Category Archives: Schools

Situations Vacant

Situations Vacant

There are lots of roles that you can help with at church – please do get involved. Email revd.lesley@badshotleaandhale.org to find out more:

Youth

Open the Book Member

Role description: Open the Book is part of the Bible Society and is groups of people from local churches visiting local schools and reading Bible stories – but it is so much more than that! We have had a team in this parish for the past seven years and we would like more people to join our team. There is a rolling programme of stories with comments and prayers all approved by the schools and Ofsted. This is a wonderful experience – for us as a team and the children we meet. They look forward to our visits, often take part in the stories and always enter into the spirit of the story. It is an honour to introduce the next generation to the wonderful stories of God and his love for us.

Person description: Enjoy being with children and telling them stories, and have about two hours during the school day, alternate weeks in term time.

Hours: We practise and prepare on alternate Monday mornings at 9:15.

Visit Folly Hill school on alternate Tuesday mornings 10:15 – 10:45.

Visit Badshot Lea school and Tootsies nursery on alternate Wednesday mornings 10:15 – 11:15.

Reports to: Margaret

School Mentors

Role description: We have recently taken on the running of a mentoring scheme for young people in Heath End School.  We listen and talk to a young person for an hour a week during term time and there is a termly meeting of mentors.  Commitment is for a term at a time, initial training involves safeguarding and training of mentoring – three courses of 4 hours.

Person description: A non-judgmental attitude and love for teenagers

Hours: 3 hours per week term time

Reports to: Simon

Parish Roles

PCC Secretary

Role description:

To circulate the agenda and relevant information before each meeting of the PCC in consultation with the incumbents. To take minutes and circulate them to members after the meetings

To liaise with members by email in between meetings such as taking votes on items which cannot wait. Keep a record of the results and post them on Office 365.

To prepare the Annual Report in consultation with the incumbent

To organise and minute the Annual Meetings

To handle correspondence on behalf of the Parish

To correspond with the Diocese informing them of names and contact details of officers in the Parish

To update the Charities Commission website with details of Officers and members of the PCC

To upload the Annual Report and Finance Report to the Charities Commission website in consultation with the incumbents

To correspond with the Charities Commission when necessary

Person description: Good organisational skills, ability to precis and pick out the essentials at meetings, patience, basic knowledge of Word/Excel

Hours: 1-2 hours per week

System Support

Role description: The parish currently runs on a variety of Google sheets, with associated Javascript macros. There is an opportunity to support these, or to help move them to Office 365 Power Automate

Person description: Good Computer skills with some experience of programming

Number of hours: Work expands to fill the time available!  If it is ongoing support there is perhaps an hour a week, but this can come in lumps as Google have a habit of changing things without telling us and they then need to be made to work in the new regime.

Reports to: Alan

Social Media Lead

Role description: Running our Instagram account and Twitter account

Person description: Understands social media and contemporary online culture.

Hours: 30 mins per day

Reports to: Stella

Social Media Team Member

Role description: Sharing, liking and commenting on our social media posts

Person description: Just needs to be on a social media platform

Hours: virtually nil

Reports to: Stella

Magazine editor

Role description: Putting together the parish magazine each month, asking for contributions, laying out the pages.

Person description: Computer literate with an eye for laying out the magazine and an understanding of what the readers will want in their magazine

Hours: 16 per month

Reports to: Stella

Magazine delivery coordination

Role description: Coordinating a team of people to deliver the magazines. Posting some of the magazines to those who live outside the parish

Person description: Good at organisation and spreadsheets, good at leading a team

Hours: 4 per month

Reports to: Stella

Notice Board Officer

Role description: Collect items to put on the boards and pin them up once a week

Person description: Able to collect the posters etc and get round the three churches, a good eye to ensure the boards look attractive

Hours: 2 hours per week

Reports to: Stella 

Pastoral Support

Role description: Calling people to check they are ok, visiting when that is allowed

Person description: Empathetic, non-judgemental, good at listening, loves people

Hours: Depends on agreement

Reports to: Lesley

Vergers for Occasional Offices

Role description: Available occasionally during the day and on Saturdays to help at Funerals and Weddings – able to work the CD player and put out the microphones and welcome people

Person description: Good with technology and welcoming

Hours: Ad hoc – you will be part of a team of people called upon occasionally

Reports to: Lesley

Church roles

Singers to sing in the Parish Choir

Role description: Attending choir practice and singing in the choir at St John’s and St George’s

Person description: A love of singing, and the ability to sing in tune.  It is not necessary to be able to read music.

Hours: Choir practice is at St George’s Church, Badshot Lea, every Monday during term time, from 6pm ’till 7 or 7.15pm. Services last one hour every Sunday morning at each of the churches.

Musician

Role Description: Musician to play occasionally at services at either St. George’s or St. John’s

Person description: A competent and confident keyboard player, preferably, but could be a guitar player, accordion player, or fiddle player! With imagination and enthusiasm for playing, and leading the choir and congregation in the singing.

Hours: – playing for a service one Sunday morning a month, practise in the hymns on the rota to be played.  Prepare suitable music to play at the beginning and end of each service, and during the service, as required.

Reports to: Margaret

Cleaning at each of the churches

Role description: Clean the church and other rooms

Person description: Good at cleaning

Hours: 1.5 hours per week for St John’s and St Mark’s.

Reports to: Warden

On Call Key Holders for St John’s and for St George’s

Role description: Holds keys to the church and is able to open up the church at short notice

Person description: Able to be contacted at short notice during the day or evening

Hours: very infrequent occurrence

Reports to: Warden 

Eco-Church representative at each of the churches

Role description: Four churches are Eco-churches, a national initiative that uses an online questionnaire to assess churches. This person needs to fill in the online data, recommend policies to the PCC and promote eco work in congregation

Person description: Knowledgeable and passionate about environmental issues and computer literate

Hours: Depends on agreement

Reports to: Lesley

St John’s Church

Intercessors

Role description: Prepare prayers for the Sunday Service and pray them during the service

Person description: Able to lead prayers

Hours: 1 per month

Reports to: Warden

Servers

Role description: Prepare everything for communion and assist the priest during the service

Person description: Willing to help during the service

Hours: 1 per month

Reports to: Warden

Opening and closing the church

Role description: Opens and closes the church on a rota

Person description: Able to get to the church and open or close it

Hours: depends on how often they are on the rota

Reports to: Warden

Coffee lead

Role description: Make sure there are people to serve coffee each week and that we have the right supplies

Person description: Friendly and welcoming and able to fill in an online spreadsheet

Hours: Very few – the rota should run without too much intervention

Reports to: Warden

Grounds officer at St John’s

Role description: Able to organise teams to help occasionally. At each of the churches we do have great people who are already doing gardening, but there are sometimes additional maintenance works that needs a team

Person description: Enjoys gardening and grounds maintenance

Hours: Depends on agreement

Reports to: Warden

St George’s Church

St Georges Risk Assessment Co-ordinator

Role description: The parish have a small group who create Generic Risk Assessments and assist in the creation of non Generic Risk Assessments.  The aim is to have one from each Church so that local knowledge is represented on the group. 

Person description: Prior experience of creating Risk Assessments would be ideal.

Hours: The time is difficult to specify as it will depend on the need for new Risk Assessments.  However, there is an initial period of catch up reviewing the risks that we currently have and rationalising them into Generic Risk Assessments which can be used by multiple Activities.  During this initial stage about 6 hours/month should be required.

Reports to: Alan

Welcomers

Role description: Put out chairs and welcome people as they arrive.

Person description: Fit and able to move chairs, friendly and welcoming

Hours: 2 per month

Reports to: Warden

Mowers

Role description: Mow the lawn at St George’s from the spring

Person description: Able to use the electric mower

Hours: 3 per month

Reports to: Bill

Servers

Role description: Prepare everything for communion and assist the priest during the service

Person description: Willing to help during the service

Hours: 1 per month

Reports to: Warden

St Mark’s Church

Maintenance officer at St Mark’s

Role description: Repair things that can be repaired and call in contractors when necessary. Check fabric monthly.

Person description: Good at DIY. Ideally it would be good to have electrician, construction or plumbing experience

Hours: 2 hours per week

Reports to: Warden

Gardener at St Mark’s

Role description:

We need a person prepared to tend the hedges either side of the main driveway down the side of St Marks. The object is to ensure they remain neat and to prevent significant incursion onto the driveway itself. We have people for grass mowing and major hedge trimming at the moment, so this should not be necessary.

Hours:

It is estimated this may take up to 2 hours per month.

Reports to:

Warden

The June Magazine is here

The sun is out and so is the June magazine! This month’s magazine is packed full of news and events about our parish which isn’t confined to the villages we serve locally – lovely though they all are! Being online has allowed us to reach out far further and welcome people who can’t be with us physically.

Take the flower festival for instance. Among the 300+ entries were ones from friends of the parish from around the country. Take a look at some of the entries in the magazine and, of course, online.

There’s news of upcoming events – Father’s Day’s an important one as is the fete on July 3 – new classes, new rooms, a new business, our new youth hub, the new mayor and North Farnham councillor, along with lots more including Kitty Milroy and her media-starring murals, prayer, Jeremy Hunt, appeals for help, schools news, the Church Cat and more.

Enjoy reading and enjoy the sun.

Download the magazine here:

A Gallery of Hope and Joy – the 2021 Farnham Flower Festival

Artists

Alison Ridgeon
Annette Wallace
Aspen Salisbury

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

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

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

Castle Vets is a veterinary practice based in Hale and Farnborough. www.castlevetsltd.co.uk

Farnham Mill

Farnham Mill is a nursing and dementia specialist care home based in north Farnham. farnhammillnursinghome.co.uk

Florescence

Florescence is an award-winning florist based in St Mark’s Church, and the sponsors of the Farnham Flower Festival. florescence.org

Heavens Kitchen

Heavens Kitchen is an independent Mediterranean steak house In Hale Road, Farnham, open for both sit-down and take-away meals. www.heavens-kitchen.uk

Mind Your Bonce

Mind your Bonce is a milliner based in Hale, making retro and modern hats and headwear. www.facebook.com/MindYourBonce

Nibbs Gin

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
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

Farnham Assist

Farnham ASSIST is a local charity supporting older people. farnham-assist.org.uk

Hale Carnival Committee

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

Little Bees

Little Bees Toddler Group is back at St George’s. For further information contact Maxine Everitt maxine.everitt@badshotleaandhale.org

Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice Therapies Through Nature

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

Badshot Lea Village Infant School is a small school in the heart of Badshot Lea. www.badshot-lea.surrey.sch.uk

Farnham Heath End School

Farnham Heath End School is one of two secondary schools in north Farnham and is on the Weybourne/Heath End/Hale border. www.fhes.org.uk

Hale Academy

Hale Academy is a nursery and primary school in Upper Hale. www.hale.kite.academy

Post19

Post19 is a leading Life Skills and Support centre for young adults with learning difficulties. www.post19.com

William Cobbett Primary School
Year 4
Year 6
Individual entries

William Cobbett Primary School is based in Weybourne, north Farnham. www.william-cobbett.surrey.sch.uk

Farnham Flower Festival 2021

Enjoy the online Farnham Flower Festival in this YouTube video:

Thank you to everyone who sent in this amazing selection of pictures for our annual flower festival, and to our poets too.

Gallery of pictures

You can see the gallery of flowers and art here.

Poems of hope and joy

To read the poems, click here.

How to arrange flowers

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.

Join the 2021 Farnham Online Flower Festival

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.

Pictures and videos should be sent to admin@badshotleaandhale.org to arrive by May 9th.

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.

You can see last year’s festival here.

Pictured above is William Cobbett Lion Care Bubble’s 2020 Flower Festival entry.

Your March Magazine is here

The March issue of the parish magazine is out with plenty to read inside: Lent, Easter, Mothering Sunday, school news, our new florist who moves into St Mark’s at the start of the month, exciting news about the Kitty Milroy murals and Emily the organ, prayer, news from the parish and the local MP, the Church Cat and lots more.

You can find the magazine below. But if you would like a paper copy, please let us know by emailing Anne Young: ah_young33@hotmail.com

The cover price of the magazine is £10 for the year which pays for the editorial costs. We would be grateful if those accessing it online would pay £1 an issue. You can pay by clicking on the button below:

The magazine is available here:

Thanks and reflection

The service of thanksgiving and prayer for the NHS and other frontline workers has been hugely welcomed and reflected the gratitude and creativity of our community as well as the importance of prayer for many of us (online searches for information about prayer have skyrocketed since the outbreak of Coronavirus began).

Our thanks to the masses of people who were involved in the service which Alan and Lesley put together: Farnham Heath End School; the Scouts; people across the community who sent in beautiful rainbows and other works; keyworkers who allowed themselves to be photographed and the pictures shown as Olivia Jasper sang Amazing Grace; church members; the Mayor of Farnham, Pat Evans; and local MP, Jeremy Hunt.

Lesley Crawley reflected on the service: “I have been bowled over by the gratitude of others for this service and I hope it is enabling others to take their thoughts and anxieties and feelings of gratitude and turn them into prayers. For me, I find prayer always helps; it always makes me feel more peaceful and bit by bit it makes me a better version of myself. In the case of a nation praying it gives us a helpful and even hopeful way of expressing our concerns and worries and also a way of focussing on the good and being grateful for that.”

Latest news and support

Thursday, March 19th

As we continue to work out how to live under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, we will be offering offering ideas and resources to help each other.  Please do let us know if you can help or need help, or know someone who does. Email us here.

There are a number of resources on our Faith Online page and we have added a link specifically to support people’s mental health. More will be added.

At the end of the school day tomorrow schools close for all pupils apart from children of key workers and vulnerable children. The effects of this will be felt across all society and again we will be doing what we can to support people. Teachers and former teachers are offering to give advice and help where they can. Among those offering locally are Carolyn Weston and Rachel Wright. Carolyn, a retired teacher, is happy to give general email advice, via parents, to children who may have some work set or some homework to finish, and Rachel’s specialisms are Key Stage 3-4 Science and A-Level Chemistry. If you want to contact them, please do so via the parish admin email admin@badshotleaandhale.org and we will put you in touch.

A prayer in time of need:

Lord Jesus Christ,
you taught us to love our neighbour,
and to care for those in need
as if we were caring for you.
In this time of anxiety, give us strength
to comfort the fearful, to tend the sick,
and to assure the isolated
of our love, and your love,
for your name’s sake.
Amen.

Christmas celebrations!

Christmas is really getting going here in Badshot Lea and Hale. There were not one, not two but three carol services at the weekend (with help from Badshot Lea Village Infant School and William Cobbett Primary School) as well as our Christmas Carol Extravaganza on Emily the organ plus lunch on Saturday; Post19 holding a Christmas concert at St John’s last week, and Tootsiesthere today.

Tonight there are carols at the Hale Institute at 6.30pm. We will welcome William Cobbett School and Farnham Heath End School to St John’s at the end of the week and of course there is the Worship for All Carol Service this Sunday at 11.30am at St George’s, are our Crib Services on Christmas Eve, Midnight Mass at each of the churches to see in Christmas and Christmas Day all-age services. Don’t forget Journey to Bethlehem on Friday, leaving St Mark’s and St George’s at 7pm and following the star and the donkeys all the way to St John’s. Dressing up as a Nativity character is optional but encouraged!

Tomorrow, if you need a time of quiet, or if celebrations leave you cold at the moment, we have The Longest Night at St John’s at 7.30pm. A service for those for whom Christmas hurts, or who just need a time of reflection.

All the details are here.

Have a blessed Christmas.

Pictured above and below are Christmas celebrations by Post19.

Post19 Christmas 2019 3

‘When I hear The Last Post I think of him’

St John’s Church, Hale, was packed on Saturday night when people of all generations gathered for the Farnham Festival of Remembrance, to pay tribute to all who have suffered and died in armed conflict and to pray for peace in a divided, war-torn world.

The Festival featured the Royal British Legion and other representatives of the armed forces in the form of A Company, 4th Battalion, Princess of Wales’ Royal Regiment; the Sea Cadets of TS Swiftsure1 Battalion Aldershot Army Cadet Force; and 229 (Farnham) Squadron Air Training Corps.

Civilians were represented by the Mayor of Farnham, Cllr Pat Evans; the British Red Cross; St John Ambulance; the Guides; and three local schools – Badshot Lea Infant School, William Cobbett Primary School and Farnham Heath End School.

Music was provided by Farnham Brass Band; TS Swiftsure; the combined Parish choir; Frances Whewell; Wendy Edwards; Liv Jasper;  Sara Burnie; and Dexter and Archie Dedalo-Skilton, Kyle Manson-Hing and Paris McCann, all extraordinarily talented musicians from Farnham Heath End School.

Narration was by Town Crier Jonathan Jones; and a service was led by Rev’ds Hannah Moore and John Morris, with additional reading by Bob Skinner, one of the leaders of Weybourne Community Church. The whole festival had been organised by Simon Alexander, to whom huge thanks and praise must go.

Each brought to the occasion a unique element, from the stirring percussion of the Sea Cadets to the moving tribute of the member of the Army reserve who spoke of his friend ‘Socks’ (so called because one time he forgot his socks when he was deployed) who was killed in Afghanistan. “When I hear The Last Post I think of him” he said.

There was the thoughtful poetry from William Cobbett pupils, the solemnity of the moment when the Guides processed in with the Torch of Remembrance, accompanied by Liv Jasper singing When the Lights Go On Again. There was so much more, including heart-rending poetry from World War One; a simple and beautiful poppy installation by children from Badshot Lea Infant School; memories of World War Two; and the building of a drum altar, draped with the Union Flag and the standard of the Royal British Legion, and topped with a Book of Remembrance of local people who had died in World War Two.

Intertwined with this was the sense that peace is a fragile thing and we must never stop striving and praying for it. In Aftermath, written by Siegfried Sassoon in the year after the end of the ‘war to end all wars’, Bob Skinner read the line: “Do you ever stop and ask, ‘Is it all going to happen again?’”

The young people sharing in the festival and receiving the gift of remembrance from older generations, seemed aware that this gift was a responsibility too and that the hope of peace lay in their hands as much as anyone else’s.

Above all, as prayers were said in front of the drum altar, there was an understanding that , however dark the world is, the suffering God is there in the midst of the darkness.

“Have you forgotten yet?…
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget.”
                                                                                    (Siegfried Sassoon, March 1919).

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