Author: The Parishioner

Posted on

Chapel Filmshare – Ash Vale’s Free Neighbourhood Cinema

We are planning to revive our film evenings at the Chapel early in September when we anticipate that all Covid restrictions will have been lifted and that we’ll be able to offer our usual tea, coffee and cakes along with some enjoyable film entertainment.

For those who are not familiar with our group, we hold fortnightly film evenings at the Chapel on Thursday evenings. We normally start meeting up from 7.30 p.m. to share tea or coffee and cakes.  We show some cartoons, ‘shorts’ or trailers, followed by a main feature at around 8 p.m. Each film is usually preceded by a short introduction with a follow-up discussion afterwards – not too deep in content! 

We try to offer an interesting mixture of cinema entertainment; including feature films, both fairly recent and ‘classic’, occasional world cinema offerings, some ‘made for television dramas’ and a few documentary style presentations. Most are on dvd, some of these being bought in whilst others are provided by members.

We operate under a church video licence which gives us access to films from a wide variety of distributors, including MGM, Disney, Paramount, Sony Classic and more recently, Studio-Canal. Our projection equipment is provided under the British Film Institute’s neighbourhood Cinema scheme and we have our own large screen.

Anyone is welcome to join us. There is no charge for the film viewing although we’re happy to receive donations towards refreshments and are always grateful for any help with moving chairs and equipment. 

If you enjoy tea, coffee and cakes and appreciate films you’re welcome to join us fortnightly in September at the Chapel in Wharf Road, Ash Vale, GU12 5AY  from 7.30 p.m.  To sign up to our e-mail newsletter contact  Dick Elsey at richard.elsey45@gmail.com or on 01252 694314.

  • how many ice creams have you found in this edition so far?

Posted on

Ash Citizens Advice

Your Questions Answered

I have been living in my privately rented flat for years. I generally have a good relationship with my landlord, but I just cannot get them to carry out various repairs that have built up. How can I get them to act – and what exactly do they have to do?

This must be a very frustrating situation. The law states that your landlord must provide accommodation that is safe, healthy, and free from things that could cause serious harm. (this is for England only). You do not say exactly what repairs are needed. If you have problems such as electrical wiring that you think might be faulty, or there’s damp, or an infestation by pests, the landlord has a legal obligation to put things right.

Landlords are also responsible for the maintenance of the general structure, and fittings such as boilers and radiators; basins, baths, and toilets; and the drains.

The first step is to contact your landlord again, in writing. Include photographs of the problems. Keep a record of all communications and evidence relating to the disrepair.

 If that does not prompt any action,  advisors at Citizens Advice can help you  with next steps. These could include contacting your local council who have dedicated officers for dealing with  privately rented properties in disrepair or asking for a visit by the environmental health team.

Tenants can take their landlords to court to force them to carry out repairs. However, it is worth getting some advice and thinking carefully before embarking on this route. You can contact us by email at ashcab.org.uk or call 01252 315569.

UPDATE from the Ash Office

Ash Citizens Advice  helps people deal with the problems they face in everyday life and covers a range of topics including legal, consumer, employment, housing, benefits, debt and much, much more.  If you would like to find out more about Volunteering or would like an application pack, please call  on 01252 330080 or email admin@ashcab.org.uk.

Every year Citizens Advice puts thousands of pounds back into the pockets of hard-pressed families, the unemployed, homeless, and poorest communities it serves. It does this by helping them to manage their money, claim their full financial entitlements and avoid the costs of getting into debt. This money is critical to their lives and to local business. Without money people cannot afford the essentials of life and without spending, local business cannot thrive. You can help us to keep local markets buoyant by supporting our work with people in need in your community. Citizens Advice Ash is looking for Corporate Partners to work alongside us in the local community.

Citizens Advice Ash is currently open for telephone Advice, Mon—Thur 9.30am to 4pm .

Posted on

Mirror Mind… The Competition Winners

Reflections on Memories in Poetry

Many thanks to everyone who entered the poetry competition published in the previous Parishioner Magazine. We had some wonderful entries and were only sad not to be able to include them all in the new collection.  We also want to thank everyone who came to the poetry evening, and donated for books, to help fund The Chapel Project. Huge congratulations to our Poetry Competition winners, Kit Vessey and Michael D Rose who won 1st and 2nd prizes. Here are their poems for you to enjoy (published with kind permission, copyright is retained by the authors).

Geography

Palatial

ice giant

a white tongue on the landscape,

you skirr somnolently through hillsides

on a ballet of debris –

a geological pencil-sharpener.

Your blistered surface               is a mirror maze,

infested with the hammer-blow entertainments

of a travelling fair,

a cavernous lure, driving sunlight

deep into the churning score 

of your battleship-sleep.

By Michael D Rose  ©2021

Mirror Mind– 2nd Prize Winner

The Day I Lost My Memory

The day I lost my memory

Was a Wednesday

I think.

I put her down

Absentmindedly

On the kitchen counter,

Turned distractedly from

The kettle

To watch the dust motes

Sparkle in a shaft of daylight.

I did not miss her

Initially.

My mind twinkled with

Images of light darting on

The eiderdown which

Lay over heavy blankets forming

A counterpane land of

My childhood frailty…

Weak legs

Strong mind

Strong legs

Weak mind.

I have heard it said that

Those who lose their memory

Often keep their physical prowess.

A whistle blew.

I turned back

And wondered about the nature of the

Here and Now.

The There and Then.

The pain of loss

Is a burden

I pass on to another being.

I left something,

Someone

Here

Before the daylight struck.

But I can’t remember

Who she was.

By Kit Vessey  © 2021

Mirror Mind  – 1st prize   winner

It’s no too late! If you would like a copy of the Mirror Mind collection, contact Alex our Project Manager on 07730 609446 or ashvalechapel@gmail.com. Suggested donation £5 each, in aid of the Chapel Project, to help us keep everything running.

If you love writing poetry, why not join in? The next Poetry workshop is on Friday 13th August 7:30pm on Zoom. #Hospitality #Creativity #Worship Text 07730 609446 for details.

Posted on

Bible Study: Belonging (Isaiah 43:1-5)

By Helen Lambert

Where do you belong? Is it where you are from, the town or country where you were born? Is it your family or your friendship group? Perhaps you belong to a club or a team? Do you sometimes feel you belong to your work?

We talk about having a “sense of belonging”, or “feeling we belong”, as things that make us feel safe and secure. Where we belong gives us a sense of identity and affects how we behave. What aspects of your life (or even your identity) are affected by where you belong?

Conversely, it can be really hard to feel we don’t belong – whether to the “in” group, our community, the prevailing culture, or perhaps life in general.

Where does today’s Bible verse tell us we belong? The narrative of the Bible, from beginning to end, is that the God who created the world, and created us, also chose us to belong to him. Amazingly, the God who created the universe and everything in it, knows us so personally that he calls us by name (v1). He tells us, through the prophet Isaiah, that we are his. 

What are the implications of this deep and personal relationship with our creator God? This verse makes clear to us that belonging to God is a safe place to be. Why do you think this is so? 

Firstly, we are safe because we are known. The One who created us knows us better than we know ourselves, and so we do not need to hide away, or pretend to be someone we are not – as we may have to do to “fit in” with some of other the groups we want to belong to.  Not only are we known, but we are loved (yes – in spite of being known!) Further into this passage it says that we are infinitely precious to God (v4). 

Secondly, we are safe because God promises to look after us through the storms and terrors of life (though note that he does not say he will remove all these challenges). The promise is to be with us when we walk through “deep waters” (v2) so that they do not overwhelm us. What deep waters do you feel threatened by at the moment? Ask God to walk with you so that you are not overwhelmed.

Thirdly, we can feel safe because we have been chosen by God – we have nothing to prove! The Bible tells us that God chose us to belong to him even before the beginning of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and that this is made possible by Jesus Christ. It is not our own doing.

Finally, we can feel safe because our belonging to God gives us an identity and a purpose: “You did not choose me, I chose you and appointed you to go and bear much fruit…” (John 15:16)

So, God’s love, acceptance and choosing does not depend on who we are, what we have done, or even our choosing to follow him.  It is there for us, and has been since “before the world was made” (Ephesians 1:4).  We do, however, have a choice about whether we want to live in that place of safety, to accept the offer of belonging, to choose to explore and discover the relationship that is offered to us.  This in turn leads us to make choices about the way we live.  Earlier, we considered how where we belong affects the way that we live.  If we accept that we belong to God, this will inevitably inform the choices we make about our life, our behaviour and our priorities. How might they change for you?

I write this in the week that COVID restrictions have been lifted. Many are celebrating, but others have great fear.  Whether this is true of you, or whether other fears threaten to overwhelm you, or if you struggle with the fear of being an “outsider” – of not truly feeling you belong – be encouraged by these verses which are “bookended” by, and centred on, the promise of God to save, protect and accompany, all will a deeply personal love. “Do not be afraid – I will save you” (v1); “Do not be afraid – I am with you” (v5); “I am the Lord your God who saves you” (v3);  “I will…save your life, because you are precious to me and because I love you…”(v4). 

Know that you too belong and are welcome in the place of safety that is the Father’s love: 

“I have called you by name – you are mine!”

43 But now, this is what the Lord says—
    he who created you, Jacob,
    he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
    I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters,
    I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
    they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
    you will not be burned;
    the flames will not set you ablaze.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
    the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom,
    Cush[a] and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
    and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
    nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you;
    I will bring your children from the east
    and gather you from the west.

Read online: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+43&version=NIV

Posted on

What’s on? Summer and beyond 2021

What’s on this Summer:

Summer at St Mary’s Vale Rd, Ash Vale, GU12 5JE

Church Services on Sundays 10am in the garden (or join on zoom)

Community Café Fridays in August  10:30-12:00 in the Small hall & Astroturf area (just turn up, all welcome, no need to book)

Summer Ball in aid of the Children’s Society  Saturday 21st August  – contact Jan for tickets jan@tompot.co.uk (see page 5 for details)

Prayer Evening Friday 13th August Contact Karen for details via the office parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk

Summer at The Chapel  Wharf Rd, Ash Vale GU12 5AY

Picnic & Play in the Chapel garden. Wednesdays in August  12:00-14:00 text to book 07730 609446 (see inside back cover for details)

Chapel Poetry  Workshop  7:30pm on Friday 13 August on Zoom. Text for the link 07730 609446  (see also page 22&23)

Food Parcel donations accepted at The Chapel on Wednesdays and Fridays 9am-10am thank you. Summer snacks while the children are off school would be a huge help. If you are in need of a crisis parcel please contact Alex 07730 609446 or Carla 07843 489796

Also please watch this space for a community fridge! The project is starting soon — we will keep you updated!

Summer at St Paul’s      Parish Church in Tongham

Churches Together Picnic! 29th August 3pm in the vicarage garden(byo). RSVP via the Church office: 01252 783081

Messy church: August 19th 4pm: details to be confirmed on our facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/stpaulstongham

What’s on in the Autumn Term?

Sundays:

10am –Join St Mary’s for our weekly Church Service. both in person and on Zoom for those shielding or isolating.. Evensong is back too, contact the office for timings. Contact: Parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk

Mondays:

ChapelKids & LittleLambs CoffeeZoom  11am for parents and carers. All welcome, come and have a chat. Contact Alex for the link 07730 609446.

Meet up Mondays 10:30am at ‘The Church on the Green’ in Frimley, just pop in.

St Paul’s Tongham: Mondays 4-4.30pm. Toddler Storytime  – stories, actions and songs Church office: 01252 783081

Tuesdays:

St Mary’s Babies Support Group 10am-11am  A lovely baby group for parents and carers and their little ones from new-born to 12mths old. (Term time only, text to book) Alex: 07730 6094446

St Paul’s Tongham Tuesdays 2.30-4pm Mum Plus— friendship and facilitated discussions. Church office: 01252 783081

Choir Practice at St Mary’s 8-9pm Come and join in making a joyful noise! We currently range in age from 9 to 79, all are welcome, just turn up and sing. Contact: Parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk

Wednesdays:

ChapelKids baby & toddler group at The Chapel  on Wharf Rd (term time only). Call for details and bookings. Alex: 07730609446

St Paul’s Tongham Wednesdays 4-4.30pm. Toddler Storytime. Contact us via the  Church office: 01252 783081

Chapel Craft evenings 8-10pm at The Chapel on Wharf Rd. Join likeminded crafters, bring your latest project and craft while you chat.

Thursdays

Chapel Filmshare: Fortnightly Filmshare evenings at The Chapel—See page 25 for more information

St Pauls Tongham Thursdays 10.30-12noon Baby Plus  – Informal chat session for mums, with some singing and action songs for the little ones. Church office: 01252 783081

Save the date!

  • 16th Sept Messy Church @St Pauls
  • 26th Sept 4pm Messy Church @ St Mary’s
  • 26th Sept Messy Church @St Pauls
  • 2nd Oct Children’s Society Coffee Morning at St Peter’s in Ash 10am
  • 31st Oct Love & Light Event @ St Mary’s
  • Quiz Night in November @St Marys
  • Abbeywood Panto in November 26/27/28
  • 6th Dec St Nicholas Lantern Walk
  • 23rd July 2022 Summer Fair @St Mary’s

Have you enjoyed our Parishioner Magazine, community events and support groups? We would welcome a donation to help us keep everything going. Donations link: https://tinyurl.com/StMAshVale Thank you!

Posted on

Chapel Music

News from Matt Weeks, Chapel Musician in Residence

Things in the Ash Vale Chapel Studio have been going well in recent months. Here’s an update of what’s been going on recently…

We’ve had a wonderful variety of different people in:

We had a church choir who came in all the way from Battersea! Due to people moving on, the choir was actually coming to an end, so it was really lovely to be able to capture what they’d been working on so they all had a souvenir of their efforts of the past years.

We had a young rock band in from Wales; XL Live. They are a lovely young group of lads who, by all accounts, haven’t had the easiest of upbringings. So it was amazing to see them enjoy having a day in a studio and to see all their hard work begin to pay off. They loved the space, and were ever so appreciative to have the chance to be using it.

We’ve had some old friends come in to the studio to get their projects mixed. A lovely album which is in progress is a collection of cover versions sung by a father and daughter duo. We’re even bringing the families together!

We also recorded the bass part for a song Brian Doerksen is recording, which has been written about the awful discovery in Canada of 215 bodies of children found buried at an indigenous school.

The Chapel is such a blessing, and we are so pleased to be serving such a wide variety of people.

If you’d like to get in touch you can reach the Chapel Project Team on ashvalechapel@gmail.com on and the website is here: www.ashvalechapel.com

How many ice creams have you spotted in the magazine so far?

Posted on

My favourite recipe – Walnut Kisses

One of the joys I had growing up in the late 60’s/early 70’s was coming home from school on a Friday evening to find the kitchen full of wonderful yummy cakes which were being readied for the weekend. My maternal grandmother (Nonna) was from Italian stock; she was born in England but both her parents were Italian, and most of her family still spoke Italian at home. She married an Englishman (Charlie) and had 5 children. My mother was the oldest daughter after her brother, and as my grandfather was ill for much of her teens during the war, my mother became second mum to her younger siblings while Nonna worked, cooking as her mum had, in the Italian style with spaghetti etc. Consequently my brother and I grew up with an accomplished homely cook with a very rich palette of food – not fancy but very tasty.

Obviously our leanings were towards the sweet things. One of the best was a little biscuit called a ‘walnut kiss’ using coffee as the flavouring. Not particularly Italian but it sat right alongside the Victoria Sponge cake or crunchy biscuits which were also favourites. I share it with you as it was written in my mother’s recipe book – some of it you will need to play around with to get it ‘right’!

Walnut Kisses

  • 2oz butter/marg
  • 2oz sugar
  • 1 tsp coffee essence
  • 30z chopped walnuts
  • 3oz SR flour
  • Grated rind of 1 lemon

· Grease a baking tray and preheat the oven to Gas 6 200C, 400F.

· Cream the fat and sugar; beat in the coffee essence.

· Add the lemon rind and nuts.

· Mix in the flour and knead gently with fingertips (Author’s note: it is a dryish mix…if more moisture needed maybe add a drop of lemon juice?)

· Break into small pieces (about walnut size) and form into balls.

· Place on the grease baking tray, wide apart.

· Cook in the oven on the middle shelf for 15-20 minutes

· Leave to cool and top with coffee water icing (made with icing sugar and coffee essence).

I have a note that this may be too hot an oven…with the advent of modern ovens the heat can probably be reduced to Gas 5 (190C) for and cooked for 12 minutes.

Guess what I’m going to be cooking this Friday evening!

By Jackie Scott

Would you like to share your favourite recipe? Send it to us at

parishioner@ash-vale.org.uk.

Posted on

Friday Night Isonation

The parishioner interviewed Stephen Worsfold, a local DJ who has been busy this year making Friday Nights a lot more fun for us all!

Q.          What is  Isonation?

It’s a bi-weekly live DJ set on a Friday evening from 7pm until 9pm

I love music, and started Isonation as a way of doing my bit while we were in lockdown, so people had something to look forward to on a Friday night.

Q.          Why the name Isonation?

I choose the name as it’s the two words “isolated nation”  – there are also other people using this name so I shorted it into ISONATION – something snappy !

Q.          How do I listen in?

You can either listen in live on a Friday night or you can visit this page to listen to the library of previous sets that are available online. You can also download the mixcloud app and create a free account then follow “isolation-live”.

Q.          What’s been your best experience in the last year running  Isonation?

I did a four and half hour set on New Years Eve 2020 that was my favourite evening.

Q.          How many users do you have listening in?

We have now gone international! We also get an average of 100 people listening in per week.

Q. What are your plans this Summer?

I have a big family, so we are taking a break for the Summer to enjoy time with the children, and will be back with our live sets in the Autumn term, 14th September. If you would like to listen to a sample of what we do, here is a link:

 www.mixcloud.com/isonation-live Enjoy!

Posted on

Faith, Hope and Love in Lockdown

News from the Amaha We Uganda team

If lockdown was hard for us here, imagine what it must be like for our friends over in Uganda at the moment. As I write, they are in full lockdown, and our team reports that it is the poorest of the poor who are really struggling to survive. We worry about the poorest in the communities—elderly widows for example—and we pray for the street children, who usually manage to eat each day by labouring in the market places. With the markets shut, they  have no way to make money to get something to eat.

The Amaha We Uganda Team have been instrumental in linking the most vulnerable poor to the local churches, and managing emergency food distribution. This is not the kind of work that they usually do  — after all, Amaha We Uganda is not a relief agency — but they have surrounded the most vulnerable with prayer, in their hour of need, and shown them love. Thank you to all of you in the UK who responded to the emergency appeal. You can  donate online here for this work, which is still ongoing: https://tinyurl.com/AWUcrisis

As if this wasn’t enough to be doing, William and his team are persevering with the unenviable task of planting trees. We have joined Bishop Nasen in his vision to have a tree nursery in each archdeaconry of the South Rwenzori Diocese – 13 in total. Three nurseries have already provided 33,500 saplings and are now in the process of being replanted to grow new saplings. Another five nurseries are under way in the areas of most need. This is a crucial project, since the trees they are planting are the future hope for the region. Reforesting the hills is vital  in maintaining farmable soil, locking away carbon, providing food & shelter and preventing disastrous land slides. The photo below shows some of the very first saplings that were handed out at the women’s conference at Ibanda, and planted on the slopes of The Rwenzori. They have grown beautifully. Can you help us to keep AWU going and plant some more trees please? A Tree nursery costs around £500. Every penny goes a long way in Uganda!  https://tinyurl.com/AWUganda  Thank you for your support!

For more information, blogs and photos: https://www.amahaweuganda.org/