Annual Meeting, PCC report, Car Park and ABOWYF
Annual Meeting
Last Sunday we held our annual meeting to elect churchwardens and PCC members and others for the forthcoming year, and to review 2023. Paul Doree and Iloina Crowder continue as churchwardens. Jane Falconbridge has stood down from the PCC, and we thank her for her service. The PCC welcomed new members: Katherine Hunt, Sam Baker, Heidi Hopkins-Wase and Peter Falconbridge, and re-elected Stephen Brent, Dave Lee, Fran Murray and Karen Stickley for further terms of office.
We looked back over a year that saw Heather Ross join us as curate with her husband Simon, our Mission Action Plan being completed and many successful services and events. Then we had a traditional St Cuthbert’s bring & share lunch, with some wonderful food and company to round off an excellent day together.
PCC Report
The following day the PCC met with its new members. Our first act was to co-opt Phil Dant and Marlies Davies, who also wanted to join, and rejoiced in the happy situation of having more people willing to serve on the PCC than we had spaces.
Anne Dunning our Parish Safeguarding Officer, took us through our responsibilities in keeping St Cuthbert’s a safe place for all. We reviewed our Mission Action Plan, and heard about repairs to the car park and agreed the appointment of a new professional adviser to carry out our 5 yearly inspection of the premises. We considered the challenge of moving towards net zero carbon emissions as a church, and reviewed our finances with the help of Rowena our treasurer.
The Car Park
Or lunar landscape, as it should be called – it’s got that many craters in it.
We have had a generous offer from a contractor to resurface it at cost – and the work is due to commence on Monday 3 June, so we need to ask you not to park in the car park from then on.
Please also avoid parking right up to the entrance, to allow the contractor’s vehicles room to swing in. We hope once the work is done we will have a car park that is safer for us all to use, and we are happy for our neighbours to carry on parking when we don’t need the space for church activities.
Thank you
Can I take this opportunity to say thank you for being so considerate, especially when we ask you to leave the car park free for weddings and funerals? I’m very grateful for your help with this, and I’m well aware how difficult it is to find somewhere in Whitley Road to park your car!
Vans
Once the resurfacing is complete, we are would ask you not to park vans and heavy vehicles in the car park, since they will damage the new surface much more quickly. Eventually we will install a height barrier, but until then, please leave vans etc in the street.
Electric Vehicles
We are discussing the possibility of having EV charging points in the car park for anyone to use. This would generate a small income for the church, and hopefully be a useful service for our neighbours. I’ll let you know when we have more news about this.
Donate
The car park works are going to cost £5000. So far we have raised £3000. If you feel able to make a donation, large or small, to help us pay, we would be very grateful. You can scan the QR code to make a donation.
ABOWYF
You’re probably wondering what this stands for? A bit of what you fancy! This idea started life some years ago, and has now been revived by Dave Lee. Basically, if you’re going to be doing something fun, and would like it if some friends from church joined you, put it out there on the WhatsApp group and invite others to come along. So far we’ve had a trip to the Spotlight to watch a film, a 6 mile walk taking in the Jolly Fishermen in Stanstead Abbotts for a much needed cold drink on a hot day, and coming up – a folk concert at St Andrew’s Hertford with Julie Fowlis. You can book your tickets for that one here: Julie Fowlis gig
If you would like to join the WhatsApp group and hear about what’s being organised, follow this link.