A small team of volunteers did sterling works on the morning of Saturdat 9th October clearing vegetation from the hall perimeter and tidying the storeroom.

The side of the hall had become impassable due to hedge growth and ifestations of ivy, nettles and brambles whilst the rear of the hall (behind the storeroom which had previously become the toilets and kitchen) was overgrown with ivy and had suffered from the dumping of cutdown leylandi branches and other rubbish.

The storeroom had amassed many items brought there with good intensions but which were really no longer of use. Many thanks to Sheila, Ian, Hilary, Sara and Jools who undertook the tasks enthusiastically – the hired skip was full by 1pm!

There is more to do – the rear of the hall needs further work, as does the storeroom – so watch out for requests for help from Roger in the future!

St Mark’s and All Saints’ 2021 Challenge: Walk to the Cross

Are you looking for something different to do this Lent? Would you be up for a challenge that will help improve your fitness and raise valuable funds for our parish churches? Something that you can do even if we are still in lockdown?

‘Walk to the Cross’ is a virtual walking challenge from our parish to Jerusalem, a distance of 4,688km. To take part in the challenge, you will need to walk as many kilometres as you can for each of the six weeks of Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday (17^th February) and ending on Maundy Thursday (1^st April). You will need to calculate your total weekly mileage in kilometres, starting on Ash Wednesday, and then send it to Rachael. You will need to let Rachael know your total weekly mileage on the evening of each of the following Thursdays:

25^th February, 4^th March, 11^th March, 18^th March, 25^th March and 1^st April.

Rachael will keep a running total of how many miles we have collectively walked and there will be a weekly update about how far along the route to Jerusalem we have reached.

To take part in the Lent challenge, you will be invited either to make a donation or ask for sponsorship (forms available on request). All money raised will go to church funds. For more information or to sign up to the virtual walking challenge, please contact Rachael (vicar@allsaintsandstmarks.com / 01270 582585). 

You can download a sponsorship form here:

Or donate here: https://givealittle.co/campaigns/37ddf78a-2ef3-4bc8-b0c9-867cc37fa75b

February Update from Knit for Peace
They are continuing to operate despite the national lockdown, as the need for warm clothes and blankets remains.

This week the first donation of completed items has been delivered to me –  hats, scarves and mittens.

If you need patterns, completed items collected or any other information please contact Margaret H (01270 841577 or email margarethodgkinson6@gmail.com)

It will cost us £8.42 to send 15kg in weight of items made for this project, If you don’t knit or crochet but would still like to be apart of this project we would be delighted for any donations to help cover this cost.

Now that we have finished making Christmas bells, we can look forward to supporting Knit for Peace with scarves, hats blankets etc.

Knit for Peace sends items they receive to wherever they are needed, some overseas and some in this country.

This is a picture of some things that I have made; If you have access to the internet and type into your search engine – Knit for Peace –  and on their site you will find loads of free patterns for items to make, so you can make a variety of items if you prefer.

Wondering what to knit?

This is the latest list from Knit for Peace, as you can see there are plenty of options, so take your pick and knit away!

The colder weather has brought a flurry of requests for blankets and warm clothes.
Especially needed are socks (all sizes) mittens or gloves, hats (grown up sizes mostly for men) adult sweaters or cardigans, slipovers.
Children’s clothes (from ages 2 to 14) – jumpers, cardigans, ponchos all sizes, hats.
Blankets:
large (80×90”/200x230cm or 70×90”/180x230cm),
medium (60×70”/150x180cm or 50×70”/130x180cm),
lap blankets (45×45”/115x115cm)
Shawls.
Toys – we have a special request for black or brown faced dolls, otherwise teddies and animals are ok. 
We don’t need twiddle muffs and premature baby clothing at the moment.

We never sell whatever you send us, we send them to where they are needed. We send out tens of thousands of items a year, giving to a diverse range of services, such as refugee centres, homeless shelters, and hospitals.

If you don’t have access to the internet and are stuck for patterns or ideas then let me know and I will let you have some printed options.

We have to send items made by carrier to their central depot so if you are unable to knit/crochet then you can still get involved by making a donation to cover the cost of forwarding items made to Knit for Peace.

We have already have a number of scarves and other items that have been made and in fact have sent off our first donation of items to them.

When you have any completed items you would like collected just give me a call and I will arrange collection. Margaret Hodgkinson 841577.

Thanks to the children & young people from Shavington Primary, Shavington Academy, Rounderbouts Nursery, Rope Green Nursery, Shavington Primary Nursery, 2nd Shavington Brownies, GLOW, St Marks Toddlers, Little Woodpeckers & the Home Ed children for their amazing contributions. 

You can see the garden until 27th November.