Category: News

News Update

The holiday month of August sees a little less activity in St. Mary’s, with the “Pebbles” on their Summer break and some of the faithful away on holiday, but the worship continues week by week and on the twice a month Wednesday Eucharist.

We ended July with a United Service at St. Bleddian’s church in St Lythans. The hot weather had broken on that day but the church was full and it was a delight to see representatives of the three churches coming together to worship and praise Almighty God. Helen Ormrod was there to thank the parishes for the wonderful response to her appeal to help fund her place on the Mercy Ship, which will be based off the coast of Guinea. The total raised was £3,100 and Helen has already booked her passage and we wish her well, knowing that she will be part of a team of health care professionals bringing their skills to a part of the world that so desperately needs it. As a Thank You to the parishes, Jon and Sheonagh held an “At Home” at the Rectory on the afternoon of Sunday 19th August to show how much they and Helen appreciate the kindness, the fellowship and support they have received.

At the United service at St. Lythan’s, we had a guest organist, Mary Williams from Barry. Mary normally attends All Saints Church in Barry and as our rota of organists were all on holiday, she was available to play for our service. Mary is the daughter of JF Williams a former Dean of Llandaff, and her aunt Mrs Idris Davies lived in Wenvoe. So she felt really at home and played very well on an instrument she was not used to. Thank you Mary.

Jon has felt for some time that more people are needed to be Licensed to Assist in the distribution at the Eucharist, and Jenny Ford, Allan Oliver, Judith Billingham and Sandra Davies have all been licensed by Bishop June, in addition to those already able to carry out this important ministry and took up their duties during August. The involvement of Lay people in the ministry of the church is a good sign that all is going in the right direction in the life of the church.

The Building Committee had an opportunity to see

the latest version of the plans for the proposed church extension, on the North side of the nave. Following on, the P.C.C. met on the 28th August to discuss and approve the plans, before they are submitted to the Diocesan Advisory Committee for their comment and decision. We are much in the hands of our architect, Richard, to spearhead this through the negotiations with the DAC and we await their response.

Things to look forward to in September at St. Mary’s, and to which a warm welcome awaits.

Saturday 22nd September 2pm – 5pm SCARECROW FESTIVAL

Sunday 23rd September HARVEST FESTIVAL

Sunday 30th September at St. John’s church in Sully, United Eucharist Service with Bishop June at 10.30am.

BBC “Celebration” programme rehearsal on Monday October 1st at St. Mary’s with the recording a week later on October 8th at 6.30 pm. Jon wishes to thank everyone who took part in selecting their favourite passage and book of the Bible. Many of the comments made for interesting reading and there is a broad sweep of favourites which will make the broadcast meaningful and thoughtful, and represents how the congregations of the three churches approaches the worship of Almighty God in 2018/9.

The Parish Magazine “Connections” which is available in church on the first Sunday of the month, proves popular with a near “sell out” in recent months. A reminder to the congregation in Wenvoe that we offer a year’s subscription for £5.00, payable now, which many find more convenient than paying month by month. The magazine, which shares news with St. Lythan’s and Sully, brings the activities of the parishes together in a well produced publication.

Blessings to all our readers

Parry Edwards

 

 

The Annette Bracey School of Dancing

 

The Annette Bracey School of Dancing has had a busy year, so we thought it would be nice for you all to know what's been going on.

We are very proud to announce that you can now see our school professionally on Mr Tumble's DVD, from the TV Programme 'Something Special' on the episode 'Loud and Quiet'. It was filmed a little while ago now at our own Village Hall but still a joy to watch!

From the young, to the more mature student, whether it be Freestyle, Ballet, Street or Exercise, we try to cover it all. Our classes are run throughout the year at the Wenvoe Village Hall on a Saturday from 11:30am to 3:00pm (starting term on the 8th of September 2018) encouraging the younger through to all age groups. We are NATD qualified teachers teaching for enjoyment and through to qualifications in which we pride ourselves. We thrive on keeping up-to date with music trends and the challenge that provides.

It was so nice to see how well all the girls did in their exam session this year with distinctions in Ballet, Freestyle and Street. We concluded our term with a lovely Summer Concert, and it was so wonderful to see our ex-students at the concert well on their way to their careers in Performing Arts.

We have two school shows a year and also perform periodically in the West End of London.

If anyone would like to start, either from scratch or take up dance again, don't be shy! Give us a call and we would love to kick-start that experience and hear from you! Your initial trial class will be free as a taster session!

If you feel that age has pipped you at the post, why not try something else?

Annette is a qualified Zumba Instructor part of the ZIN network and has a Monday evening class starting in our Church Hall on the 10th September from 6:15-7:00pm which is a new Zumba Cardio class combining Freestyle, Toning and Sentão (incorporating chair-work). The music is fab and great for shifting those unwanted calories (consumed in the summer via those cheeky ice-creams!) helping you get ready for a little black

number over Christmas!

If you feel like something completely different again, why not try Annette's Balletcanetics class? This is very popular in numerous Cardiff Health Clubs and popularity is spreading! So, why not be part of the buzz and give it a go?!

We have two classes a week in the village, one on Monday evenings from the 10th September in the Church Hall from 7:00-7:45pm and one on a Wednesday evening in the Village Hall starting on the 12th September from 6:15pm-7:00pm.

Balletcanetics is really different from anything else, as it is done from a standing position, or a chair if required, to ensure you get the best out of your bodies without getting down onto the floor. It really does strengthen your core and give you a sense of wellbeing. Using the breathing essences of Yoga and Pilates and slow, controlled movements incorporating strengthening exercises from Ballet, it is a beautiful combination. Although it is slow and controlled, you do work, believe me! The ambience of the class is truly amazing; people find it invigorating and empowering where no one is too old to try.

If you would like a free trial class, just cut out this article from the Wenvoe What's On and bring it along to class with you to give it a go!*

*One free class entitlement per person.

For more information on any classes, upcoming events or to book any demonstrations, please call Annette on 07739535726, email us on annette.bracey@hotmail.co.uk or visit our websitewww.annettebraceyschoolofdancing.co.uk

 

St. Mary’s Scarecrow Festival

A poem to celebrate
St. Mary’s Scarecrow Festival.
“ The Scarecrow” by Walter de la Mare

 

All winter through I bow my head
Beneath the driving rain;
The north wind powders me with snow
And blows me black again.
At midnight ‘neath a blaze of stars
I flame with glittering rime;
And stand above the stubble, stiff
As mail at morning prime.
But when that child called Spring
And all his children come
Scattering their buds and dew
Upon these acres of my home;
Some rapture in my rags awakes,
I lift void eyes and scan
The skies for crows, those ravening foes
Of my strange master, Man.
I watch him striding lank behind
His clashing team, and know
Soon will the wheat swish body high
Where once lay sterile snow.
Soon will I gaze across a sea
Of sun begotten grain;
Which my unflinching watch has sealed
For harvest once again.

 

 

Love is a Losing Game

Love is a Losing Game

Imagine being paralysed by fear in your own home. Imagine being hit to the point of breaking but you must continue to live with your abuser. Imagine if you lived in a country where unless you are hospitalised – that is, if you have the guts to take yourself to a hospital – your abuser is forgiven by society. Imagine if your abuser becomes the hero of the narrative, making you the villain by default. Imagine then, being a woman in the Russia of 2018.

More than 10,000 women in Russia are believed to die from injuries inflicted by their husbands yearly, yet despite this, the Russian parliament has passed a legal amendment decriminalising domestic abuse. With 380 to 3 votes in the Duma, and Putin’s easy agreement, the motion passed easily. Why can’t Russia seem to notice the death sentence they have forced upon millions of its women and children? Why hasn’t Russia considered the terror the change of law has inflicted on the women of Yekaterinburg, where the penalty for “minor injuries” such as bruising was reduced from a two year sentence to fifteen days in prison? Why haven’t they considered that since the law was introduced, Yekaterinburg has had police responding to 350 incidents of domestic violence daily?

But consider this: what if you had to pay your husband’s fine after he broke your nose and spirit? What if you not only had to protect yourself, but your child as well? It seems hard to believe that the same country that offered suffrage for its women in 1917 and introduced the modern International Women’s Day could leave its women in such a predicament. One woman dies every 40 minutes in the ‘Motherland’ from domestic abuse. And for what? To protect Russian tradition? To maintain the ‘sacred family’ unit? One woman dead every 40 minutes, each one ignored by Parliament.

And what of the women who actively try to keep their fellow women down? What if the woman who witnessed the abuse praised your abuser for his strength and masculinity, despite almost killing you? Take, for example, Russian MP Yelena Mizulina, who helped to instigate the decriminalisation after arguing that it made no sense to break up a family for the sake of “a slap”. Mizulina has condemned a generation of women to a toxic familial environment because she doesn’t believe they should have the right to escape it. This can only lead to one thing: the woman lying cold on the kitchen floor. Maria Mamikonyan, chair of the Russian Parental, has condoned “ordinary educational slaps, which almost all families use to let children know their limits.” But when does a disciplinary ‘slap’ become abusive? And since when is it acceptable to treat grown women like children?

If you lived in a country where you were, ironically, threatened with rape for attending classes to protect yourself, would you sit idly by and allow it to happen? If you were forced to be on the run like a criminal for a crime of which you were the victim, wouldn’t you ask why? But the women of Russia have been asking why. They’ve been asking why for so long now that their cries are wails and yet their country still refuses to hear them. And we do the same. So what can they do? Stay silent, in order to stay alive. Live in fear of being murdered by the men who are meant to love them.

With up to a third of Russian women believed to suffer from some form of domestic abuse, and 40% of all murders and violent crimes taking place within the home, it’s a wonder how these women carry on. How do they go about their day, trying not to wince at the collage of bruises hidden carefully under their clothes? They have to, when staying with their partner is an easier option than living amongst the shadows.

There is a popular saying in Russia: “if he beats you, it means he loves you”. Passivity is maintained by these women as a form of survival, as though their lives are equal to a game of chess. One wrong move, and the Queen’s life hangs in the balance.

Imagine not being protected by your own nation. Would you honestly be content with that? Why then are we allowing any woman to live in that dystopian present? We cannot call ourselves a country with some of the best equal rights laws and not feel despair for the women of Russia. I urge you to imagine yourself, your grandmother, your mother, sister or daughter in a situation, where no one seems to stop the suffering of the innocent.

Without a voice, there is no change. But we have a voice – I have a voice. And so do you. Together, our voices have the power to be deafening. We cannot allow for the blood of these women to be smeared across the Russian flag in the name of ‘tradition’. By supporting charities such as Refuge and raising awareness of the severity of the problem which occurs by decriminalising domestic abuse, the rest of the world can protect the women who are unable to protect themselves. The women of Russia deserve the opportunity to fight for their lives without the threat of incarceration. We know what is happening, and yet no attempt has been on Britain’s part to protect them.

Time for change has come, and the window of opportunity is slowly closing. I will be doing all that I can to protect the women across the world suffering from sexual violence.

Will you be joining me?

By Tirion Davies

 

 

Purpose-Built Library/Community Hub

 

Wenvoe Councillors were very pleased this week to receive confirmation from Welsh Government that our application for a grant under the Rural Community Development Fund scheme had been successful.

This grant together with support from Vale of Glamorgan Council Section 106 money (from local housing developments) will now enable us to demolish Wenvoe’s existing library building and replace it with a purpose-built library/Community hub on the existing Community Centre site.

It is hoped that an early start can now be made on the tendering process to enable us to commence and complete construction in 2019. Further updates will be provided in due course.

Colin Thomas Chairman

Wenvoe Community Council

 

 

 

School Holidays Too Long?

 

FANTASTIC WEATHER AND SIX WEEKS OF QUALITY FAMILY TIME
But were the school holidays too long?

As the Vale’s primary and secondary schools return for the Autumn Term, there are those who argue that the Summer holiday break has been too long and it would be less stressful for parents in particular, if we cut back on the length of school holidays. Working parents have to rely on a variety of cunning plans to cover the holiday period, often including costly child-care, amenable relatives and a host of planned activities.

It is a common perception that long school holidays are a hangover of the Victorian era, when children were needed to help work on the family farm during the summer months. That theory has been challenged by those who point out that during the 19th century, vast numbers of the population migrated from the countryside to the huge new industrial towns and cities. The long summer holidays they say, were a consequence of the increasingly successful fight by trade unions for a shorter working day and more time off. As workers enjoyed holidays, family celebrations required children to be available and not at school. The development of railways boosted the family holiday by the seaside and in the UK of course that meant in the summer months.

What of other countries?

A survey of countries world-wide reveals a similar pattern to the UK with most having long school breaks at some point in the year. Japan is one of many countries which mirror the UK, with a break from the end of July to early September.

In the United States the summer break lasts about 12 weeks and in Ireland, Italy, Lithuania and Russia, summer holidays normally last three months!

Is it a good idea to reduce the number of holidays?

Head teachers in the UK argue teachers and children benefit from school holidays. Children have important experiences over the summer, developing their own ways to fill the time, often engaging in valuable new activities and interests. The holidays can provide an opportunity for them to develop their social and communication skills outside of the familiar school environment.

As for teachers there’s the increasing problem of teacher recruitment, as well as finding time for them to fulfil their professional development responsibilities and prepare for the year. All this suggests that maybe a long holiday is just what exhausted teachers and jaded students need. As a slightly biased former teacher with 30 years in the classroom, I would of course have to agree.

So how can youngsters be safely, productively and affordably entertained throughout the long summer holiday?

In the United States, with longer school breaks than Britain and typically, less holiday leave for working parents, residential summer camps provide a home-from-home and a chance for children to develop their confidence and learn new skills. The UK already has a multitude of similar organisations providing exciting summer activities but these are often costly. So if we follow this route, who pays? Without some state support less privileged children would probably miss out. On the other hand, the idea of state support for summer camps would likely be rejected by those who fear more taxation or state intervention in education. In the meantime we can all look forward to the half-term break. However you plan to spend 29th October to 2nd November, it is probably wise to start planning now!

Good News…. The “French Drains” are in

 

St. Mary’s Parish Church News

Good News…. The “French Drains” are in and the work completed with the church path to the porch restored with tarmac laid where the “soak aways” were dug.. The bones which were discovered during the “dig” have been re-interred near to where they were found, this is always a problem when work is done in the churchyard, and the reason why an archaeologist is always in attendance, and his report will be received in due course cataloging the finds. The next phase of work necessary will be on the top of the tower, both internal and external, to clear away an accumulation of foliage and silt etc and to examine the roof timbers for signs of rot and infestation of any beetle activity.

The churchyard is looking good, but is suffering from the long spell of dry hot weather with the grass being parched. It is at times like this that, patches appear in the turf showing that a gravestone lies underneath.

On Sunday 15th July, we said farewell to Rev, Canon Robin Morrison and his wife Linda as they are moving to live in West London to be near their daughter. Robin, since his retirement, has been a regular member of our congregation as well as taking services when Jon has been on holiday. He presided at the 9.30 am Eucharist and in his address he reminded us that we are called with the three “P’s”… we are to be Pastoral, Prophetic and Priestly, how God reaches out to us in everyday life as well as in the church. We will miss him, for he has been a good friend to St Mary’s and we wish him and his wife every happiness in their new home.

Every member of the congregations of the six churches in the Ministry Area has been invited to submit their favourite book of the Bible, or favourite verse from the Bible, in preparation for the recording of BBC Wales programme “Celebration” which will be broadcast on Bible Sunday October 8th (with a rehearsal on Oct 1st). Jon will be taking these suggestions to form a service around them. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase the Ministry Area and how by drawing people together, with praise and hymns, the Good News of Jesus is taken out from within the church to the world around us.

The summer Session of “Messy Church” was held on Saturday 21st July when the theme was “Jesus Feeding the Five Thousand”. A good time was enjoyed by the parents and children, with craft work, storytelling, singing and of course the feeding at the end. Thanks are given to all who help to organise these events which have been very popular during the year, and of course there are more to come.

Ministry Area Confirmation Service took place in Llandaff Cathedral on Wednesday 18th July with Bishop June presiding, The candidates from Wenvoe are Adam, Jacques, Erin, Christopher, Celyn, Maisey, Tia, Nathan, Harry, Lucia and Poppy. They were well supported by parents and friends together with others from within the Ministry Area churches.

July has been a very busy month at St. Mary’s with two memorable funerals of John Custance and Gwyn Rees of Wrinston Farm and looking ahead August will also be a busy time with three weddings planned in Wenvoe. Our little church is doing well at present with good congregations and a welcome awaits all who come to church perhaps for the first time. The Wednesday morning Eucharist services are especially well attended when refreshments are available for a time of friendship and social chat. Similarly the monthly “Chattery” in the Church hall is an opportunity to meet up with friends and those who are not in the congregation and chat over all the local news. A warm welcome awaits all in this very friendly gathering on the second Thursday of the month.

Its holiday time, so enjoy it and let us hope the sun continues to shine though a little rain in the nights would not come amiss.

With every blessing to all readers

Parry Edwards

 

 

Holidays with the Family

 

Being on holiday with my family is something I’ll never get old of. Especially if it’s after a hard two years of A-Levels. Of course, my brain is telling me I must worry about results day but my heart is telling me to jump into the sea and never look back. On holiday, I prefer the latter – always.

Sometimes I think maybe our family is weird. I’ve spoken to so many other people who all suggest they want to get as far away as their families as possible and can think of nothing worse than two weeks abroad with their parents and siblings. But not us. We enjoy each other’s company, and I prefer that. It means we can get drunk on cocktails at 6pm and name all of the stray dogs at the hotel happily; or it means that when Mam falls off the boat, bum first on a day trip, it’s entirely okay to laugh (a lot). It also means that you can have the best (sometimes weirdest) conversations sat inside the beach bar when the rain is hammering down and the pool looks desolate and bleak. Answering Trivial Pursuit cards has never been as fun as when you’re slightly drunk at night and extremely sunburnt (thanks Factor 50 ☹).

When we finish our holidays, we normally come home feeling closer. As we try to continue the rest of the summer, there’s still that glimmer of the holiday left, with sitting outside after everyone’s finished with work or trying the Trivial Pursuit cards again, only to realise you went through them all on holiday and somebody always remembers the answers. But it’s nice. Because we want to feel that close – we don’t want to run or escape from one another.

Now I’m home and Results Day looms, I can’t help but want to hold on to the holiday either. We waited two years for the holiday, and it felt like it was over so quickly (the 12 hour flight, however, I will not miss). I wish sometimes there was something akin to a holiday all of the time so that I wouldn’t have to think about school. Sometimes, though, I’m not sure I necessarily want the holiday itself (I burn incredibly easily, it’s embarrassing and inevitably always hotter again because of the sunburn) but rather the family time. I genuinely like my family, and hoping that I do get in to University, I don’t know what I’ll do without them next year.

I wish there were as many families who are just happy to be around one another in the same way we are. It’s great and I would highly recommend it. I’m not saying I’m best friends with my parents, but I’m saying I highly enjoy their company. Life when you enjoy your parents’ company is far better than life when you don’t.

Enjoy your holidays, ladies and gents!

By Tirion Davies

 

 

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