Etchingham

PLAYGROUNDS: Etchingham Recreation Ground Trust (ERGT) is the charity responsible for Queen’s Garden and the Viper site. ERGT are working on fund raising for repair and replacement of equipment, and apologise for the delay in the start of fundraising, due to the setting up of the bank account taking much longer than anticipated. There are a couple grant applications in progress that if successful will help build the total. You can generate funds for ERGT whenever you shop online and it does not cost you anything extra. You register at Give as you Live https://www.giveasyoulive.com/join/ergt then whenever you shop online you sign in to the Give as you Live website first and use the link on the site to access the retailer you are purchasing from, there are over 4,000 online retailers available so your favourites are bound to be there, a small percentage of your purchase will be donated to ERGT, the amounts are quite small but if lots of people remember to use the system for every purchase it will soon add up to a useful sum of money. You will find more details of how to use Give as you Live on the ERGT fundraising page of the village website www.etchinghamvillage.co.uk/playgrounds/give-as-you-live EVERY PENNY COUNTS. There is now also a fundraising page online where you can make a donation https://www.everyclick.com/etchinghamplaygrounds if you are a tax payer please remember to fill in the Gift Aid form when you make your donation so that ERGT get an extra 25% from HMRC. If you want to make a donation but do not have the ability to do it online, you can a payment with cash or a cheque payable to Etchingham Playgrounds and deliver it to the Parish Office at Parsonage Croft, or in a sealed envelope clearly marked ‘playground appeal’ at the Post Office. The target to be raised is £25,000, at the time of writing just over £500 has been raised, with approx. another £100 of donations and gift aid waiting to be approved, so quite a way to go yet, if you have any fundraising ideas, and more importantly, time to help organise fundraising, email [email protected]

ETCHINGHAM CLUB: The next Music Night at the Club is on Saturday December 8 The Tar Babies from 9pm. The Club is open four evenings each week, Mondays and Wednesdays 7.30 to 10.30; Fridays 6.30 to 11.30; Saturdays 7.30 to 11.30. Everyone welcome, no membership required.

CHURCH SERVICES: The Church Service this Sunday, November 25 is a Morning Prayer Service with Dr. Sue Greener, 11am.

CHURCH CONTACT: Churchwardens, Mary Barnes 01580 819142 and Geoffry Lucas 01580 819439. For Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals and Pastoral Matters contact Reverend Sally Epps 01435 882301 [email protected]

CHURCH OPENING: The Church is open every day for visitors from 11am to 4pm.

FOOTPATHS: There have been reports recently of people using the public footpaths around the village diverting off of the marked path into adjacent fields. Everyone is reminded that you are only permitted to use the designated marked footpaths and not any of the land around the paths, keep to the official footpaths, follow the Countryside Code, and remember to pick up after your dog. Further information on Public Footpaths and the Countryside Code is available on the village website www.etchinghamvillage.co.uk/parish-council/community-safety/footpaths

HURST GREEN: As you will be aware there is not currently a Village Voice correspondent for Hurst Green. If you are connected with with a Hurst Green group, or organising an event in Hurst Green, I am happy to add the details to the Etchingham column if you send the information to me. Or, even better, perhaps there is someone in Hurst Green who would like to take on the Hurst Green column, if you want to know more you can contact me or the Battle Observer.

VILLAGE WEBSITE: The village website is provided by the Parish Council to inform residents of Parish Council and village activities. The site is updated on a voluntary basis to keep running costs to a minimum, Council agendas and minutes are published on the site and archived agendas and minutes for the last five years can also be viewed.

Information on village organisations and events is added, are the details of your village organisation on the website? If you have information that you would like to see on the site let me know so that it can be added, there is a link to the contact form at the bottom of the Home Page on the site www.etchinghamvillage.co.uk .

Content on the website is currently being edited and updated, if you, your organisation or business has information on the site please check the content and notify any changes, deletions or additions to [email protected] there is not much value in having details on the site if things like contact details etc. are out of date.

SENDING INFORMATION: Get information for this column to me as soon as possible. There are several ways to get your info to me, but email is preferred because there is less chance of errors during copying. I need information by 10pm on Monday to be sure it will be in time for inclusion, I can sometimes add extra items on Tuesday morning, but this cannot be guaranteed. You can deliver to 2 Park Farm Close, telephone 01580 819532 or 07484 635014 or email [email protected] you will also find a form on the village website ( http://www.etchinghamvillage.co.uk/village-voice ) to send your information from there, look for the Village Voice link near the bottom of the column of links on the left-hand side of the website page.