It’s Father’s Day this Sunday, June 20, and we invite you to join us at any of our three churches for a celebration and focus on dads, grandads and other special men who have been important to us in our lives.
Join us at St John’s, Hale, at 9.30am, for a service followed by free brunch, or St Mark’s, Upper Hale, at 11am where brunch will be served during the service, or St George’s, Badshot Lea, at 10am where dads can have a beer after church! Cheers to Dads!
What do you appreciate about your father or your stepfather? Perhaps you have good memories of him if he’s not around now. Or what do you like about being a dad? Or maybe your grandad or an uncle was the man who supported or influenced you most in your life. Why was that and what would you like to say about or to him?
Send us your thoughts on a video and we will use them as part of the online service for Father’s Day. Please send them to Alan Crawley to reach him by June 17th.
We are crowdfunding to raise money for our new Youth Hub at the St John’s which will be every day after school for 11-16 year olds. Check out www.avivacommunityfund.co.uk/st-johns-project to find out what you can get for your money and what we will be doing with it.
The Youth Hub
The hub will be open to all young people and we will be working in partnership with Relational Hub, a national charity which is helping young people thrive. Relational Hub is a proven model of youth and community work, with over a decade of supporting young people.
The Youth Hub will be based on these four principles:
Radical Hospitality – the way you welcome young people;
Everyday Youth Work – daily, consistent drop-in;
Support and Opportunities – developing skills and co-producing projects;
Sustainable Approach – having a long term approach, fundraising and enterprise strategy.
Aspen Salisbury is a young artist who specialises in wildlife-inspired art and can be found on Instagram @byaspencrafts
Dawn Harcourt
Karina Fraser
Karina Fraser is a synesthetic artist who uses the neurological experience of synaesthesia, the cross wiring of senses, to explore and create abstract art. She can be found in her studio at St George’s Church and at www.karinafraser.com
Knitchings
Knitchings is a head of creative arts, a knitter, artist, ‘interior freewheeler’, owner of the world’s most patient and obliging cat – Gladys – and has a large (43k) following on Instagram where she can be found @knitchings
Linda Daruvala
Linda Daruvala is an author and artist.
Penny Fleet
Late Summer Sun
Summer Joy
Sunny Sunflowers
Sweet Joy
Penny Fleet is a mixed media artist, based near Odiham, who creates paintings, cards and collages on canvas, wood and paper using a combination of acrylic paints, inks, hand-decorated collage papers, thread, fabric and text. She can be found at www.pennyfleet.co.uk
Sorrell Price
Susie Lidstone
Gladioli
Lowndes Buildings, Farnham
Susie Lidstone is a watercolour artist well known for her paintings of flowers and buildings especially around Farnham. She can be found at http://susielidstone.com/
Businesses
Castle Vets
Denzil belonging to Rebecca, vet nurse
Garavoche, a foster puppy living with Emma Bunce, vet nurse
Nela, a puppy with a cleft lip, belonging to Natalia, vet
Daffodogs, Merlin and Jasper belonging to Emma Green, vet
Nibbs is a small family business based in Surrey, producing small batch artisan gin in two flavours – elderflower gin, using freshly picked elderflower from the Surrey and Sussex countryside, and a ‘Surrey Hops’ gin using Farnham hops as a botanical. www.nibbsspirits.co.uk
The Rural Life Centre
The Rural Life Centre in Tilford is a living museum which collects, conserves and displays the history and culture of village life in the countryside. rural-life.org.uk
Squires
Squires is a garden centre in Badshot Lea, part of a family-owned horticultural business across Surrey, Sussex, Middlesex, West London and Berkshire. www.squiresgardencentres.co.uk
Usborne Books
Usborne sells books for children, often via local agents. To order any Usborne books, contact judywilliams61@hotmail.com
Faith organisations
Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Assocation, Farnham
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Women’s Association, Farnham, is a socially active branch of Lajna, an auxiliary organisation of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. lajna.org.uk
Badshot Lea and Hale
The Bahá’í Faith
Bahá’ís believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the future of society and of the nature and purpose of life. www.bahai.org
The Spire Church, Farnham
The Spire Church is a newly formed church created through a partnership between Farnham United Reformed Church and Farnham Methodist Church. spirechurchfarnham.org.uk
Individuals
Angela Hall
The Buckle Family
Buds of Hope by Aly Buckle
Give me Joy in m y Heart by Aly Buckle
Hugo Buckle, 3, planting in Nanny’s garden
Oh, what joy to see the bluebells, by Derek Buckle
Carolyn and Gerry Weston
The Church Cat
Flowers? What is the point if I can’t eat them?
Diana Thomas
Gillian Geraghty
Gillian Hyman
Judy Dudley
Margie Powell
Maxine Everitt
Melissa Salisbury
Melvin Little
Pamela Marsham
Wendy Edwards
Sobriety – an arrangement celebrating a year of sobriety achieved during lockdown of by a recovering alcoholic, remembering both the hope of recovery from addiction through seeking help and trusting the God of our understanding and the joys of sobriety.
Local Groups
Alder Valley Brass
Alder Valley Brass is a brass band based in Farnham, and a small group of its members played at the recent St George’s Day Service at St John’s. It is a traditional brass band of 25 brass players plus percussion and also perform in smaller ensembles from time to time, and it is celebrating its 60th birthday. www.aldervalleybrass.org.uk
Hale Carnival Committee is a group of people who organise the Hale Carnival and fundraise during the year. Sadly the carnival had to be cancelled this year because of Covid but it will be back! www.halecarnival.co.uk
Hale WI
Hale WI is a lively group which, out of lockdown, meets at the Hale Institute on the second Wednesday of the month at 1.45pm. https://surrey.thewi.org.uk/find-wi/hale
Among the therapies offered by Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice in Farnham therapy through nature, where the sessions are designed to support participants to live well through access to nature, horticulture and the garden, offering the benefits of ‘the great outdoors’ indoors. www.pth.org.uk
Places of Education
Badshot Lea Village Infant School
Sun Class created 100 flowers
Paper flowers by Mars Class
Sunflowers by Sky Class
Fruit and vegetable smiles by Rainbow Class
100 pictures from Tice’s Meadow by Star Classas part of Captain Tom’s 100 challenge
This year our festival has been sponsored by Florescence, an award-winning florist based at St Mark’s Church in Upper Hale. If you look at wonderful floral arrangements and think ‘I wish I could do that’, Elise from Florescence has made a video here to give you some tips. The finished arrangement can be seen in St Mark’s during our 11am Sunday service.
Thank you
Thank you to all who took part and to all of you for viewing this flower festival online. Our church flower arrangers have also placed beautiful displays in church which you can see at our Sunday services – 9.30am at St John’s, Hale; 10am at St George’s, Badshot Lea; and 11am at St Mark’s, Upper Hale.
The Covid pandemic has had an effect on our finances and the parish is more dependent than ever on donations. Please do give to support our work in the community. You can donate by clicking on the button below. Thank you.
The Great Board Game Quiz will be on Zoom on Saturday, May 1, a change from its original April date. It’s a brilliant way to have fun and raise money for parish funds.
There will be quiz rounds inspired by board games and it will be suitable for all the family.
Get your teams together (or join on your own) and email admin@badshotleaandhale.org to be sent a link to join in.
This year’s Farnham Flower Festival will once more be held online over the weekend of May 15 and 16 here on the website with contributions from individuals, businesses, faith groups, charities, schools and other organisations, all celebrating the theme of hope and joy. Anyone who would like to is invited to send in photos or videos of flower arrangements or garden or wild flowers, or floral art to take part in the festival.
This is the third Farnham Flower Festival and the second one online, organised by the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale in north Farnham. Rev’d Lesley Crawley, rector of the parish, said: “Our flower festivals celebrate colour and new life and the joy of God’s creation, and this year it feels more important than ever to draw attention to the hope and joy that we can find in nature and in the knowledge that God is here in the world, sustaining us.
“Please do send in your photos and videos and celebrate with us.”
This year’s festival is being sponsored by the award-winning florist Florescence who operates from downstairs at St Mark’s. Find out more about the company here.
This week we welcomed students from Farnham Heath End School to St John’s on the National Day of Reflection on March 23, when they tied ribbons in the churchyard and lit candles in the church in memory of all the people who have died in the past year and in support of those who have been bereaved.
Eight students visited the church on behalf of all students in the secondary school on the day which marked the first anniversary of lockdown.
Leo, a year eight student, said: “It is important to remember that this disease has claimed so many lives and left so many families distraught. I don’t know if we took all the right actions to minimise the loss of life. If this was ever to happen again we should remember these times and try to learn from them.”
Dan Conquer, assistant principal at the school, said: “A year ago we could not have comprehended the loss of life on the scale we have seen and so many families affected. Our students were very reflective as we all considered the events of the past year. Being at the church was a really poignant opportunity to mark that. Our thanks go to St John’s for organising this event.”
St John’s was also open for the three days from March 21 to 23 so that people could visit to tie ribbons on the trees and light candles inside in memory of those who have died.
Serving the Villages North of Farnham: Badshot Lea, Hale, Heath End & Weybourne
The Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale 