June 2022

Parish Council Meeting: Thursday 9 June

The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday 9 June at 8.00pm in the village hall. Any member of the public who would like to raise an issue to be discussed at this meeting should contact the Clerk.

Numbers who can attend this meeting are limited so any member of the public who particularly needs to speak to the Parish Council must register with the Clerk prior to the meeting and be prepared to follow the safety measures which are in place. Contact details are: Lisa Lathane, Clerk to the Parish Council:

Open Gardens And Tea: St Pauls Waldenbury

Grateful thanks are extended to everyone who donated cakes for the Open Gardens and tea at St Paul’s Waldenbury on Sunday 15 May. A total profit of £695.73 was made, which will go to St Martin’s Church. Thank you too to everyone who helped to make the afternoon such a success.

New Community Facilities – Shop, Café & Village Hall

After receiving 170 responses to our questionnaire, we now know there is overwhelming village support for the project. 82% are in favour of a shop, 72% are in favour of a café and 66% are in favour of a new village hall.

The Working Group will now move on to the next phase of the project. We will start to look at the detailed requirements of a building, budget, location, business plan etc.

We aim to select a location by consulting with the village and hopefully achieve a consensus. Several options will be considered, and any suggestions would be very welcome.

Regular updates will be provided. If you have any questions in the meantime, please contact the Working Group:

St Martin’s Church and All Saints’ Church Services

5th June

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

8am

10am

All Saints Holy Communion (BCP)

Thanksgiving Service at All Saints

12th June 8am

9.30am

11am

All Saints Holy Communion (BCP)

St Martin’s Holy Communion

All Saints Sunday Praise

19th June 9.30am

11am

St Martin’s Family Service

All Saints Holy Communion

26th June 9.30am

11am

St Martin’s Holy Communion

All Saints Holy Communion

3rd July 9.30am

11am

All Age Communion at St Martin’s

All Age Communion at All Saints

Team Vicar of St Paul’s Walden with Preston:

St Martin’s Church 150 Club 2022/2023

The winners in the May draw in the 2022/23 150 Club (£30 each) were:

No. 53 Mrs AG Ide
No. 56 Capt. MR Lowle

A Letter From Our Team Vicar

Two things stand out for me this June.

First, and most obviously, the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee rightly dominates our thinking and our activities. It is wonderful to see all that is going on in our villages in celebration of a tremendous milestone. We come together in praise of her Majesty the Queen and her outstanding reign.

Secondly, Sunday 5th June celebrates the day of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit “as a mighty rushing wind“– energising the first disciples of Jesus as the nucleus of the church. Pentecost is in fact the birthday of the church. From Pentecost, as indeed from Easter, will ripple out the good news of the saving power of God, seen in Jesus, and available to everyone. For Pentecost is the sign of the unity of all humankind – the Holy Spirit open to all, without reservation and without qualification.

It will be so good for us to come together on Sunday, 5th June at 10 am at All Saints to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee – a Service of Thanksgiving, on the day that we also give thanks for the day of Pentecost, and the unifying power of God’s Holy Spirit.

With every blessing,

Stephen

Preston Cricket Club 2022

Preston Cricket Club is already underway for the new 2022 season. The First X1 will again be competing in the Saracens Herts League Championship division; the highest level the club has ever played at and essentially represents a level below minor county cricket; this is an incredible achievement. Our Second X1, having gained promotion to Div 5A, will once more be aiming for another step up. The Third X1 narrowly missed out on promotion last season and will aim to rectify this in 2022 and the Fourth X1 look forward to another enjoyable season. We are not far off a Fifth X1 quite unbelievably as our membership continues to develop and reputation increases.

We are still able to field Sunday cricket teams too; a fairly rare feat these days with our First X1 playing in the Sunday Bedfordshire League. In case anyone is wondering, our Third X1 and Fourth X1 play their home games at Whitwell CC – so our ground teams will also have a very busy summer ahead once again making the ground(s) look as pristine as possible.

Our Junior Cricket programme begins shortly and we will build on the success of last season’s ECB Dynamos Programme and we will be welcoming 60 children between the ages of 8-11 to the club this summer and our volunteer coaching team will have a busy season. We have matches arranged for our new U9s and U11s team too.

Our overseas visitors have already arrived and we welcome Nivin Sathyajith and his partner Sophie Williams to Preston. Nivin plays first grade level cricket for the Victoria Premier club Kingston Hawthorn CC and we look forward to having a really enjoyable summer with them.

Please come over and enjoy the ground and the cricket; Preston CC has developed into a strong, welcoming, forward thinking club that we hope the village can be very proud of. It will be another very busy season for us and we are all very much looking forward to it. Our website has more information in terms of fixtures etc and you can contact us should anything be of interest via this too. www.prestoncricketclub.co.uk

The Preston Jubilee

Let the Celebrations Begin!!!

In less than a week the Preston Jubilee celebrations will begin, thank you so much for all your help and support so far, but please we need some more! A little reminder, but there are details about all of the celebrations and competitions on our Facebook and instagram  pages and in your Jubilee Booklet… If you haven’t received one, or have lost yours, please contact Rae

“A Life Lived With Grace,” the song we will sing at the Beacon Lighting, was practiced at St. Martin’s on Monday 23rd. Those who were lucky enough to have heard it, were treated to a wonderful rendition, – fit for a queen, or in this case fit for our Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. The ‘Choir’ for the Evening won’t only be the one from Monday – WE NEED YOU TOO! Please, if you can, listen to the tune and familiarise yourself with it and the words, come along on the night and sing along with everyone else. Whether you feel you are a singer or not, it is possible to achieve great sounds when we all come together. It is hoped that there can be a get together, for a ‘Dress Rehearsal’, on The Green on Wednesday 1st June at 6.30pm but this will be confirmed. If you are not on the PNS please ask friends and neighbours to keep you updated. If you are on PNS, please offer to update friends and neighbours who might not be.

Guess Who in 1952 – Do you remember 1952 or seeing photographs of yourself then? Whether you were a ‘ babe in arms’ or singing along to Johnnie Ray’s “Walking my Baby Back Home” we would to love to borrow some photographs for a fun guess who game. Please drop your photos, or copies of them,(including who it is of and the rough date it was taken) off at Applegarth on The Green. or email them to Vicky: vpullinger@hotmail.com Originals will be looked after, copied  and returned.

Are you a budding baker or a proficient pie maker? Either way, please enter The Great Preston Bake Off! Originally we asked that you bake anything as long as it had a Royal theme and would satisfy a sweet tooth, but… what about the savoury lovers amongst us? The Great Preston Bake Off has been opened up to include you too! Still decorated with a Royal theme, whether you choose sweet or savoury, or even one of both our three revered judges will be looking for  decoration and taste in your creation. Entry is free and there are three age groups: children up to 11, 12-18 year olds and 19 +’s. There are prizes for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in each category!

Have you started to create your Royal Mr. or Mrs. Potato Head or even a diorama of 1952 for your Potato Head? If you haven’t already, please enter this fun competition. Entry is free and there are four age groups: children 6 and under, 7- 11 year olds, 12 – 18 year olds and 19 +’s. There are prizes for the 1st and 2nd places in each category, with a prize for the winners of a public vote too! Will you pick the same entry as our esteemed judge, who remembers her own Mr. Potato Head well?

A big thank you to everyone who has already made, lent or donated bunting and other Jubilee goodies, for our celebrations. If you still have anything you’d like us to use please drop your contributions to Jo at 23 Chequers Lane or St. Martin’s Place Church Lane.

Can you help to cater for the Afternoon Teas at the Cricket? There have been many offers to make cakes, which is fabulous- you can never have enough, but sandwiches are also needed please. Queen Elizabeth has her favourites, maybe you could discover what they are and offer to make those?

The Street party needs offers of tables (preferably rectangular or square) and chairs, and we are asking you to bring your own chairs to use, if you can please. The wet weather plan for the Beacon Lighting Evening and the Street Party is gazebos galore! To borrow those, if needed, would be great.

If you are available to help, with setting up, taking down or during any of the celebrations please let us know. Qualified First Aiders with up to date certificates are needed too. Please see your ‘RSVP’ in your Jubilee Booklet on how to let us know you can volunteer.

Last but definitely not least we need YOU! Please join us at these celebrations. We are asking you to ‘book’ for the Street Party so we have ideas of numbers but obviously you will still be welcome on the day if you don’t. If you’d like to dress up, do wear fancy dress with the themes of Royalty, 1952 (ish) or Red White and Blue.

Lets come together and celebrate Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll’ s Platinum Jubilee and our community of Preston; meeting up with neighbours and friends and maybe making new ones!

Neighbourhood Watch

The number to contact at North Herts Police for all non-emergencies (including witnessing of fly-tipping) is 101 or 01707 354000.

For removal of fly tipping which has already occurred, call NHDC 01462 474000 or online at www.north-herts.gov.uk, then follow the links to Transport and Streets, Street Cleaning and Fly Tipping where there is a form to complete to report the details. If you use the What3Words app, please include the three words for the location of the fly tipping.

PCSO Heather Burrows can be contacted regarding local community issues.
Contact details are as follows:

PCSO Heather Burrows: 07740 745168 or 01438 757604 or heather.burrows@herts.pnn.police.uk

In the event of an emergency or if you witness a crime taking place please call 999.

Reporting suspicious activity

Please report any suspicious activity or vehicles you may witness in the locality.
Call the police on the non-emergency number 101 or report it online by using the website www.herts.police.uk/report and follow the links.

Hitchin Foodbank Shortages

The following items are the most urgently needed due to recent strong demand: Tinned Potatoes; Tea (foil packed); Tinned Fish (Tuna preferred); Coffee (small jars); Milk UHT Longlife (not skimmed); Juice (longlife); Sponge Puddings; Deodorant / Shower Gel / Shampoo / Toothpaste.

Please ensure items are undamaged and in date. Donations can be deposited in the blue box in the garage at Lychgate House, Church Lane, or at Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.  Thank you for your continued support; for more information please visit letchworth.foodbank.org.uk

Preston Village Hall – Bookings

The Village Hall is available for general hire again.

Users are kindly requested to conform to hygiene and safety standards.

For enquiries please email Carol at:

Preston Village Hall Committee

The Preston Trust AGM

The Preston Trust AGM will be on Sunday 17th July – 11 00am in the Village Hall.

Please join us at the AGM to find out more about what the Trust is about and what being a member of it entails.You can be involved as little or as much as you would like.Your participation is paramount to keeping the Trust running and continuing to help this special community.The Preston Trust committee really need new members too,to help enable us to fulfill the Trust’s commitments to all the people of the Village and Parish.If you’ve ever thought ‘Why don’t they do this or why do they do that’ then why not join the committee and help make the difference you are hoping the Trust will make…

If you have any queries please contact:

Rae using the Preston Trust contact form and select the option to contact The Membership Secretary.

We are looking forward to welcoming you on 17th July.
Adrian, Jo, Liz, Mike, Rae, Tim and Wal – The Preston Trust committee.