LATEST NEWS

News and photos of the Friends activities which have taken place

Planting Crocuses for the King - October 2023

The Friends are hoping for plenty of spring colour in the churchyard after children from Ewhurst Infants and Rainbows End along with residents from the Old Rectory, planted 200 crocus bulbs bought with the money raised from our “Crocuses for the King” stall at the Carnival.

Before they could be planted in the daffodil area by the vestry, we had to make sure we could get into the ground. This area has never been dug so that was a challenge, but we solved the problem by digging thirty three shallow trenches. These were long enough to plant two sets of three crocuses, one blue and one purple. Hopefully there will be a lovely mix of blue & purple crocuses among the yellow daffodils!

Lots of digging needed for the trenches.

We marked them with yellow spray so the planters could find them.

Our planters came from Rainbows End pre-school, Ewhurst C of E Infants School and the Old Rectory Nursing Home. They each planted at least 3 crocus bulbs, making sure they were covered with soil and then watered.

Some of the planters got muddier than others but they all received a certificate for their work.

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Rainbows End Pre School

The Old Rectory Residents

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School Visits Autumn 2023

Two schools from Sayers Croft have visited our church this autumn.

The Meath School in Ottershaw spent some time looking around the inside of the church, deciding what things were used for and how the church may have looked in the past. They very much enjoyed going up into the belltower to find out about the bells and when and why they are used. Some had a chance to ring one of the bells and all of them hit our single bell so they could feel the vibrations.

North Heath School, Horsham had two classes who each had a session with us. Both groups had a talk about the history of the church and how it has changed since 1140 when it was built. They then completed an activity sheet about the outside of the church and had a session up in the bell tower with the always popular. There was bell ringing for some and everyone hit a bell.

Heritage Lottery Grant Update

Our Expression of Interest Application for a Grant of over £250,000 has been approved and we can now submit a full application. The relevent form to do this will not be available until mid August and this has then to be completed and submitted by next May 2024.

However, we have no guarantee that this will result in the grant being awarded to us. We are requesting £300,000 towards the final cost of over £400,000 for the restoration work on the South transept and for the associated community work which has to be part of the grant.

Crocuses for the King

Carnival Stall Saturday 5 August 2023

Thank you again for all of you who braved the weather either to donate towards the crocus bulbs for the church yard or who helped on the stall. Special thanks go to Connie Watson & Mary McMath who made all the crocus decorations. The crocuses outside did not appreciate the rain and “died” before we opened but those inside stayed fresh!

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Our Carnival Stall

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The crocus area in the churchyard

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Our Carnival Stall

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We collected over £140 for the crocuses which we will plant by the chancel in the autumn. Any remaining money will go towards the restoration work on the South Transept.

Bulls Head Quiz, Tuesday 1 August 2023

Thank you to everyone who attended the quiz and to those who donated Raffle Prizes. 52 people took part in the Quiz and your support for the raffle made £223, giving us a total of £379.00 for the evening.

This made it the most successful quiz at the Bulls Head Quiz so far.

Here is a photo of the winning team with the magnificent trophy.

Update on Jennie Seller’s border by the West Porch

The Friends have cleared away some of the osteospernium daisies and added three lavender plants under the two rose bushes.

As you can see in the photo, the lavenders are small but flowering. We are hoping for a bigger display next year once the plants have grown a bit more.

Tuesday 23rd May 2023

Charity 80's Pop Quiz at the Bulls Head

The Bulls Head, ran an 80’s Pop Quiz during the evening and once again kindly donated the proceeds to the Friends. Our thanks to the Bulls Head and all the Quizzers who came along to support this event.

Friday 18th April 2023

Visit by St Mary's Church of England School, Camberwell

The Friends, with help from other members from the congregation, gave pupils from St Mary’s Church of England school, Camberwell, the chance to find out the history of our church and our special bells. As always, the highlight of their visit was the visit to the bell tower and to ring a bell!

Tuesday 28th March 2023

The Easter Market at The Parrot, Forest Green

Despite the cold wet weather we had excellent support from the community and took just over £1836. The stall holders had excellent displays to tempt everyone and the Friends had their new banner on display outside the pub so everyone knew where the fundraising was going.

The classic bus had some happy passengers including children & dogs and the passenger donations raised £30 for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice.

Our pictures here give you a taste of what was on offer ...

Our Friends Banner

Mad Jack Clothing

Accessories

Our Friends Banner

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Friday 24th March 2023

Visit by the Instructors from Sayers Croft Outdoor Centre

Fifteen instructors from Sayers Croft gave up an hour of their Friday afternoon, once their visiting schools had left, to come to the church and find out more of what we can offer the schools visiting their site. All the large history banners were on display and they looked at a selection of our activity sheets. A visit up to the bell tower was also a must for most of them. Most of the Friends Trustees were there and were able to talk about what we do. We discussed the best ways in which we can liaise with Sayers Croft, when visiting schools are interested in either the history of village or the church, and what we hope to offer in the future. Everyone agreed that it was a very useful meeting.

Tuesday 14th March 2023

The Friends AGM in the Wilson Room

Summaries of the business at the AGM may be viewed in the links below:

Friday 3rd February 2023

St Mary's School, Putney visit the Church

This was the fifth time we have hosted St Mary’s, the first three times as part of Ewhurst Church and the last two as the Friends of St Peter & St Paul.

This year, without the limitation of Covid, the children were able to climb to the bell tower where Jan Jesson told them all about the bells and bell ringing. They then studied the many changes made to the church over the centuries by reading the display banners.

As always, the school ended their visit to us and to Sayers Croft, with their own assembly in the South transept.

Tuesday 6th Sepember 2022

The Bulls Head Quiz

The Friends are delighted that the Bulls Head Pub nominated the Friends of St Peter & St Paul to be the very first village Charity to benefit from their first Pub Quiz. Our Pub Quiz has been missing for over three years, so our thanks go to Kindall and Phil for re-starting and organising this community event.

Thank you to everyone who came to support the event. The quiz entry fees and raffle raised over £200 and all three winning teams very generously donated their prize money, adding another £50 to the total.

Saturday 30th July 2022:

Family Fun Day at Sayers Croft Outdoor Centre

And a Wonderful Day Out it was!

Approx 400 cars

Apologies for the queuing

Axe Throwing

Approx 400 cars

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Thank you to Sayers Croft for allowing the Friends to take over their site and providing their trained instructors to look after us during the day. None of this would have been possible without our wonderful volunteers who helped before and during the day. Our thanks to them.

BUT MOST OF ALL - THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO CAME AND HELPED RAISE

SO MUCH FOR OUR CHARITY - FriendsofStPeter&StPaul

Weekend 2 - 5 June 2022:

A Flower Festival for the Platinum Jubilee

Many thanks to Margaret Lockwood for creating this beautiful, intricate display, Crowns and Coronets, on behalf of FPSPS. You did us proud Margaret.

In all there were fourteen displays in St Peter & St Paul this weekend, each made by a village organisation.

Our thanks too to Pam Bell and all the others who worked so hard to make the Festival happen.

Tuesday 5th April 2022: The Easter Market at the Parrot Inn, Forest Green

Almost 200 people came to the market over lunchtime. The stalls were busy the whole time and the traders all reported good business. Many who came also enjoyed a coffee and lunch in the bar. The free classic bus service from Ewhurst was a great success and many people enjoyed the ride.

At the end of the day we can safely say that over £2200 was made for our Friends of St Peter and St Paul Charity.

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Friday 25 February 2022: Charity Quiz Night

Our first joint event with the Parish Charities team was the most successful yet. Despite only having ten tables instead of the usual eleven a record £1400.00 was raised. The ladies from Ewhurst in the Parish Charities group served up a delicious Ploughman's Supper and FSPSP ran the quiz . Excellent donations made sure that the Raffle was a big success and £300 was raised.

The evening began with representatives from the two charities, Vaughan House, Guildford and the Friends of St Peter & St Paul speaking about their work and how money from the quiz would help. The £1400.00 raised will be divided with Vaughan House receiving £750.00 and FSPSP, £650.00.

Sunday 6 February 2022: A Jubilee Celebration

At 10.30am on Sunday 6 February a special bell-ringing session took place to celebrate the start of our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. This was the first occasion that the new bells have been rung for a national event. Thank you to our bell ringers for marking this historic occasion.

Friday 4 February 2022: A visit to the church by St Mary's School, Putney

Twenty six Year 6 pupils and three members of staff walked from Sayers Croft to learn about our historic village church. They were told how the building and the bells have changed over the years and about the past events they have witnessed. Banners around the church showed how the different parts of the interior looked in the past and this gave the pupils the opportunity to see the changes for themselves and to realise that recycling items is nothing new!

Christmas Cards 2021

Christmas card sales hit a new record high this year. Over 1000 cards were sold – realising £319.00 for FSPSP funds.

Thanks to the picture-donors, especially George Yates, whose two designs were extremely popular.

To all you photographers - maybe start thinking about more local wintery scenes ready for next years cards!

27 November 2021

A Taste of Italy in the Village Hall

80 guests sat down to a three course Italian themed meal where false moustaches were de rigueur. We were entertained by master of ceremonies, Andy, who led the wine tasting proceedings and tested us with a short quiz. Johnny got us joining in and then weeping with his beautiful singing. A silent auction and raffle rounded off the evening.

The generosity of everyone was incredible.

A massive total of over £6,000 has now been raised as a result of this evening. Another step toward the restoration of the south transept.

As someone said "Viva Ewhurst!"

22 & 23 October

Exhibition and Sale of Paintings

Each of the three sessions in the Wilson Room were well attended. The artist, George Yates, was in attendance for the whole of the time and more than a hundred people came to look at and buy the many paintings which he had kindly donated to the Friends. A magnificent sum of £800 was raised for our charity.

Our thanks also goes to the Cranleigh Arts and Crafts Society for the loan of the display boards and to CCM for the use of their van to transport the boards.

Saturday 2 October 2021

Dedication of a rose border in memory of Jennie Seller

The border by the West porch has been replanted with Nostalgia roses by FSPSP in memory of Jennie Seller. Jennie was the wife of Rev Tim Seller, the Assistant Minister at St Peter & St Paul for many years.

The short outdoor service was conducted by Rev Rosemary Mason, who recalled all the work and fellowship Jennie carried out within the village. Despite the torrential rain, over 20 people attended, a true tribute to the love felt for Jennie.

The cost of the border was covered by donations in memory of Jennie and the remainder of that has been given to FSPSP to continue Jennie’s memory.

Click here to see the video of the dedication

Saturday 17 & Sunday 18 Sept 2021

Heritage Weekend

People came to learn about the church. They were able to tour the churchyard, visit the bell tower and buy the latest Ewhurst book, Ewhurst 1910 - 1960.

Saturday 8 August 2021

The Friends Stall at the Ewhurst Carnival

Thank you to everyone who had a go at guessing the weight of a church roof slab. We had some fun and raised some interest and money towards the charity.

Correct weight? 10.8kg = 23.8lbs.

The winning weight was 11.2kg

August 2021

A beautiful cupboard, made by Roser & Elms of Ewhurst, is installed in the South transept. This will store the many display banners which the Friends will place around the church during open days and special occasions.