Our current flower arrangers at All Saints have informed me that they will be stepping back from this after the end of the year and Christmas. Our flower arrangers have done sterling service over many years, more recently focussing on the major festivals of Christmas, Easter, Harvest and our Patronal festival on 1 November. It has become more challenging since the advice to stop using Oasis for environmental reasons (use of plastic), the rising cost of flowers, as well as the ongoing watering which needs to happen during the week when they are busy with work and other commitments. I was very sorry to hear this, as I’m sure we all appreciate their wonderful creations during the year which brings our beautiful building to life. I’m sure we would all like to offer our grateful thanks to all our flower arrangers. There are a few months to go, so we have a bit of time to think about what we could do from the New Year.One of our newer members has offered the following invitation to be considered:Calling all budding florists!We are looking to form a new team of flower arrangers to work on a rota system to decorate the Church and to continue to make it an alive and welcoming space.No experience necessary, just a passion for flowers and the ability to create one or two vase arrangements.Or maybe you are new to the area and have a skill for creating wonderful plinth arrangements?Going forward we want to use sustainable props and locally sourced flowers as much as possible. Perhaps you are a keen gardener and could provide us with your own home-grown flowers?We are looking for a new team to start in January 2027. Please contact Sarah Wiseman if you would like to get involved.
Our Disability and church inclusion group has arranged to have a disability audit take place at All Saints' Church, Westbury on Saturday 10th October. We have invited our Diocesan Disability advisor to come and conduct this for us, accompanied by her husband. This will probably take the whole morning. She will be looking at our facilities for those with a diverse range of needs and abilities, in our church building, our services, events and activities. She will then write a report and let us have it when it’s ready.We are very grateful to her for agreeing to do this for us. It will provide us with some ideas and actions for how we can improve our facilities for those with particular needs, and we hope to make our building and events more accessible for a wide range of needs. This will be presented to the PCC in due course, for their consideration.
Each month a YouTube video is created with members of the team and it is sent out with the Monthly Newsletter.This month it is all about Mothers Union - the national picture, the local programme and celebrating its 150th Anniversary. To join or to find out more, contact:Westbury Branch - Jean JaneDilton Marsh Branch - Jocelyn Short (narrator of the video)
