Marathon man makes masses for Mityana

A quick shout-out to Whitchurch resident Seb Owen who offered to run the London Marathon for Mityana Projects Trust, in the process raising just short of £5,000 (and I see donations still coming in). It really was a brilliant effort and a great boost to our fund-raising this year. Dodie will be visiting in October this year to confirm the site for the borehole that this money will be funding.

You can read Seb’s views on his marathon experience at the Mityana Projects Trust page.

You can visit his fund raising page in case you want to push the total (with gift aid) past £5k.

Finally, it really is very good odds to try for a marathon place as a small charity. At a preparatory meeting with Virgin Money Giving they stated the odds are about one in four – so think about it if you are involved with a small charity.

Recent barn dance with teachers from Mityana

Team Dodie – primary school teachers from Mityana and Whitchurch diocese

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Running the marathon for Mityana – please help us!

Having won a charity place in the 2015 London Marathon for St Mary Bourne based Mityana Projects Trust, Whitchurch resident Seb Owen will be running on 26 April for MPT. This follows a tough training schedule for the past several months culminating in the full race in two week’s time.

Mityana Projects Trust supports several schools and other sustainable projects in and around Mityana, Uganda.  It has provided buildings, water tanks, livestock and physical support amongst many other things. Every penny raised for Mityana projects goes to the projects themselves – nothing is retained for the running of the charity. You can find out about our work at our homepage.

Please consider supporting Seb in his run – you can support him on his charity web page.

Thanks for your support!

Harewood Croquet Tournament 2014

Perhaps a rather grand way of saying a very pleasant afternoon in the company of good friends hitting a few balls through a few hoops on some rather rough grass. After the inaugural ‘tournament’ two years ago, we decided to organise another get together, with some amazing weather provided for us. After the preliminary eight group rounds and two semi-finals, there was some genuine competition in the final before Milly managed to steal the title from a very on-form Rod.

Tea and cakes a plenty

The winner’s trophy

The field of play

A helping hand

The winning shot

New best friends

Mityana – the final chapter (maybe?)

With Livi returning home from another amazing trip to Mityana, we give thanks that all three of the Hampshire Anning girls have made it out to Uganda – a chapter that started in 2008 with Bryony and ended in 2014 with Livi. Our thanks to Dodie for forging this link and to the people of St Mary Bourne and Mityana for their support. Amazing to see latest pictures from Livi of Zirra – a ‘green field’ (forest) site at the start, and now a fully functioning school in 2014.

Final chapter? Well, Livi wants to go again on a gap year in 2018…

We made a highlights video in 2010.

Bryony returning for a gap year in 2013

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Milly blowing bubbles in 2010

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Author with Juma in 2010, still going strong in 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Livi carrying water in 2014

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Music for an Autumn Afternoon – 26 October

From Barbershop to Bach and all points in between. Join us for an informal concert featuring choral music, a cappella and accompanied, together with pieces for solo organ and piano on Saturday 26 October in St Peter’s Church, St Mary Bourne between 4.00pm and 5.00pm.

Featuring the singing group the St Oswald Singers (founded in Bristol some 30 years ago and with links to St Mary Bourne) together with a guest piano solo from Livi Anning, the concert will include a mix of musical styles including sacred and secular, mixed and men’s voices and audience participation.

Tea and cake will be served in the interval. No tickets required, but donations on the door will be welcome to support Livi Anning in her efforts to raise funds for her trip to Uganda in February.

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The detailed programme is as follows:

First half – Sacred

Magnificat from the Service in D – Herbert Brewer

This is the Record of John – Orlando Gibbons

Organ TBC

For the Beauty of the Earth – John Rutter

Beati Quorum Via – Charles Villiers Stanford

Lobet Gott in Seinen Reichen (Cantata no 11) – Johann Sebastian Bach

Piano Primavera – Ludovico Einaudi

Tea and cake will be served in the interval

Second half – Secular

Teddy Bear’s Picnic – John Walter Bratton

Medley from “Les Miserables” – Schoenberg

My Evaline – A E Hall

I’m Sitting on Top of the World – Henderson

I’ve been to a Marvellous Party – Noel Coward (featuring Barbie Davies)

Moon River – Henry Mancini

Have Some Madeira, M’Dear – Flanders and Swann (featuring David Hunter)

The way you look tonight – Jerome Kern

Let’s face the music and dance – Irving Berlin

Finally; For Everyone, Jerusalem

Outside in at St Mary Bourne

A recent wedding we sang at in SMB had pulled a lot of the outside in. 21st century dressing of a medieval church.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snow in Stoke

For the record, a few images of the snow in Stoke in January.

Harewood across the Bourne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking down the valley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View over Stoke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gordon’s field

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Totley!

Canon Coppen goes out with a bang

Sad days as Canon Martin Coppen finally retired from St Mary Bourne as vicar of the parish and priest in charge of the local benefice stretching from Woodcott to Longparish (via St Mary Bourne and Hurstbourne Priors). Intelligent, self-deprecating and a servant of the people, Martin will also be much missed in the SMB choir! A local historian, he has his own site with a selection of pictures from the valley. Fortunately he has not gone far, so he has not seen the last of us…

Finally – the last of many presentations

Final words with Christene in the backgroud

Jubilee croquet

A rather late post, but a few pics from the alternative to the Jubilee celebrations in the Valley – a quick round of relatively crazy croquet at Harewood, won in fine style by Steve.

Bex and family preparing for the game

A view of the ‘extensive’ croquet lawn

Players in action (some inaction)

Winner Steve with the prestigious trophy

Barn dance and barbershop

Many thanks to everyone that came and supported the barn dance and barbershop 50th birthday party on 15 October. It was wonderful to see so many family and friends and, thanks to the generosity of people attending, we managed to raise £430 on the night to help with our work in Uganda. This will go towards helping defer any unexpected costs so that Dodie can continue to guarantee that 100% of all money that is raised for Uganda will go directly to good causes.

Take your partner by the hand

Dosado your partner

Not over-rehearsed, this one...