Village News

Village News & Notices 2008

for archived articles follow the links at the bottom of this page.

Please give generously to house-to-house collectors during the week, and if you yourself are able to be a new collector, Mary Macdiarmid (700776) or Diana Ingham (68908) would be pleased to hear from you. Also, if existing collectors are unable to help this year, please let us know as soon as possible.

The service that launches Christian Aid Week will be a Pentecostal Service on Sunday, 11th May on Adams Hill, Clent at 4.00 p.m. This will also celebrate the 30th anniversary of Hagley and District Association of Churches. If the weather is very wet the service will be held in Hagley Free Church.

Broome Village Country Fayre will be held in the beautiful location of the grounds of Broome House in Broome village on Saturday 28 June. The Fayre will open to the public at 1.30pm and the official opening ceremony will be performed by the Viscount Cobham at 2.00pm.

Attractions this year include: American monster truck, vintage cars, belly dancers, Appalachian dancers, theme balloons, barbeque, barrel organ, birds of prey, bouncy castle, face painting, quad bikes, penalty shootout, skittles, stationary engines, kiddies traction engine ride, live music and entertainer, church organ recitals, ice cream stalls and many more activities.

There will be a licensed bar and bottle stall as well as stalls selling hard and soft back books, cakes and other produce, CD’s and videos, small antiques, white elephant, lucky dip, nearly new, outside teas, plants, sweets, tombola, toys and locally made craft products.

Raffle tickets to be drawn on the day will be sold at £1 per ticket or £5 per book and prizes include meals for two in local restaurants, cash prize, voucher for flowers, foot spa, bottle of champagne and much more.

Entry fee will be £1 pay at the gate with vehicle parking available free of charge. The Broome Village Fayre always proves extremely popular with families seeking a wonderful summer day out in a beautiful country location within easy reach from Stourbridge, Kidderminster, Halesowen, Belbroughton, Hagley and surrounding areas.

The new playground is open for business. So far it has proven to be a big hit. As we predicted however there will be a settling in period as the grass takes hold. We are also aware from consultation and feedback that there is a lack of provision for smaller children. We recognise this and hope it is something that can be addressed going forward. Unfortunately we only had so much money. We hope you enjoy the playground facilities.

We will be holding our usual tidy up day in early spring (exact date still to be fixed).

If you are interested in helping to keep the playground in good condition, or you have ideas for future development please contact the Friends of Blakedown Playground on 700994.

Last year's 10km Blakedown Bolt run raised more than £2000 for the fund to rebuild the Sports Pavilion. This year on the evening of Friday 20th June we hope to do even better, but none of it can happen without help from the community.

(14/3/2008)

Blakedown Cricket Club - cricket skills a bit rusty, ours were last year with the floods! However we look forward now to a new season.

We play friendly matches on Sunday afternoons. If you would like to join us, either to play, score, umpire or even prepare the wicket, you would be most welcome!
We have booked practice nets commencing Sunday 6th April.

Interested? telephone Russ 01562 700623

Channel 4 is making a new series about multi-generational households. We're looking for large groups of friends and/or families who are hoping to buy a large property together in order to pool resources and create a better standard of living.

Are you thinking of buying a dream house with your extended family or a big group of friends that you would otherwise not be able to afford?
Have you already found a place to buy? Or are you still looking?

If this sounds like you, and you would like to hear more about a major new Channel 4 TV series that gives assistance to people like you, then please get in touch now...

(14/3/2008)

Always keen to promote new local Clubs and Organisations, C&B introduce to you the Worcester Bowmen Archery Club.
Worcester Bowmen is the newest archery club in Worcestershire (United Kingdom) and was created by a group of experienced archery enthusiasts, the majority of them coaches. Click on their banner above to be taken to their website.

Quiz Night

at Blakedown Parish Room
on
Friday, 11th April at 7.30 p.m.
Tickets £8.00 per head
(Including fish & chip supper)
Contact Mary on 700776 (Bring your own bottles and glasses)

KIDS’ CLUB NEWS - IMPORTANT
The weekly Tuesday evening Kids’ Club will start up again soon!
WHEN? 8TH APRIL
WHAT TIME? 6 P.M. - 7 P.M. (an hour earlier than before!)
WHERE? BLAKEDOWN PARISH ROOM

All 7 - 11 year olds are welcome to join us for an hour of activities and fun.
See you there!

The date for Blakedown’s next 10km run has been set, and it’s Friday evening on the 20^th June. The race will start at 7.15pm, and hundreds of runners will be speeding along the paths and fields around the village. This event, which was staged for the first time last year, is a great opportunity for our village communities of Churchill and Blakedown to come together, and if 2007 was anything to go by, it will raise a further substantial amount of money for the Sports Pavilion restoration project.

The Bolt Committee is busy sorting out the various details of permits, clearances, publicity and so on, and is currently seeking sponsorship from local businesses or individuals. We are delighted that once again DSM, the demolition company, has agreed to be our main event sponsor, and we have also secured further help from Aqua Direct, the mineral water company, who will provide bottled water for all our runners and marshals. We would love to hear from others who might be able to offer some sponsorship, however large or small, for this important local event. We are happy to acknowledge all sponsors via our webpage on www.blakedownvillage.co.uk and to offer facilities as required on the evening of the race. If you might be able to help, please contact Judy Stokes, our sponsorship co-ordinator, on 01562 700205.

The importance of our village website cannot be underestimated in making the Blakedown Bolt the success it has already proved to be. Last year, it offered an easily accessible information point for would-be competitors, and we’re told the Bolt pages scored a record number of ‘hits’! The village webmaster tells us that since we went public for the 2008 event, traffic to the website has more than doubled.

Of course, an event like this doesn’t happen without a great deal of help. We’re going to need a host of people to act as marshals for the race (no experience necessary!) and would love to hear from you if you think you might be able to help. Please contact our marshal co-ordinator Vicky Swindells on 01562 701265.

If you’re feeling athletic, and would like to enter the Blakedown Bolt, you can get full details and download an application form from www.blakedownvillage.co.uk or pick up a leaflet from Blakedown Post Office.

We’ll be having a party on the evening of the race, at the Sports Field, with bar and BBQ. We very much hope to see you there!

Bag2School Day Tuesday 18 March. Please have a clear-out of your wardrobe. We need clothing, shoes, handbags, bedlinen, towels and soft toys. Special blue bags are available from the Post Office, but any large plastic bag will do just as well. We earn £2 for each 20 kilos, and the scheme has proved very successful for Blakedown Primary School. Please bring your bags to the school before 3.30pm on Tuesday 18 March. If you would like us to collect please call Judy on 700205.

Ladies ‘Me Time’ Thursday 8th May. An evening of indulgence with beauty treatments, demonstrations and gorgeous things to buy. Watch out for more details.

It will be on Saturday, 2nd February and includes a two-course buffet meal.

Tickets cost £8 adult, £5 children, family ticket (2+2) £22.

Friends of Blakedown Playground are happy and excited to announce that the long awaited playground refurbishment will commence in the week starting 14 January 2008. We will unfortunately lose the use of the playground for up to 4 weeks. There will also be a 'bedding in' period when the playground might seem a little bleak as the grass grows back and the safety surfaces establish themselves. BUT we will have a fantastic new facility which should hopefully last for another 30 years. Full details can be viewed in the attached document.

If you have any questions or concerns either ahead or during the work please contact the Friends of Blakedown Playground on 700994

The Library Service at Worcestershire CC state that the whole service is being reviewed and these times and venues could change, possibly during the summer."

Saturday 8th March 2008
Blakedown Parish Rooms
8-11.30pm

BALLROOM GLITZ
70's rock/pop/glam band

Licensed bar, supper inclued
£12.50
Fancy dress optional, should be fun!!

Tickets available Diane 01562 700623

Mary has made some magnetic bookmarks, price £1.50 each, to raise money for the Church. They are ideal as stocking fillers or for sending with Christmas cards and very useful to anyone who likes reading, you will never lose your page in a book again as they will not drop out.

Thanks to the generous support we have recently received from local charities, Kids Club has been able to purchase two basketball systems. Playing basketball and netball has been one of the most popular activities during the Autumn. A number of the children helped to plan and took a large part in the Harvest Family Service at the beginning of October. They have also covered and brought items to fill up five shoe-boxes to support the annual ‘Operation Christmas Child’ appeal.

Due to the dark evenings there have been fewer children at the club, so it has been decided to have a break in the Spring Term, which is very short, and recommence after Easter, when it will be possible to use the Millennium Green for outdoor games.

So the start-up date to put into your new diaries and calendars is TUESDAY, 8TH APRIL, 2008.

Please remember THE CHRISTMAS PARTY is on
TUESDAY 11TH DECEMBER
in the VILLAGE HALL AT 5.00 p.m.