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November 2021 November 2021

in Wool which has good car parking and entertainment. A big thank you to Deborah and Adam Hallmark and everyone
disabled access. Each session follows the who helped make the return of Artsreach such a success, keep an eye out for
mid-week Communion Service. ‘Coffee future events and get your tickets early, I know some people missed the boat on
and Cake’ has enabled many more a sell-out night. We’re also looking forward to welcoming the Purbeck film festival
people to come to worship (attendance back and I can predict another very enjoyable evening’s entertainment that will
at our Ash Wednesday Service increased have happened before you’re reading this.
by 100%) including some people who
would not otherwise come to church. Things to look forward to in the coming weeks are the Christmas fayre. This will
take place on Sunday the 5 of December, there are still a few stalls available but
th
they are going fast so please let me know if you would like one, we are also
Staycations looking at ways of being able to offer the opportunity to leave stalls up for longer
The summer ‘Staycation’ for Older People has been popular. Themes have than the day for those that would like to. Working in conjunction with the village
included ‘A 1950’s Day at the Seaside’ and ‘An Open-Top Tour of London with shop who took payment for items and then paid stallholders not only gave them
Tea at the Ritz’. (Open to all, not just churchgoers.) a bigger window for sales but also enabled locals to return and purchase more of
the amazing gifts and produce available. We will also be having a Christmas lights
competition again this year, please decorate your houses, where possible with

Benefice Community Involvement – a selection low energy led lighting. Please make sure your decorations are safe, especially
with so much thatch around, the village hall cannot take any responsibility for any
Lunch Clubs damage however caused to your properties. The judging of the Christmas lights
will take place over the weekend 17/18/19 December and it will be based on
There are two established monthly Lunch Clubs for older people, at Bere Regis what can be seen by passers by. The Christmas lights party will take place on
and Briantspuddle. Work was underway to introduce a church led Lunch Club for Wednesday 22 December at the village hall with food and drink, music, games
older people in Wool but Covid temporarily halted this after the first session. Pre- and the all important awards being made for light displays. There will be best
Covid, a group working in Winfrith with the Village Hall had been providing overall, best classic, most colourful and possibly a discretionary prize for anything
community meals (“Let’s do Lunch” alternating with a simpler “Soup and Pud”). else that catches our eye so it will good to see as many as possible taking part
These have been very popular, particularly with older residents. The current offer is Our judging route will include Throop, Briantspuddle, Affpuddle and
“Afternoon Tea” (to take away). Turnerspuddle. If there are any other displays at Waddock Cross or slightly out of
the way places please let me know and we will make sure we drive by and
Foodbanks include you in the competition.
All of our churches have a food collection point in support of our local foodbanks There will also be a long awaited return of the New Year’s Eve party, this will be a
in Wareham and Dorchester. The response to Covid from the local community ticket event, the social club will be providing a bar, the village hall trustees will be
was huge and food arrived in unprecedented amounts. laying on a buffet. We have decided this year not to have a live band as this will
enable us to have more space for partygoers and for us to offer an even wider
Other Community Involvement range of music than has been possible in the past. There will be an opportunity
during the evening to show off the amazing skills and performers that reside in our
Many church members actively support their local community in schemes such as midst so start thinking about what you’d like to present be that a short sketch or a
‘Share and Care’ (driving people to hospital and other appointments). Others are song, we can provide backing tracks if enough notice is given. There will be a
engaged in local services such as running the Wool library, a sewing group in
Bovington, or the Bovington Community Room. In the early days of Covid, local prize for the best performance of the evening, I’m not calling it karaoke because
churches took part both as a contact point, and in supplying practical help, for someone might want to do a brief stand up comic slot or some other form of
people self-isolating. entertainment other than song and dance but please limit your creative skills to 4
or 5 minutes.

Mike Menzies is also planning the return of his much missed lectures through the
The final part of this article gives detailed information about the seven churches in winter months so please watch out for specifics which will be posted on the
the Benefice. We will include this next month - for St John the Baptist and St community website and local noticeboards.
Laurence Affpuddle.

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