Friends of St Mary's Hawkesbury
Raising money towards the upkeep of our beautiful Grade One listed church, to safeguard it for generations to come.
The PCC has decided to open St Mary’s on Friday 1st April for a two-hour vigil for the Ukraine. All are welcome to come to the church to spend as much or as little time as they wish in reflection on the war and the dreadful suffering it is causing.
The Hawkesbury Ringers will ring the bells half-muffled out of respect for the lives lost from 5.30pm until 6pm. The vigil will be held from 6pm until 8pm, but you are welcome to arrive any time after 530pm to hear the bells.
We’re delighted to invite you to the first fundraising event we’ve been able to hold at St Mary’s since before the pandemic.
On Saturday 14th May 2022, at 7.30pm, the renowned Bristol Male Voice Choir will entertain us with a memorable evening of music and song.
The programme will also include contributions from St Mary’s Choir and an organ recital by St Mary’s Musical Director Ben Humphries.
The concert will also provide you with an occasion to admire the newly restored tower and the new bell ringing chamber, completed last year.
During the interval, wine and nibbles will be served, so book now and look forward to a relaxed and enjoyable evening this spring.
You can book your ticket now online via Eventbrite using this link:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bristol-male-voice-choir-at-hawkesbury-tickets-305525092777
Tickets will also be available from Hawkesbury Stores and from FOSM committee members.
All profits from this event will be used for the ongoing work by FOSM to preserve this important part of our local heritage for present and future generations.
Lisa Overton, Secretary of Friends of St Mary’s, writes:
This time last year we greeted the newly conserved church tower, its scaffolding and sheeting removed to reveal the excellent work carried out by Carrek Conservation of Bristol, and the transformation of the vestry and bellringing floor was nearing completion. Now we are all used to the changes and improvements, and enjoying the wonderful bells: how quickly we have adapted!
FUTURE PROJECTS
Our next target is to support the PCC with the improvement of lighting in the chancel, completing the tidying of the south side of the churchyard and providing a new noticeboard and gate by the entrance to the churchyard: the old ones are definitely due for recycling!
FUTURE EVENTS
As spring comes, with longer days and we hope, the end of Covid and the arrival of warmer weather, we hope to resume fund-raising events for St Mary’s. So far we have planned the following events, so please make a note of these in your diaries and check the FOSM website for details and tickets.
14th May: Concert by the Bristol Male Voice Choir
2nd-6th June: Platinum Jubilee Holiday: St Mary’s bells will be ringing and the church decorated for Matins on Sunday 5th June. We hope to keep the church open all over the weekend.
23rd-24th July St Mary’s Festival weekend: we are planning events for Saturday afternoon and evening, with the AGM and Annual Evensong for the Friends of St. Mary’s on Sunday 24th July at 6 pm.
Saturday 27th August Hawkesbury Show: Our ever-popular Pimms Tent will provide refreshment for overheated and weary show-goers!
October half-term: Scarecrow Trail will once again have a suitable figure appearing outside the church.
Sunday 18th December, 5pm: Friends of St. Mary’s Service of Nine Lessons and Carols, followed by Mulled Wine and Mince Pies at Church Farm.
SUMMER OPENING
We also hope to have the church open every day during the summer
months and need volunteers to open and close the building. If you can
help by offering to unlock and lock the church between April and
September, either for regular days or a week, your help would be
appreciated enormously.
We also hope to offer refreshments to visitors at the weekends, so if
you would like to assist with making tea or soft drinks, or even
providing cakes and biscuits, please let us know – and THANK YOU!
HELP NEEDED!
We really appreciate helpers in the planning and delivery of all our events, so if you would like to join our team, please talk to one of the committee:
Colin Dixon – Chairman
Lisa Overton – Secretary
Mike Bendry – Treasurer
Debbie Young – Marketing
Bill Fairney
Linda Fairney
Rev Pauline Setterfield
Neil Fozzard
Sally Macfadyen
Peter Setterfield
Mary Davis
Hilary Rogers
SPRINGCLEANING THE CHURCHYARD
The Churchyard is beginning to look a lot tidier. As you will see when you venture into the churchyard, you can now see the dry stone wall on the south side. This is a bit of a mixed blessing as we can now see how much it needs repair. If there is anyone out there who would like to turn their hand to dry stone walling please let us know.
The next churchyard gardening session is 10am-12noon on Saturday 12th March. Please do come along if you would like to make a difference and help ensure that the churchyard looks its best for the summer. No expertise necessary – enthusiasm is always welcome. Bring tools or just yourself as we always have spares. It’s amazing how therapeutic a couple of hours working in the churchyard can be!
MARCH SERVICES
Wednesday 2nd March Holy Communion with Ashing (9.30am)
Sunday 6th March Holy Communion (9.30am)
Sunday 13th MarchEvensong (6pm)
Sunday 20th March Morning Prayer (9.30am)
Sunday 27th March Evensong (6pm)
Online video services will continued to be streamed at 10am on the first and third Sundays and live-streamed from Hawkesbury on second and fourth Sundays at www/youtube.com/c/badmintonbenefice.
Friends of St Mary's Hawkesbury 