, bicycles
etc. Most thefts are opportunist, so do not make things
easy for the criminal by leaving tools accessible which
they could use to break in to your property. Keep lights
on in your home to make it look “lived in” even when
you are out.
Be aware and keep a look out for your neighbours too.
That is what NeighbourHood Watch is all about:
making neighbourhoods safer together.
Long may our stats remain low.
Cherry Protheroe (NHW Co-ordinator)
Police
Ensure you have lights on in the house as soon as it
starts to get dark. It is all too easy for burglars to
pick out houses that are empty when no lights are on
in the evenings.
Contact details
Paul Jones PCSO 4760, Local Policing Communities
Bedford Borough Rural, Riseley Police Station
This newsletter is sponsored by Paul Feneley
‘Maintain your home with a little help from Mr Maintenance’
M. 07932 739 011
Little Staughton News – February 2015
37 High Street, Riseley, MK44 1DX
T: 01234 842864
F: 01234 842867
E: LPT.gtbarford&[email protected]
2015 Diary Dates
th
February 7 , Saturday; - Annual Church 'Black Tie'
Dinner at the Village Hall – tickets from Marion Davies
376713.
February 8th, Sunday; - Little Staughton Community
Church Service, 10.30 am, Village Hall. Led by Little
Staughton Baptist Church and followed by
Refreshments.
February 10th Tuesday; Parish Council Meeting at the
Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all welcome. NOTE date change
March 7th Saturday; Litter Pick; meet at 10.00 am at the
Village Hall – please come and help keep our village
clean and tidy.
March11th Wednesday; Great Staughton Horticultural
Society AGM to be held at 7.30 pm in the Pavillion,
Great Staughton. Everyone welcome.
March 17th Tuesday; Parish Council Meeting and annual
Parish Meeting at the Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all
welcome.
March 17th Tuesday; Village Hall AGM in the
Committee Room at the Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all
welcome.
March 18th Wednesday; Blue Bag Collection for
Kymbrook Lower School – see main text.
March 21st Saturday; Race Night at the Village Hall,
see main text for details.
April 21st Tuesday; Parish Council Meeting at the
Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all welcome.
May 7th Thursday; Election Day.
May 12th Tuesday; Parish Council Meeting at the
Village Hall, 7.30 pm, all welcome.
September 12th Saturday; Little Staughton Golf Day at
The Bedford Golf Club, Great Denham, Beddenham,
Paul Feneley T. 01234 376309, M. 07932 739011
All copy for the March 2015 issue to Jeanette Atkinson
at Claydon, Spring Hill or email
([email protected])
by Friday 27th February 2015
This newsletter is sponsored by Paul Feneley
‘Maintain your home with a little help from Mr Maintenance’
M. 07932 739 011