October Update

 Welcome to your KYN  update for the first week of October.

So, on Friday, we returned to a Zoom draw of the October 2020 KYN 100 Club.

The winners were:-

First prize no 29 Maggie Fox £96.66

Second prize no 9 Sue Buddin £48.33

So, again, that puts £145 into the  Seal Village Fund this month.

I realise we have some new recipients to this circulation list, due to some new village residents, and one person who had never registered before. So, if anybody wishes to join our monthly draw, the cost is £5 per month, payable by standing order. If you wish to join, just respond to this email, and I will send you a joining letter. All profits are spent on Village projects.

A couple of weeks ago, I sent you all a copy of the revised Seal Village Fund constitution. Thank you for your comments, and this was ratified by Zoom at the Friday Group meeting on Friday October 2nd. When we can all meet again face to face (as we would normally do 4 times each year), we will review again, but for now, we have enough support and signatures, to provide our current reviewed documentation for the safeguarding process for the SVF bank account.

We have been seeing some little steps forward, in getting our community activities back on track. Before lockdown, you may remember there had been a survey regarding your views on the use of our Village Hall. This is not something that has been forgotten, but clearly, our needs as a community, and for individuals, have changed dramatically over the past 6 months. 

With these changes in mind, you will be hearing more in the near future, and your up to date views, and ideas, will be explored further. The Parish Council are also looking forward to hearing your views regarding the use of our recreation ground. So - watch this space and get your thinking caps on to come up with some innovative ideas, for use of both the hall and the rec, to enhance our community further for the future.

We are already thinking of getting our Village centre decorated with our Christmas lights, and we will soon be purchasing the batteries for the smaller lights for communal areas, and two or three more sets of icicles, so that we might stretch a little further this year. It is very unlikely we will be able to hold a family party, or even community carol singing , but if you have any ideas as to how we can celebrate as a community observing social distancing, please don’t be shy, and pass your ideas on. One suggestion already made, is to distribute carol sheets through doors, and all to sing outside your houses at a set time (rather in the way the NHS clapping took place). I don’t think there would be much chance of the whole village being on the same page at the same time, but it could be fun! 

So, to get a Christmas sorted for this very strange year, we will need the following please:-

Your ideas to bring the community together safely

A team of people to sort and test our lights ready for use.

A large group of volunteers to hang our lights.

AND ALL OF THESE IN THE SAFEST ENVIRONMENT ! EASY!!

St Peter and St Paul Church Seal.

Some of you will have either hosted or been guests at one of Seal Church’s Great Little Garden Gatherings Over the summer. These have been very successful in providing some small, socially distanced social gatherings, and of course, in raising some much needed funds for our church, during a time where normal funding has been stretched. These will continue despite the change of season, either outside in covered, sheltered gardens, or, whilst we still can, in smaller groups in peoples’ homes.

We have been trying to get a recipe book together for the church to have printed, with some of your favourite ‘Lockdown Recipes’. We have  received a few, but nowhere near enough to put a booklet together for this Christmas, as intended. However, if you would like to contribute one or two of your favourite recipes, together with a sentence about what they are special to you this year, please send them in, and we will endeavour to get it together for next year.

The church is organising a ‘Village Window Advent Calendar’ for this year, to brighten our December, in a time when things look like our Christmas might be taking a very different profile to those we are used to. The idea is to have 24 front windows, decorated with an advent theme (to be arranged in advance) to be unveiled , one a day from December 1st-24th. There will then be a trail sometime between Christmas and New Year, rather like the Scarecrow Trail. There will be more information to come soon, but if you are interested in taking part, please let me know, and I will pass your contact details on to the organisers.

We continue to be here for people needing help in any way during these difficult times. Please contact us via this email address if you, or anybody you are aware of, needs a little practical help, and if we can’t manage ourselves, we probably will know a man (or woman) who can.

Very Best Wishes,

Marion (on behalf of Seal Know Your Neighbours).