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Reviews & Features
The Bucks Debate
So what is everyone talking about?
Buckinghamshire County Council faces serious reductions in funding; up to 25% over the next four years. The Council cannot continue to do everything we do now. Join in the Bucks Debate and help us to get your priorities right. Tell us:
- What you personally and your community can do
- What changes we should make to services, with less money
- Which services we should spend more or less money on
Deputy Leader Bill Chapple, OBE is taking the debate across the county to a venue near you. Come along and join in! If you miss an event or want to find out more, you can go online to www.buckscc.gov.uk/bucksdebate to download a toolkit and discuss it with family and friends.
Wendover Support Group
We live in challenging times and are experiencing the impact of the worst recession for many years. A group of local people are offering free and confidential support to those affected by the recession: on a one to one basis, in small groups or attending occasional open meetings. The group meets every Wednesday from 2pm to 3.30pm at the Christian Centre, Aylesbury Rd. opposite Wharf Road in Wendover. We offer help in identifying what support is already available including free access to computers and the internet. The volunteers have a variety of skills and experience, and many have gone through the pain of losing their job. If you think we can help you or you’d like to volunteer to be part of the group please contact us – come along on a Wednesday afternoon or call Peter Louis (01296 582683) or John Shaw (01296 625769) or e-mail info.wsg2010@googlemail.com any time.
Cream Tea Kenya Style - held on 8 August 2010
Blazing sunshine, deep cool shade of ancient trees and tables elegantly dressed for afternon tea - you might have imagined you had been transported to the lush green highlands of Kenya. In reality local Wendover people had the chance to enjoy a lovely afternoon of cream teas. a magic show ( thank you Martyn ) and a raffle highlighting the value of water. Christian Aid has been running a large water and sanitation project with local partners in Nairobi this year. £800 was raised towards this.A huge thank you to David and Ann Prescott and all who came to support the event.
Judy Lewis
on behalf of the Wendover Christian Aid Committee
Teddy Bears’ Picnic (11 August)
The sun shone on the Rotary Club of Wendover and District for its second Teddy Bears’ Picnic, held in the Witchell Cricket Field, Wendover from 1.30 to 4pm on Wednesday 11 August. This year there were even more attractions and even more children, over 500 people, came along for a fun but very affordable afternoon with no entrance fee and lots of free activities. They brought with them their beautifully dressed teddies. Children were colouring in pictures of teddies and painting stones as well as pinning the tail on the donkey, guessing the name of a huge teddy and other activities.
Two extremely popular innovations this year were parachute games and pony rides were kindly provided by Jo Jameson. As last year, children’s entertainer Penny Lowe kept them enthralled with join in music and song. This year face painter Jo Taylor had three helpers which moved her queues much faster and greatly added to an already colourful afternoon.
The Teddy Bears’ Picnic had the support of many local businesses volunteers and organisations in Wendover and other donors. The RAF provided 22 servicemen and women who helped all day with setting out all the gazebos, tables and equipment, manning stalls and clearing away. This was truly serving the local community. However, the biggest thanks must go to Wendover Cricket Club without whom none of this could have happened. There were so many happy smiling faces on the day: carers, children, organisers and volunteers.
See also http://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/homepage.asp?ClubID=2041
In addition, the club was able to have a Rotary Sheltertent on display so that people could see how this vital array of equipment is helping the survival of people devastated by the floods in Pakistan. A collection was also made for this very pressing cause.
Club President, Elaine Gibson added, “We all had a great afternoon – the families, the RAF, Shed at the Park, Rotarians and our many volunteers. It was wonderful to see a field full of people of all ages just enjoying themselves. The event was to provide an affordable enjoyable family event during the long summer holidays. Our club motto is 'Building Communities, Bridging Continents'. If you would like to find out more about joining us, and benefit your community from your input, please contact via website http://www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/contact.asp?ClubID=2041
Grandparent Simon Thornton said, “Having spent a few hours but not very much money at the Teddy Bears’ Picnic I have to say it was fantastic. All around us (I had three grandchildren to keep happy plus son) people were saying ‘what a great day it was’ and they couldn’t believe so much was free!”
Save the Children Collection (13 August)
Many thanks to those who contributed to the Save the Children collection at Wyevale Garden Centre. £212 was raised for the Pakistani Flood Disaster.
Congratulations
During the morning service at Wendover Free Church on Sunday 25 July, Madeline Clarke, Area Fund-raising Coordinator, presented a surprised Sylvia Levitt with the Stephenson Award for 50 Years Continuous Commitment to Action for Children, formerly known as National Children’s Homes. Wendover born and bred, Sylvia started her work with the charity helping her mother, then the local secretary, coordinate fund-raising events. She also helped collect toys, through the Wendover Baptist Church (now part of Wendover Free Church), that were then delivered to the National Children’s Home in Harpenden to ensure that all the children had a gift at Christmas. Following her mother’s death in 1989, she took over the role of local Secretary and still co-ordinates the collection boxes and other fund-raising events to this day.
Oberammergau, The Passion Play
The group from St Mary’s who attended the Passion Play on 8th July felt that it was all that people had told us it would be. Accurately described as ‘the most professional amateur performance in the world’, the play, which lasts for almost 5½ hours, portrays the last week of Jesus’ life, from his triumphal entry into Jerusalem on a donkey, through to his crucifixion and resurrection. Deeply and powerfully moving, we were not only drawn into the events, but were amazed by the total commitment of the people of Oberammergau to this play. Approximately half of the people of the village of 5,000 are involved in it in some way and there will be 102 performances this year. We saw the 41st production.
The play has been performed since 1634, the villagers having vowed in 1663 to perform a Passion Play every 10 years if God would save them from the plague. Anyone who was born in the village or has lived there for 20 years can take part. Our coach driver was the father of the man who played Jesus and this year is his 5th time in the play! The theatre has 4,700 seats and it is expected that 50,000 people from all over the world will see it this year. It is the oldest Passion Play that has existed continuously until the present day. In every possible sense, this is a ‘record breaker’!
It is only possible to stay in Oberammergau for 2 nights because one then has to leave for the next audience. We moved on to Switzerland where we had a wonderful week enjoying the glory of God’s creation in that beautiful country.
At a time when people often dismiss the Church as an irrelevance in their lives, it is encouraging to know that many do not dismiss Jesus himself, the basis of our Christian faith. The story of Jesus’ life, in all its humility, majesty and truth, still draws people from far and wide today.
Glenys Newman
Dentistry in Tanzania
For the last 10 yrs I have worked part time as a dentist in Perry House Dental Surgery, Wendover, but now that my four sons are fleeing the nest I have had time to turn my mind to other things. Having been able to bring up my kids in such a privileged environment I was looking for an opportunity to give something back. It was then that I heard about the charity Bridge2aid and in February this year, I set off on a dental volunteer project to a remote village in Tanzania. Here I taught local health care personnel how to extract teeth. 80% of the population of Tanzania live in rural communities, where there are no dentists at all, so they often suffer many years of dental pain. Bridge2aid organises training of Tanzanian health care workers so they can provide basic emergency pain relief by doing extractions. It was a great challenge working without electricity or running water, but the best thing was being able to leave a skill behind.
I was so impressed with the work of the charity that on getting back to the England, I wanted to help raise funds for them. Consequently I signed up to run a half marathon from Windsor to Marlow on 25th July. I knew this was going to be a real challenge as I only recently took up running and it was always more of a short jog and chat with friends. However I was delighted to finish in 2 hours 39 minutes. The weather was great and when I could take my mind off my blisters I enjoyed the wonderful scenery along the Thames. I enviously watched those making the journey the easy way by boat and wished I could jump on board! However the sense of achievement when crossing the finishing line made all the effort worthwhile. I have raised just over £4,000 which will go directly to helping make a difference to people’s lives in Tanzania. Thank you to everyone who so generously sponsored me.
I enjoyed the challenge of working in simple conditions in Tanzania. It was such a contrast to dentistry in the western world, but it made me appreciate even more the high standard of dental care that we have here. This has motivated me to take full advantage of all that is available in England and approach a fresh challenge by starting a year’s part time course in advanced restorative and cosmetic dentistry in London. I look forward to being able to offer an even better service here in Wendover.
Beryl Hinton
