Chetnole

from December 2020/January 2021 No.331

OUR CHURCH COMMUNITIES

CHETNOLE with REP: Liz Tebbatt 873140 tebbatttowers@gmail.com Hamlet, Melbury Bubb & Stockwood DISTRIBUTOR: Stan Darley

View towards Chetnole from Stockwood

Well here we are, the last month of 2020 and I’m sure that by now most of us will be glad to see the back of it for obvious reasons. I really hope that by the time you read this, you will be looking forward to the end of lockdown2 (with no extensions) and making preparations for Christmas, in whatever form it is allowed.

It’s been a strange experience this COVID-19 but what has really lifted my spirits is seeing the resilience and stoicism of everyone and the determination not to let it beat us. We’ve learned new skills we never thought we’d develop and have become more innovative in maintaining connections with jobs, family and friends, leisure activities – we even had a Covid-secure flower show!

So I wanted to say Well Done You and keep it going, you’re doing great!

We send our love to Nick and the family as we remember our wonderful Bella and her amazing work as editor over the years and also congratulate our new editor Kathryn who is doing a fantastic job too.

Merry Christmas to you all and wishing you a happy, hopeful and healthy new year. See you all soon in the February 2021 issue.

Liz Tebbatt

St Peter’s Church

Chetnole church will remain open on Wednesdays and Sundays, with book exchange and foodbank as usual. However, the door will be closed, as it is getting cold and blustery heading into winter. Hand sanitiser is provided.

We were sorry to have to cancel Remembrance Sunday service because of regulations. We hope many of you took the opportunity to stop into church for a quiet moment either on 8 or 11 November, or were able to look at the displays of poppies, wreaths and crosses.

Many thanks to the Guides for the lovely paper poppies which they gave this year – their painted stones from a few years ago still look wonderful.

We have two dates for your Christmas calendar! These are obviously dependent on guidelines in place at the time, so more details will be given as we know more, but we hope they will be possible one way or another:

Sunday 20 December at 5:30pm – Carol service

Christmas Day at 9:45am – Family service

Aly Kozowyk

Yeovil Yompers for Save the Children

As the 16th Greasy Spoon Cafe has been postponed until next year, we thought we would raise funds for Save the Children through sponsorship by walking 97 miles by Christmas Jumper day on 11 December.

This is the length of the Jurassic coast path. Other branches from the South West will be joining us. Some of the 97 miles will be completed with extended dog walks locally. Aly, Bee, Sarah and Ginny are the Yeovil Yompers; please sponsor us by going to our Just Giving page: https://www.justgiving.com/ fundraising/YeovilYompersforSCF

Bee Grant Peterkin

PS. Save the Children cards are still available at Chetnole Mill, even on Christmas Eve if you have run out of wrapping paper! Tel: 872255.

Chetnole Village Hall needs your help

However, in line with government restrictions the Hall has largely been closed since March, exceptions being the outreach Post Office and, more recently, the re-opening of Wednesday coffee mornings, neither of which attract hire charges. Thus, we have received no regular income since March and now need to dip into reserves. We were lucky to receive two bequests earlier this year which have helped, plus there are residents who thankfully support the Village Hall with covenants. Our Chairman, Gwen Adair, says, “We keep hire costs to a minimum to better support the community and we intend to maintain this policy. However, with no current hiring income, we need extra help from our friends”. Although we understand the present situation is difficult for everyone and this is likely to continue for some time, we do need support to keep the Village Hall alive. Please would you consider entering a four-year covenant for a fixed amount, payable annually during each of those four years, on a date suitable to you. This would help cover running costs and provide continuity and a future for YOUR Village Hall. Should you not wish to make a full four year commitment then a “one-off” donation would be most Chetnole Village Hall is, quite rightly, welcome. in the centre of our village. Folk like Photo: Liz Tebbatt to think it is also the heart, or hub, of the village. The Hall Management Committee give a lot of their time and energy to make this so.

We do not enjoy financial support from our local authority, so we must raise funds to pay the considerable maintenance costs. We do this by hiring the Hall to various community groups and by organising shows and entertainments throughout each year.

An easy way to help your Village Hall

When shopping with Amazon go to smile.amazon.co.uk and select Chetnole Village Hall from the list of charities. You then simply proceed with your ordering in the usual way. There is no extra cost to you but Amazon will donate 0.5% of the value of your purchases to Chetnole Village Hall.

To offer support, please contact John Head – Treasurer (873555) or David Russell – Secretary (873816)

Chetnole Village Hall Management Committee

Internet connection in Chetnole

As many of us know, the internet connection in Chetnole is being pushed to the limit this year. With lockdown, there are more people in the village, some working from home, and many of us have endured a frustratingly slow connection, making work, video calls and uploads/downloads a testing experience. Sophie Charrington has been in touch with Wessex Internet (WI) who are offering rural areas in the South West the unique opportunity to receive Full Fibre Network across the village, via the Government’s Rural Gigabit Connectivity Voucher Scheme.

Not only would this provide the entire community with much faster internet speeds via WI’s fibre optic cables, but the voucher would allow us to offset the cost of this usually expensive installation. Residents of Chetnole can claim a £1,500 voucher, and businesses a £3,500 voucher, towards the project (we also have the option of using the new Dorset top up fund announced this year which would add to these vouchers considerably).

To receive these vouchers, Sophie is asking as many residents as possible to register their interest on the Wessex Internet website: www.wessexinternet. com/iwantfullfibre/ – the more interest we get, the more vouchers we will receive, and the more likely it will be completely free! Should we be successful, there will be a non-intrusive installation, after which residents will receive a monthly internet bill from Wessex Internet, replacing their current provider, while they enjoy super-fast streaming, high quality video calls with family and an uninterrupted workflow. For those who have already registered, you can sit back and relax while Sophie waits to hear from WI as they apply for funding from the Government based on our interest. For those who haven’t – what are you waiting for?

If you have any questions about the scheme, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with Wessex Internet – full contact details are on their website (www. wessexinternet.com)

We enjoyed a walk around the village on Halloween, seeing all the pumpkins displayed in people’s driveways. Everyone had made a real effort to celebrate the time of year and bring a smile to all of the children. Betty the dog nearly got an unexpected treat too!

Malena Burgess

An appeal for help from Dave and Ruth Rose

We are desperate to find a solution to our situation and would be grateful if there is anybody in the area who could be interested in helping us.

Dave sustained a Spinal Cord Injury in March 2019 but has now been out

of hospital for seven months following his year-long stay in the Salisbury Spinal Unit. He is totally paralysed from midchest downwards but is fully able to converse and be involved in all aspects of his care.

The NHS provide us with two full-time live-in carers who are sourced via a Care Agency. To maintain continuity of care, the Agency’s plan is to have three permanent carers working in rotation (often each carer can only stay for a few days) and this is fine if everyone gets on; for a time we had a very happy household.

Unfortunately, the main carer who was with us since Dave’s return home had to leave and since her departure, the situation here has deteriorated dramatically.

I wonder if there is anybody in the Wriggle Valley area who knows someone who might be interested in joining our household? If so, we would presumably need to go through the Care Agency, but this could be discussed. It might suit two friends or perhaps a husband and wife team.

Dave and I are both 80 but we’re only old in years, not in outlook. We are optimistic and sociable, and I am fit, well and active and able to support Dave’s care. We hope to acquire a wheelchair vehicle to enable our carers to take Dave out and about.

We appreciate that the Covid-19 situation makes finding carers more difficult but hope there is somebody in our area who could help us to solve our problem by providing the quality and consistency of carers that our situation requires. Email: kestruda@talktalk.net

With my thanks for spending time to read my appeal.