In what was to turn out to be the highlight of the Euro’s weekend, 25 Friday Knights turned out for our annual Barbecue. The men’s group set up over 25 years ago to provide friendship and support to the blokes of St. John’s has been itching to get back together since their last meeting in March 2020. Excellent fare provided by Shirley’s local new butcher ‘Bashfords’ was seared to perfection by chefs Cotton and Foot and over a few beverages tales of the last 15 months were shared.
The Friday Knights will meet again on 17th September and will welcome any new men to a group which over the years has played a solid role in our church community. We look forward to greeting you.
Welcome to MHA The Wilderness Newsletter – July 2021
We hope everyone is staying safe and well.
We have been very busy but there are a lot of exciting things coming up as we move into the summer! MHA The Wilderness team and our amazing volunteers have been working very hard to ensure the Wilderness garden has its place in the community.
We have important news to share with you. Read more below!
Wilderness Weekend Opening Starting on Saturday 10th July from 10am – 4pm, the Wilderness garden is open to the public. Every Saturday throughout July, visitors are welcomed to visit the Wilderness garden by booking their FREE tickets here:
As things move forward with the re-opening of services in accordance with the UK Government Roadmap, the Wilderness will be open to the public on Saturday 24th and 31st July with no need to book, as we will be able to welcome visitors with no-limited capacity if restrictions are eased on Monday 19th July.
As you are booking your FREE place, please bear in mind the Wilderness is run by a small team supported by a fantastic group of dedicated volunteers. If you decide not to come on your booked day, please cancel your ticket at least 72 hours before your visit. This will allow other members of the community to visit the Wilderness whilst we will ensure the Wilderness is an accessible garden for all.
Booking your place at the Wilderness
You can visit the Wilderness garden during the week on Monday from 10am – 4pm; Tuesday and Wednesday from 1:30 – 4pm depending on the availability. We welcome members of the public; groups and organisations to book their place to access the Wilderness. To book your place, please email the Wilderness team at [email protected]
The Wilderness team is also running FREE Learning workshops for primary schools especially. Since the reopening of the garden, the Wilderness has welcome pupils from St John’s CofE school and we are extremely grateful of having young learners enjoying outdoor learning in our 7acres garden. Throughout the summer, we will host more learning activities for pupils to enjoy. For more info and resources, please visit our website at https://www.mha.org.uk/get-involved/the-wilderness/learning-resources/ or email us at [email protected]
The Wilderness in July
The main project to restore the garden is now approaching completion; the garden will however continue to be developed and improve.
Bog Garden
Acid Grassland Areas
Scented walkway
Woodland walk
Rockery, (now in full flower)
Fruit Trees/experimental garden and meadows
Further clearances in the garden are continuing to take place in order to increase the acid grassland area. These clearances will allow more light in and its hoped will rejuvenate the seed and bulb bank below the current thick leaf mulch. This area will be seeded with a grass wildflower mix as well. All cuttings will be re-used to increase and maintain the gardens dead hedges which provide both more privacy and new habitats for wildlife.
Wildlife in the garden and its biodiversity is being increased through the re-introduction of plants known to be existed and animals including hedgehogs; slow worms; a variety of birds and even a deer has been seen in the garden recently.
Wilderness Grand Opening
Despite the several challenges faced in the past few months, it is with great excitement that we are confirming the Wilderness Grand Opening event on Monday 30th August.
The time has finally come to celebrate our achievements and the creation of wild garden for the community and further afield to enjoy. More details to follow, so keep an eye on our social media pages:
Volunteering at MHA The Wilderness is really like no other and our volunteers are very special to us. We have created a new role to help the Wilderness becoming a more accessible green space. We are looking for a dedicated and passionate individual to become the Wilderness Visitor Engagement Volunteer. This new role has been designed for those who particularly enjoy public speaking and actively engaging with visitors, whilst celebrating the work we do at MHA, the UK’s largest charity care provider. If you are interested in dedicating some of your time to MHA and The Wilderness garden, please get in contact with the Wilderness team at [email protected]
We will provide role-specific training with relevant member of the team; Health and safety training; and customer service training.
Thanks to all those fantastically creative people who made the church look so beautiful for Easter.
For those that were unable to come here are some pictures – they don’t do it justice though!
I also think our Easter Garden looks absolutely brilliant. Many thanks to those that have put this together and to our very own Paul for creating the outbuilding.
Hello, as you all know we are desperately short of funds so we have now found a way you can support us through Amazon. The really good news is this is at NO cost to you. You can shop for the same Amazon items at the same prices as the normal Amazon website except you shop through https://smile.amazon.co.uk, every time you shop this way St Johns will get a .5% donation direct from Amazon.
Throughout the year, when not in ‘lockdown’ folk attending the church have the opportunity to donate into a little box beneath the west window.
This provides funds to support the “Toilet Twinning” scheme which runs Water and sanitation projects enable families to build a toilet, have access to clean water, and to learn about handwashing and other hygiene principles.
Dignity is restored when the whole family can use a private, hygienic toilet at their home and no longer have to squat in the bush.
Mounted in the Tamberlin Room are certificates and photos showing our previous donations. This year we have sent an additional donation to provide another toilet and a tap to Malawi. In three large districts in central and southern Malawi, AG Care is working with thousands of families to enable them to build their own toilet, and have access to safe drinking water.
Vulnerable communities need more than a clean loo in order to thrive.
Toilets, taps and training together are a lifesaving trio that help flush away poverty.
And when it comes to stopping the spread of coronavirus in the communities where the scheme works, handwashing and hygiene training (to understand how viruses spread) are vital.
We have a new donation box and hope you will feel able to continue to support this vital part of St John’s mission during 2021’
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