Welcome to the Summer edition of your local banter. From the news below weve got a very challenging, but exciting and no doubt busy year ahead of us. Please do all you can to help support this venture in any way, big or small. Ed.

Boyton Church has finally been successful, after many years trying, in obtaining an offer of a very substantial grant of £105,000 from English Heritage. The grant is required to carry out essential repairs to the tower and fabric of the building, without which the building would continue to decline and eventually become unsafe. However, we now need to raise over £18,000 in order to meet the full build costs, £5,560 of which must be raised before 31 March 2005 to be eligible for the above full grant. This is in addition to our usual fund raising needs.

YOUR CHURCH NEEDS YOU! Once this work has been completed, the Church will not only continue to be a place of worship but also a centre for the community for events such as concerts, exhibitions and a place of historical interest. Every household in the village is therefore asked to contribute in any way possible (time, ideas, pledges, etc). This would ensure that we take full advantage of the grant offer and secure the position of the church such that it remains a valuable asset for our community and future generations.

A meeting is arranged for Saturday 19^th June at 10.30am in the village hall  please attend and add your support.

Present: Mr Keith Lilley (Chair), Dr Fred Stentiford, Mrs Nicola Cassy, Mrs Liz Lansdowne, Mr Allan Hall (clerk).

• The Chair welcomed Allan Hall, who has taken over as clerk from Rosemary Hepburn-Clark. After serving in the role for seven years, Rosemary has decided to move on, and the Council sends her its good wishes and sincere thanks for her help over the years.
• The following officers were unanimously re-elected: Chair - Keith Lilley; Responsible Finance Officer - Fred Stentiford
• The parish archive records will be collected from the former clerk, and current interest items extracted prior to their being deposited at the Public Records Office.

• The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 22 September 2004 in the Village Hall at 7.30pm.

Present: as above plus Mrs Rhona Sturrock, (Suffolk Coastal District Councillor), Mrs Sheila Rogers.

Allan Hall - Clerk to Boyton Parish Council

An opportunity to be involved with the first ever national hedgerow survey. The aim is to create a snapshot of the state of he nations largest wildlife habitat. All the hedges in Boyton (not garden hedges) will be included. Volunteers are required: a) to help locate where exactly the hedges are; b) to help identify all the hedge species in a sample of each hedge. It is surprisingly easy! Especially as you will go out first time with a trained hedge species spotter. To find out more call Isobel Lilley  411409, Nicola Cassy or John Carpmael.

Such wonderful news: we have achieved a new record - £130. 59p. Thank you all for contributing so much. I look forward to meeting you all again next year. Your Red Cross Collector Kay Stoddart

Boyton Church is looking for a musician who could help every 3^rd Sunday in the month for the 11am service in Boyton. Any musical instrument / keyboard would be most welcome, and an organ is already available for use in the church. Please direct all enquiries to Revd. Judith Andrews - 411642

Would you like to see a small tea shop set up in the Village Hall? The aim would be to raise money for charity, through running a semi-professional tea shop on a regular basis. It is suggested to initially run the tea shop every Sunday from the 8^th to 29^th August inclusive. To help assess this idea it would be appreciated if you could answer the questionnaire below.

Also required would be offers of assistance to help run the tea shop, especially over the lunch time period, and ideally the use of an old coffee table and sofa (temporarily over during the August period).

Décor

Food

Other

What would entice you to come to the tea shop?

Your name (optional):