It was a delight to welcome children, and their families, to the Light Party held at Westbury Leigh Community Hall on Friday 31st October. This event is offered as a contrast to Halloween and a fun time was had by all! The children enjoyed crafts, games, singing and party snacks, and went home with a ‘goody bag’. Very many thanks to the families and volunteers who made this such an enjoyable event!
Friday Fun Youth Club meets every Friday from 6.30 - 8.30pm in the Parish Hall close to All Saints' Church in Westbury. Since it started in January 2023 the club has grown from strength to strength and we are now regularly running at capacity which is 30 young people. We have adapted and changed as the membership changes. We are supported by two youth workers from 4Youth (SouthWest) who are a youth charity operating from their base in Melksham. We also have four local volunteers. Two of whom are church members. We'd love to see more people helping out. We are only able to continue due to the financial support of the following organisations:National Lottery Community FundWilshire & Swindon Community FundWiltshire CouncilWestbury Town CouncilWithout their financial support we would be unable to continue. We are also grateful for past donations from the Rotary Club Westbury, Westbury Lions, Morrisons Community Champion and the Adhelm Mission Fund. If you would like to ensure the continuation of the club please consider helping us with a donation or by volunteering. You are sure of a warm welcome from the team!DONATE HERE
We are sorry to report that we received no applications for this role by the time of the closing date on 10 October. This was disappointing news. Following a meeting with the Assistant Archdeacon, Revd Jane Curtis, our Rural Dean, Clifford Stride, and members of the interview panel, we do have a plan for going forward. The Bishop and Archdeacon were very impressed with the profile which we had prepared. We are going to look at reviewing the wording around the “interim” nature of the post to make it clear that this would become a permanent role after review. It is because this is a new role with a different focus from before, that it is to be reviewed after a few years.The role will continue to be advertised on the Diocese website, and also on our own websites, with the profile available to view. This means that if anyone is interested in the role and wants to apply, they may do so at any time. Previous experience in the local area has shown that sometimes candidates become available after the closing date, so applications outside the usual schedule are still welcome.If we haven’t received any suitable applications in this way, then we will re-advertise in the New Year and an interview date has been set for the spring.Please bear in mind that it is a challenge appointing clergy at the moment, due to a rise in the numbers of clergy retiring, and not so many candidates coming forward for ordination or curates becoming ready to take on Incumbent roles.Please continue to pray for this appointment using our vacancy prayer; and also for those bearing extra responsibilities at this time; for our Ministry Team, churchwardens and PCCs.
You will remember that our former Curate Holly Newton initiated our thinking about how we can make our churches, events and activities more accessible for people with different needs and abilities, and for those with neurodiversity. She has left us with a very comprehensive resource handbook to help us consider how we may review and tailor our activities to include as many people as possible, and help people have a good experience when they come to any of our events. The next meeting of this group will take place on Saturday 22 November from 10.30 am – 12.00 noon. We would love to welcome some more people among us to join in the conversation and lend some input and support. If this is something you are interested in, then please contact myself and I can tell you more about it and where the meeting will be taking place.Gradually, you may notice small changes taking place as we seek to become more inclusive of those with different needs and abilities. We look forward to sharing these with you soon. Thank you.
