October news from Know Your Neighbours

Hello All and Welcome to October's KYN Update.

Before we get on with the village news, we have had a note from Seal Parish Council, to let everybody know that GP surgeries are extending their hours. This is to  improve access for people who have struggled to take time away from work, school, etc. Please check your own surgery website, to see how access is improved for you.

As ever, the scarecrows (many of which are still with us), have put smiles on the faces of people as they pass through our village. We changed the system a little this year, by giving you the chance to vote for your own favourites. The votes were counted last night, at Seal Church's Harvest Supper, and the winner was Seal Beavers' Campers on Church Street Green. Many other votes were made, and no entry was passed by with no votes at all. However, the Beavers won by quite a way. Congratulations to them - a great entry!

Watch out for next year's festival, as there will more changes still. We are setting up a Facebook page with photos of all entries, and voting can take place on FB. For those who do not engage in social media, you will still be able to take the trail and vote as this year. Many thanks to those of you who got involved, and entered a scarecrow, and to those of you who voted.

Just a little aside, a few  scarecrows were vandalised ( though successfully operated on). and one  was actually kidnapped (crownapped??) and was found dumped in Childsbridge Lane. He was taken to safety to Seal School, but I'm not sure that we found the poor chap's creator in time for the judging. However, as always, the perpetrator of these acts, probably had less fun carrying out their attacks, than we did enjoying these creations. Whoever he or she is, is a very brave soul, or possibly never read Worzel Gummage!

The Harvest Supper and Quiz, was a great evening - excellent food, good quizzing, and lots of laughter! What more could you want on a rainy Saturday night in October. The event raised £362 for St Peter and St Paul Church Away Giving.

Our brand new care home, Lavender Fields, is now well and truly open, and the staff and residents are getting involved in our community. You will have noticed their beautiful scarecrow, STRICTLY KAREN (modeled on Karen ,the Manager of Lavender Fields allegedly). It would be great if some of you could join the small team of volunteers, already visiting, or planning to visit, the residents in this beautiful home. Of course, DBS checks will be essential, but the staff at Lavender Fields will organise this for you. If you are interested, either give them a call, or e mail me.

Don't forget our regular "Talking Village" drop in sessions on Monday afternoon at Birch's cafe. 1.45-3pm, and Friday Group every Friday morning in the church hall from 10-12 noon.

NOW, OUR DIARY OF EVENTS FOR THE NEXT FEW WEEKS (JUST SO YOU SAVE DATES)!

SUNDAY OCTOBER 21ST - SEAL SCHOOL FIREWORK  DISPLAY - SEAL SCHOOL FIELD - GATES OPEN AT 4PM - ADVANCED TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM SEAL SCHOOL  PTA OR SEAL GENERAL STORE. 

Advance tickets Adults £5 Children £2.50 or Family £15 

Tickets on the gate Adults £6 Children £4

Under 4's enter free.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 8TH - KNOW YOUR NEIGHBOURS - AT SEAL SCHOOL - PAMPER AND PROSECCO EVENING - 7PM-10PM. Another first for Seal!  Tickets £8 to include a glass of Prosecco on entry and a take home goody bag. A variety of treatments available at approximately £10 per treatment - reflexology, facials, Reiki, Indian Head Massage, Shoulder, neck and back massage, mini manicures, pedicures etc. Book your tickets and treatment with Jessica Stupple 07801 187 029 or like the Facebook Page - Pamper and Prosecco Evening Seal. The proceeds from this event will go to Seal Village Association, which will be financially supporting our Christmas lights this year.

Sunday November 4th - 6.30pm - ALL SOULS SERVICE at St Peter and St Paul's Church. A gentle service commemorating those we love who have died. 

Sunday November 11th - REMEMBRANCE SUNDAY

9 am - Short act of Remembrance at Godden Green War Memorial

10 am - Remembrance Service at St Peter and St Paul's Church, finishing with 2 minutes silence at the War Memorial in the churchyard.

6.30 pm Short service to mark the anniversary of the end of WW1, followed by the ringing of the church bells. 

Monday November 12th - 7.30pm - Seal Village Hall - History Group - Talk on The Overlooked Triumph - Victory 1918.

Saturday December 1st - Seal Village Hall - Seal Cubs and Beavers Christmas Fair - More details to follow.

Friday December 7th - 7.30 Church Hall - Make Your Own Christmas Door Wreath - A Seal Church Event.

Saturday 8th December - Know Your Neighbours Family Christmas Party - Village Hall 5pm - 7pm.

Sunday December 9th - 10am St Peter and St Paul Church Christingle Service followed at

11am - Mini Christmas Fair. - Christmas gifts, Christmas decorations, games, cards, etc.

Friday December 14th - 7.30 - Church Hall - Make Your Own Table Decorations - A Seal Church Event.

Sunday December 16th - 6.30pm - St Peter and St Paul Church Seal - Carol Service, followed by wine and nibbles

CHRISTMAS EVE 

4pm Crib Service at St Peter and St Paul, Seal

11.30pm  Midnight Mass at St Peter and St Paul, Seal

CHRISTMAS DAY

10am Christmas Day Communion at St Peter and St Paul, Seal. An informal service, 

           with a story in place of a sermon

Well - that appears to be it so far, for 2018. Please let me know what you are planning for 2019, so that we can help you to spread the word.

Marion

Scarecrow voting and Harvest Supper and Quiz

Just a timely reminder! If you want to have your scarecrow judged for the competition, please have it out by Thursday of next week, and have your entry forms in so that we can add your address to the trail map for people to view and vote. Also, remember to vote for your favourites this year! The judge, Judy Cator, who is sitting outside Seal General Store, will have a basket on her lap from Thursday, to collect your votes and they will be counted on Saturday 6th, so only 3 days! The voting forms will be in your next Advertiser, or can be collected from Judy, herself, between Thursday and Saturday.

We are also needing people to book their tickets for the Harvest Supper and Quiz please, as we have limited numbers this year, and some people are thinking they can just turn up on the night!  You can book by e mailing me at this address.

That's all for now!

Have a great weekend!

Marion.

Afternoon Musical Soiree at Seal Church

Everyone's welcome to help us celebrate Philip's birthday (Philip runs Seal Church Choir) with a musical soiree. Let us know if you are coming, so we can make sure we have enough cake. Free - with a retiring collection in aid of church funds.

September update and report

It's been a busy summer. The Village Allotments  made a total of £1216 for the charity at their open day in July. An amazing achievement, and a great afternoon. Well done SVA.

The coach trip to Broadstairs was a massive success, with ages from 4 - 90, enjoying a great fun day at the beach and enjoying random 

music from the Folk Week participants. The coach cost £550 including a tip for the driver, so we had £25 excess, which was also added to the Village Association pot. Apologies to those families unable to book seats this year. The coach sold out very quickly, but not sufficient for more than one!

30 people came and enjoyed David Williams' History Walks around Seal, and once again, comments about 'thinking you know where you've lived for so long, and still learning about it' were rife! And we made another £150 for Seal Village Association. This is the group that holds the finances made by local fund raisers, to help finance village projects.

Seal Talking Village kicks off on Monday September 10th in Birch's from 1.45pm - 2.45pm. We will have a Talking Table set in the cafe every Monday for the time being, until we see where we need to take it further. We welcome all to come along and join the Talking Table, where there will be 2 Hosts each week, waiting for you to get yourself a drink, and join them for a chat. Apparently, Costa are now doing something similar, but we all know that the Seal chats will be far superior!😘 Thank you Ashley for supporting this project.

Now to September/October Activities

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22 - AFTERNOON MUSICAL SOIREE

Philip Le Bas, Seal Church's choirmaster, is celebrating a significant birthday this year, by putting on a concert with some of his friends in aid of church funds on Saturday Sept 22 at 4pm. It will include a variety of chamber music (for small ensembles of wind instruments) including Faure’s Dolly Suite, Gabriel’s Oboe and Poulenc’s trio for oboe, bassoon and piano. The concert will be free, with a retiring collection. It will last about an hour and will be followed by tea and wine. Please let ajlebas@gmail.com know if you are coming, so we know how much cake to make!

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 22ND - SEAL SCARECROW FESTIVAL BEGINS - SCARECROWS TO BE SHOWN FROM TODAY! Please complete the form from Your Local Advertiser, and take with your £5 entry fee, to Highland Printers. If there is nobody there, please leave in the post box. This year, you will have the opportunity to vote for your favourite entries. Outside Seal General Stores from October 4th to October 6th, there will be a female (of sorts), sitting with a closed box on her lap. Her name is' Judy Cator', and is happy to take your voting slip, which will be hanging from her somewhere!  A map showing all the scarecrows displayed, will be in the shop windows.The votes will be counted at the Harvest Supper and the winner will be announced there. on October 6th. Proceeds from the scarecrows to St Peter and St Paul Church.

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 23RD SEAL CHURCH HALL - 3 - 4.30pm - MESSY CHURCH. A warm welcome to all ages, with fun activities, singing and a little bit of worship. Free, no need to book - just turn up.

MONDAY OCTOBER 1ST - STAG COMMUNITY ARTS CENTRE SEVENOAKS - 10AM-1.30PM - OLDER PEOPLE CAN - AN INVITATION. An opportunity to explore activities and services available for older members of our community. Luci Napleton and some of her 'Dancing For Fun' team will be there, so please try and support them.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 6TH - 7PM - SEAL CHURCH HALL - HARVEST SUPPER AND QUIZ. £7.50 ADULTS AND £5 CHILDREN. TO INCLUDE A COOKED 2 COURSE MEAL SERVED AT 7.15PM. BYO DRINKS AND GLASSES. 

We look forward to seeing many of you at these events. Enjoy the community you live in! The more you take part, the more you get back!

Best Wishes,

Marion (on behalf of Know Your Neighbours Seal).

Talking Village starts tomorrow!

If you’re free tomorrow, between 1.45 and 3pm, please pop into Birch's café in Seal High Street, for the first session of our Talking Village initiative. 

Everyone is welcome – just come along between 1.45 and 3pm, buy yourself a drink and sit and chat with us -  we will have a signposted table, and a couple of volunteers each Monday afternoon to act as hosts. 
You don’t have to talk about anything in particular. There’s no agenda – just a chance to be with others. 

We are hoping to start another session soon, possibly in the Library, and of course Friday Group is another place where you can drop in for coffee and chat from 10-12 noon, so you can always join us there too. We hope that this scheme will expand to include other times, venues and activities as soon as we have enough volunteers. 

July news and events in Seal

Welcome to your July update for KYN!

Firstly, to report on a fantastic achievement for Seal community! On Sunday 1st July, we welcomed our very first Seal Garden Safari. This was organised by Frances Fish, who managed to persuade 9 people to have their gardens open to us for the afternoon. 

 Of course, we were totally blessed with good weather, but what an amazing project. The gardens were so diverse, inspiring, and many new relationships were forged. And on top of all that - £1,500 was raised for The Kenward Trust. 

Kenward is a fantastic local charity, based in Yalding, and provides re-habilitation for alcohol addiction and substance misuse.If you have the chance to visit the centre in Yalding, please do, and see for yourself, the fantastic work they do!

 Congratulations to Frances and a huge thank you to those of you who have been slogging in your gardens for the past weeks, to get them pristine for us to trample all over them!

This of course was followed by the Strawberry Tea in the vicarage garden, in aid of St Peter and St Paul Church. This is always a popular annual event, but this year, a record 100+ teas were served, making a total of £600 profit.Sorry Anne and Philip Le Bas - more garden trampling!

The two events were linked by a very interesting exhibition of 'Seal Then and Now', in the church, and put together and manned by our own, local historian, David Williams. It was so interesting to see our own properties as they were back in the day!(You will see David features several times in this update)! He is conducting a historic walk around the village from 11.30 - 1pm on Sunday August 12th.He is also the speaker at Seal History Group in September.

The Talking Village:-

How often have you just fancied a chat, but everybody seems to be in a group already?

Wouldn't it be good to know there were times and places where you could be sure of finding people who also just fancied a chat, and were looking forward to meeting new people?

We are planning to move this idea forward very soon.

Please e mail Marion or Anne to learn more. marionjgilchrist@gmail.com or priest@sealpeterandpaul.com . There is a leaflet to download here which gives more details. 

Trip to Broadstairs Friday August 17th:-

This trip is almost fully booked. Money to be paid by July 20th please. Contact marionjgilchrist@gmail.com for more info.

Seal Rocks:-

We still hope to get this project off the ground for this summer. Please contact me if you would like to get involved in the set-up.

We have started to make plans for this year's 'LIGHT UP SEAL FOR CHRISTMAS'. We are in need of MANY people to come forward to offer help with fund raising, sorting the lights we already have, and getting them up and taken down in December and January. PLEASE - come forward with your ideas and offers of help and support, as we cannot manage this without you!

World Mental Health Day is always held on October 10th. There is a move to organise as many local events to support this as possible. DO WE WANT TO DO ANYTHING AS A COMMUNITY TO SUPPORT THIS? Please contact me with your ideas if you do and we will try to help facilitate something.

Sevenoaks District Council are arranging guided bike rides around Knole Park, to encourage new cyclists, and those who may not have ridden for a while. Please see information at communities@sevenoaks.gov.uk

The events are arranged for 10.30 am on Sunday July 22nd, August 12th, September 2nd and September 16th.

Top Tips For Saving Water During The Heatwave:-

Please see Seal Parish Council's Website for information.

Seal Football Team are looking for over 16's to play for them. Please contact Mike Deamer on 07801240927, or turn up for the first training session of the year, on Thursday 10th Julky at 7pm.

Details of the rest of the years planned events are below. 

SUNDAY 15TH JULY - 3PM-4.30PM - SEAL CHURCH HALL - MESSY CHURCH. CRAFTS, ACTIVITIES, WORSHIP AND TEA FOR ALL AGES.

FRIDAY JULY 20TH - ALL MONEY TO MARION FOR BROADSTAIRS TRIP.

SATURDAY 21ST JULY MIDDAY TO 4PM - SEAL VILLAGE ALLOTMENTS OPEN DAY WITH HOSPICE IN THE WEALD.- Entrance by donation - stalls, refreshments, cakes, sweets, crafts,nearly new stall, veg, plants and honey from Mrs Bee. Seal Allotments, Childsbridge Lane Seal.

THURSDAY AUGUST 2ND - FAMILY FUN DAY - 10AM-2PM SEAL RECREATION GROUND. GAMES AND ORGANISED FUN PROVIDED BY IMAGO AND SEVENOAKS DISTRICT COUNCIL. TURN UP FOR FREE ON THE DAY,

SUNDAY AUGUST 12TH - HISTORIC WALK AROUND SEAL VILLAGE WITH DAVID WILLIAMS.11.30-1PM. MEET AT SEAL CHURCH LYCHGATE. BOOK WITH ME - marionjgilchrist@gmail.com or 01732 763727.

FRIDAY AUGUST 17TH - COACH TRIP TO BROADSTAIRS - 9.30 - 5.30 FROM SEAL CHURCH LYCHGATE - £12 PER ADULT £7 PER CHILD (NOT £8 AND £5 AS IN ADVERTISER - SORRY). ALMOST SOLD OUT! Book with marionjgilchrist@gmail.com.

Enjoy your summer, but please remember, we need you, your ideas and your support, to make these projects work! We look forward to meeting many of you at these events, and hearing from you in the near future!

FURTHER EVENTS

Sunday August 19^th – Alternative date for guided historical walk with David Williams, should weather not allow on 12^th.

September

Mon Sept 3^rd – Seal Village Hall 7.15 for 7.30 start – Seal History Group AGM, followed by An Illustrated History of Seal by David Williams.

Sat 8^th September – 1pm – Seal Village Allotments BBQ.See their website for further details.

Sat 22^nd Sept – Sat Oct 6^th – Seal Scarecrow Festival.

October

Sat. October 6^th – Seal Harvest Supper and Quiz– Seal Church Hall – book via marionjgilchrist@gmail.com

November

Monday 12^th November – 7.15 for 7.30 start – Seal History Group – Talk on  The Overlooked Triumph – Victory 1918.

December

Saturday December 8^th – pm Family Christmas Party in Village Hall and  Turning on of village lights 

Events in Seal - June 2018 onwards

JUNE

Mon June 4^th – 7.15 for 7.30 start – Seal Village Hall – Seal History Group – a talk on Ightham Mote – History and Restoration – by Mrs Pat Mortlock.

Sat June 9^th – 10am – 2pm –  17 Zambra Way, -Garden Coffee Morning, light lunches, and Bring and Buy, in aid of St Peter and St Paul Church Seal.

JULY

Sun July 1^st 1pm – 4pm Seal Garden Safari for charity – details to follow shortly.

ENJOY TOGETHER WITH

Sun July 1^st 4pm – 6pm – Vicarage Garden – Strawberry Tea in aid of St Peter and St Paul Church.

Sat July 21^st – Midday to 4pm - Seal Village Allotments – Open Day with Hospice in the Weald. Entrance by donation – Stalls, refreshments, cakes, sweets, crafts, nearly new stalls, veg, plants and honey from Mrs Bee.

AUGUST

Thursday Aug 2^nd 10am -2pm – Seal Recreation Ground – Family Fun Day – Turn up on the day.

Fri August 17^th – Coach Trip to Broadstairs for last day of Broadstairs Folk Week. (Email Marion for booking) Email me for booking details.

SEPTEMBER

Mon Sept 3^rd – Seal Village Hall 7.15 for 7.30 start – Seal History Group AGM, followed by An Illustrated History of Seal by David Williams.

Sat 8^th September – 1pm – Seal Village Allotments BBQ.

Sat 22^nd Sept – Sat Oct 6^th – Seal Scarecrow Festival.

OCTOBER

Sat. October 6^th – Seal Harvest Supper and Quiz– Seal CEP School Zambra Way.

NOVEMBER

Monday 12^th November – 7.15 for 7.30 start – Seal History Group – Talk on  The Overlooked Triumph – Victory 1918.

DECEMBER

Saturday December 8^th – pm Family Christmas Party in Village Hall and Turning on of village lights