St Mary’s invites you to celebrate Easter 2021

Palm Sunday 28th March: Zoom Service 10am

Email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk for the link or see below for zoom details. Hosanna!

Good Friday 2nd April: Stations of the Cross & Prayer

Follow the stations of the cross trail from The Chapel on Wharf Road to St Mary’s Church on Vale Road. Arrive at St Mary’s for a socially distanced  opportunity for private prayer and reflection in church. (Open 10am onwards)

Easter Sunday 4th April:  Zoom Service 10am

Email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk for the Zoom link or to book your seat in Church (spaces are limited) We look forward to celebrating the risen Christ!

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Sheep Trail List (send yours in today!) #AshValeSheepTrail

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who took part in the Sheep Trail! We had a lovely time and we hope you did too. 💕🐑 The trail is now closed, but let us know which was your favourite sheep, we have a little prize for them! 🙂 text 07730609446

Can you find all these sheep? Why not see if you can find them all this half term? We have also hidden 17 sheep in the Parishioner Magazine, you can pick up a paper copy of it at St Mary’s.

  • Boaz & Ruth – You will find us in Alder Close, Avondale
  • Lamby – looking out from a window upstairs, Vale Croft, Lysons Avenue, by Ash Vale train station roundabout.
  • Shawn Minerva gilderoy – 362 Vale Road
  • Joshua (blue) Alex (red) Lulu (cuddly sheep) – Coverack, Horseshoe Lane GU12 5LL 
  • Shaun – White Lodge, Wentworth crescent. (Private road part. The big old White House as you turn in) 
  • Sheep – 67 Wentworth crescent
  • Delores – 42 Wentworth Crescent, GU12 5LE 
  • Maisy and Lewis – 19 Wentworth Crescent
  • Stephanie the Sheep – 85 Prospect Road
  • Lamby – Vale Road (between Penrose Gardens & Firacre Rd)
  • Woody – You’ll find me if you walk along the canal towpath between The Swan and The Admiral, and look across the canal!
  • Cedric, Cecil & Cyril – 203 Vale Road (Cyril said it was too cold outside so he’s peering out the window). They told us an amazing story, apparently their distant relatives were there with the Shepherds and saw the Angels on THE Christmas Day! Wow!
  • St Mary’s Flock – St Mary’s Church
  • Fluff – 14 Wood Street
  • Herbie (the herbivore! 😁) – 24 Wood Street
  • Flower and Petal, And one printed picture quoting Psalm 29 – 56 Waverley Drive
  • Cuddle and Trouble – 52 Firacre Road, Ash Vale
  • Cedric – 155 Vale Road
  • Daisy, Minty, Minnie, Herdy 1,2&3 – 91 Vale Road (2 sheep on flower border right of drive. Daisy and Minty. One on Gate post. Minnie.3 in windows. Herdy1, 2 and 3)
  • Sandra & Larry– 81 Vale Road
  • Lamb Lamb – 71 Vale Road
  • Sheepy, Sheeply & Sheepish (knitted) Lucy lamb and friends (paper sheep), Jane, Goblin and Cutie (Cotten wool sheep) – 60 Vale Road
  • Strictly come Lambing! Lancaster Close
  • Freddie & Love – 11 Lancaster Close
  • Bramble – 19 Lancaster Close, Ash Vale
  • Sheepaboo and Morph – 42 Lancaster close
  • “Fluffy Wooly” and “Princess Sheep” – Gloster Close
    Shaun and Timmy – Comet Close
  • Celandine Sheep – Wey Close
  • Baart and Baarbara – 45 Vickers Road Ash Vale GU12 5SE
  • One lamb – 46 Vickers Road, GU12 5SE (upper window)
  • Ernest Sheepleton and crew! 22 Shackleton close
  • Fluffy, Steve, Snuggles & Max – 29 Cody Close, Ash Vale
  • Baaaaaa-bara – Ash Hill Road (Near the Phyllis Tuckwell Shop)
  • Stump House Sheep rocks in the covid snake: Rocky, Stella, Fluff and Lammy 
  • Baaaa-tholowmew – Ash Hill Road (near the Kia garage)
  • Mike’s Flock – Cobo, Beetons Avenue
  • Bob the sheep – Murrell Road
  • 2 sheep – Longacre 
  • Shaun & Dawn (beautifully made by the Chapel Craft group) – 1 Grove Villas,  Grove Road,  GU12 5BD #ChapelCraft (Wednesdays 8pm)
  • Timmy – Wharf Rd (look up, I’m above Bet Fred!)
  • Chapel Flock – The Chapel, Wharf Road
  • Bah – 11 Foxhurst Rd (aptly named by L aged 2 😍)
  • Valentine – Collins Gardens, Ash
  • Ramsey, Eugenie and Lambert!- 14 College Road, Ash
  • Shadow – 2 Potters Crescent GU12 6AY
  • Zara & Sam Sheep, South Lane, Ash
  • lots of sheep – 35 Wyke Avenue (2 crafted ones and some cuddly ones!)
  • Upcycled Sheep – 16 Lincoln close Ash Vale
  • Mr and Mrs Ramsbottom, Woodland and Yardley- White Lane, Ash Green (go past Hazel Road to find the Ramsbottom flock)
  • Susie and Geoffrey – Yankari, Hazel Road, Ash Green

Keep them coming – If you’ve got a sheep on display, send us it’s name and location and we will add them to the trail. 07730 609446. The more the merrier, we have all half term to enjoy the hunt for the lost sheep!

Share your photos online with the hashtag #AshValeSheepTrail and tell us who’s your favourite, or why not comment here? 

Stay safe and have fun everyone! 

#AshValeSheepTrail #LostSheepTrail #LoveWhereWeLive #AshVale #Ash #AshGreen #HalfTermFun #SociallyDistancedFun #LoveYourNeighbours #Community

What’s on in Ash Vale? Feb/March 2021

Weekly Events:

Sundays 10am –Join St Mary’s for our weekly Church Service. All are welcome. During lockdown we will be on Zoom only, and once the doors open again we will be both in zoom and in person. Contact us to go on the weekly email list for links and news. Parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk Wednesday night Evensong is back too, contact the office for the latest timings.

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Bible Study for a New Year : 2 Corinthians 5:15-18

By Helen Lambert

New Year, new you!  New Year’s resolutions.  New “normal”.  New cases.  New vaccine. New variant. New rules.  New lockdown.  Do you ever wish things would stop being quite so new?  2020 was a whole new experience for everyone – not just in Ash Vale, not just in the UK, but on the whole planet.  But what about you?  Do you feel renewed?  Or just wrung out?  The “new” has become “old” and we would all like to move on, but times remain uncertain and precarious.

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Happy News from Uganda

By Judith Vella & Alex Sanderson (2 of the Amaha We Uganda Trustees)

A Bountiful Harvest: Part of Amaha We Uganda’s ‘No Money No Food’ campaign involved providing seed for planting in August, thus providing crops of beans for food in the next season. Without this help, families were facing a crisis, because during the early Covid lockdown all they had to eat was their seed grain, they had nothing left to plant. We are delighted to report that the harvest was blessed, providing an enormous crop in November. All the women’s groups who had received seed for planting have given some seed back after harvesting. This seed will be redistributed to more groups in March 2021 for the next season’s planting. In this way we hope they can make this a sustainable means of growing food. In total 977kg of beans were paid forward for replanting. An amazing feat.

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Useful Numbers – Help is at hand!

Here are some of the useful numbers you may need if you need support in Ash Vale. If you think we are missing a number please let us know.

Local Churches:

St Mary’s, Ash Vale – 07863 311165 (Parish Administrator’s Mobile)

The Chapel, Ash Vale –  07730 609446 (Project Manager’s Mobile)

St Peter’s, Ash – 01252 331161

Holy Angels, Ash – 01252 321422

St Paul’s, Tongham – 01252 782790

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St Mary’s invites you to celebrate Christmas 2020

We love our beautiful cover this issue, a Christingle Orange by Dan Austin. We will be celebrating Christingle out in our community on Christmas Eve this year. Please join us! We wish you a peaceful and blessed Christmas.

Sun 29th Nov 10am – Advent Service on Zoom

Start Advent with beautiful music & worship for the season. For details email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk

Sun 6th Dec – St Nicholas Day Lantern Walk

Enjoy a socially distanced lantern walk from The Chapel on Wharf Rd to St Mary’s and see St Nicholas! (Slots available starting from Chapel 3:30pm — 6:30pm) Please dress for the weather and bring a lantern or torch. Booking is essential. Text / phone 07730 609446

Sun 13th Dec 10am—Service & Christmas Hampers

Zoom church service and the opportunity to donate towards hampers for local people in need. For Zoom details contact parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk  For hamper donations (to give funds or donate items) please contact us on 07730 609446 or the local Covid Support group.

Sun 20th Dec 6:30pm – Carols by Candlelight

Join us from home on Zoom (if restrictions permit we will also have limited tickets in church, booking essential). For Zoom details & to enquire about tickets please email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk

Thur 24th Dec 4:30pm— Christingle Carol Singing

We can’t gather in church for Christingle, so we will come to you! Look out for carol singers out and about in Ash Vale, and join in with the fun on Zoom. Christingle donations are welcomed for the Children’s Society, and a link will be shared on Facebook & Zoom. At 6pm we will be finishing with everyone bell ringing on their doorsteps too! Email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk for links.

Thur 24th Dec 11:30pm – Midnight Mass

Church Service to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will be on Zoom (and some seating in church if regulations allow). Contact parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk

Fri 25th Dec 10am – Christmas Morning Service

This is our main Christmas Day Morning Service on Zoom (and some seating in church if regulations allow). Contact parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk for details.

Gifts to help our neighbours. We would like to encourage everyone to ‘buy local’ in 2020, to donate for Christmas hampers here, and also to support our twinned communities in Uganda with Christmas Trees for Christmas. www.amahaweuganda.org Thank You.  

All events are subject to change due to Covid-19 safety rules. Please keep in touch via our mailing list for weekly notices by email parishoffice@ash-vale.org.uk or keep an eye on Facebook @StMarysAshVale  St  Mary’s Church, Ash Vale, GU12 5JE