All is safely gathered in and harvest in celebrated with lunch in the village hall

5:35pm Sunday 5th October 2008

Affpuddle

• VILLAGERS gathered in Briantspuddle village hall for the annual harvest lunch following a service at Affpuddle church taken by Canon Ian Woodward.

The hall was looking very festive, with long tables beautifully laid out for the diners, decorated with charming little flower arrangements done by Jennifer Champion.

A further long table at the end of the hall was positively groaning under the weight of delicious food for a sumptuous meal.

As always, it was a wonderful get-together for the parishioners of Affpuddle, Briantspuddle, Throop and Turnerspuddle and was very much enjoyed by everyone.

• FOR the run-up to Christmas, volunteers have kindly agreed to open the post office and shop on Saturdays from November 1 to December 21 from 9am until noon to allow those who are at work during the week to post their Christmas mail locally.

All normal services for foreign currency, paying bills, etc will be available as well as the usual Christmas stamps.

• VOLUNTEERS are urgently required for the village shop.

The shop is now financially established, and with the future of the post office also recently secured, everything would appear to be well set.

However, despite this, the future of the village shop is threatened by the dwindling number of volunteers prepared to help in it each day.

Currently a faithful band of six or seven has been serving in it and taking a disproportionate share of the load.

Can you all please consider whether you can spare a morning, or possibly two, each month in order to help spread the strain and ensure that this very valued asset stays open.

Gender is no bar to helping out - male or female volunteers would be equally welcome.

The task is very straightforward and requires no previous experience or specific skills other than some elementary arithmetic.

An induction course can be arranged!

If you would like more details, please talk to Paul Badcock or John Russell.

It would be sad if, after five very successful years, the shop had to close through lack of volunteers.

• NEW members for the heating oil co-operative are always welcome.

Application forms are available in the village post office.

The more members the scheme has, the greater the negotiating power there is on price.

The first oil delivery under the scheme was successfully made in August at an advantageous price of 49.85p per litre plus VAT.

The dates for the next and subsequent orders will be published on parish notice boards, and by email or telephone to all members.

Members are then requested to inform the co-ordinator of their requirements by email or in writing at least one week before the proposed order date.

When the order has been placed, the selected company will inform individual customers of the date and approximate time of delivery.

The price paid will clearly be dependent on the wholesale oil prices at the time and the size of the order.

It is planned to make further order before the end of November.

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