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This Index [indicates above] National/International Events and are added here for your information.
They do not form part of the
Churches Together in Epsom, but of course we support many of these events
There are many Christian Website
please use Google to search for your requirements
A few are indicated below for
quick access, but not in order of precedence.
Fair Trade
;
Traidcraft
;
Christian Aid
To find details of past events etc use this Site SEARCH
............here
Epsom Christian Aid Week 2011
Report to come soon
Gillian
Mead
Epsom
Christian Aid Week 2010
Report
I
thought I would give you a few more facts and figures now that I
have nearly completed my accounts for Christian Aid for this
year.
The
Public Street collection raised £428, up over £100 from 2 years
previously. A big thank you to all those who stood in Epsom
shaking the tin, I think it was a very worthwhile exercise.
In
addition to the public street collection the
8 churches in Epsom have donated £10,331. The
good news is that this is up 10% on the figures for 2009. Most
of the churches had a small percentage increase on the previous
year, with just 3 churches having a slight reduction. Most of
this money is raised from house-to-house collections and
donations, whilst some of the churches hold fund raising events,
which you would have heard about. In addition to this, there
will be extra added for gift aid donations, but I am afraid I
don’t keep a record of the exact amount that is gift aided.
So this
is all good news, and I would like to say a huge thank you to
all the church organisers for all the effort they put into
organising their event in their own church, and to the whole
Christian community across Epsom who make this all possible.
As yet
there is no official figure for the amount raised across the UK,
but last year it was in the region of £15 million pounds.
Gillian
Mead
2011
christianaid
URC Quiz Night
Over 50 people met together in Unity Hall for the Quiz and
supper held on Saturday, 21st May 2011 in aid of
Christian Aid. There were nine teams of people, answering
questions from our Question Master, Malcolm Saunders, on a wide
variety of subjects. The meal of fish and chips was most
enjoyable, as were the quiches that Gwyneth Smith prepared for
the vegetarians among us. This was followed by a bowl of
ice-cream, before we resumed the quiz. There was also a raffle,
arranged by Pamela, that raised £60 and which brought the total
raised by the event to a very creditable £295.
Thank
you, everybody.
The result was a dead-heat between ‘Twister’, with John, Fiona,
Sarah and Elizabeth Atherton and with John and Jill Popham, and
‘Karate Kidz’, with John, Barbara, Christopher and Jessica, and
Gwyneth and Pamela, both teams scoring a very good 60 points out
of a possible 70. Well done!
It was a very enjoyable evening in a very friendly atmosphere.
We thank Malcolm for being such an excellent Quiz Master and
Alan Wood for all his preparations and the computerised
scoreboard on the screen.
Valerie Wood
2009 London to Paris Cycle
Ride Report
Congratulations to our 135 cyclists who completed
the 2009 London to Paris Bike Ride, and are on
target to raise well over £200,000.
At times it
was tough, but an incredible sense of
camaraderie and determination carried every last
one of them through to the sun-drenched finale
in Paris. Our
amazing team of 135 riders reached Paris on schedule
on Saturday, and never can the Eiffel Tower have
been such a welcome sight. Wind
and rain had not made their 300-mile trek easy, but the
combination of team spirit and a collective commitment to
the cause saw them through.
Three
members of Epsom Methodist Church, Tony & Heather Blakeburn and
Robert Hill formed part of this team
of 135 riders all of whom reached Paris on schedule on Saturday.
The
Epsom Methodist Church trio
raised nearly £4,000.00 and many of members from EMC supported their
huge effort.
‘On yer bike’
(or London to Paris in 4
days.!!) by Tony
Day 1 – London to Dover -70 miles
At 7.00 a.m Wednesday July 22nd
2009, to a cacophony of clicking pedals, cleats and gear changes, Bexley
was woken to the sounds of 137 cyclists of all ages, sizes and shapes
making their way on the first stage of their trip to Paris raising funds
for Christian Aid. Adorned with more Lycra than a Rosemary Conley
factory outlet the intrepid bikers were soon travelling through the
Medway towns in the rush hour and out into the Kent countryside. The
first water stop at Rochester came as a welcome relief even though the
group were warming to the task after a couple of steep inclines.
They call Kent the ‘Garden of England’
and rightly so as we cycled through some delightful villages and the
vista(s), together with some lovely sunshine made us feel pretty good.
It took some amazing willpower from yours truly not to
take a diversion to Faversham and explore the Shepherd Neame brewery
particularly as some of the hills were becoming quite tough and
lunchtime was approaching.
Post lunch the group continued through
the countryside and over the South Downs towards Dover with the
objective of meeting the 16.00 ferry. After 70 miles and only getting
lost a couple of times we arrived in Dover in time for the ferry
crossing to Calais.
Day 2. Calais to Arras – 82 miles
Slate grey rain leaden skies, more
reminiscent of a Lowry painting, greeted us as we set off on the longest
leg of the trip. Scheduled to be 82 miles (without getting lost!!) they
said that this would be the toughest day with the most hills and a climb
of 2260 feet!! – They were right – well - about the hills anyway!
During this leg the words ‘hill’ and ‘up’ became firmly embedded as
swear words in the Blakeburn/Hill dictionary.
The Lycra was replaced with
waterproofs as we set off through the rush hour traffic at Calais.
Everything we thought about French lorry drivers was confirmed at this
point and slow progress was made until we got off the main roads and
into the country lanes and sleepy French villages. We resisted the
temptations of ‘coffee and croissants’ as the hills started to kick in.
Now - I have always worked on the premise that what goes up must, at
some point come down. Oh dear. It just appeared that we were forever
going uphill and although the inclines were less aggressive than those
in Kent, they were sooooooo long.
By this time the rain had ceased, the
waterproofs had been discarded and the sun had come out. But…..although
the sun had made a welcome appearance, a strong breeze had developed and
it wasn’t a tail wind either!! This made even the downhill hard work.
Despite all this, we were making our
way through some beautiful countryside, quiet roads and pretty villages
before getting to Arras.
Day 3 – Arras to Compiegne – 80 miles
They said that this would be an easier
day – oh - they were so wrong! This was the day when all of us felt it –
even the experienced bikers who were fit, fast and had the latest
technology bikes suffered as, during the afternoon the winds blew and
the rains came.
It has started out so nicely as well!!
We were scheduled to complete another 80 miles today and we started out
in warm sunshine, birds singing and all that lovely stuff that makes a
summer (except the French don’t play cricket!!). The mood of the group
was quickly changed as we entered into the area of Somme valley where
many of us took small diversions to visit the war graves of those who
gave their lives in the 1914-1918 war. It was my first visit to this
area and to see the thousands upon thousands upon thousands of graves
was a very sobering experience. I can’t help wondering what on earth
possessed the nation’s leaders to send young men, some only 17, to fight
over such a desolate piece of land. We don’t appear to have learned
much! (Note to self – get off soapbox!!).
The tranquillity of the surroundings
changed immediately after lunch as the rains swept in and the headwind
picked up. The tree lined lanes gave way to vast exposed stretches of
cornfields without shelter. It was a real test of endurance and although
I would like to say that the thoughts of the hungry and starving
worldwide kept us going, I would be lying. We all had to dig deep
emotionally and physically to get through and I can proudly say that not
one of the 137 gave in. Through the wind and the rain and up the hills
sheer guts, determination, and teamwork got us all through. If the
elements had been bad, it didn’t help matters either when a few mindless
individuals removed the marker signs to the hotel and added an hour to
our journey. Pah!!
Day 4 – Compiegne to Paris – 67 miles
We have all had them haven’t we? There
are moments in our lives that will linger in the memory for ever –
weddings, children, holidays etc. For us, riding down the Champs-
Elysees and up to the Eiffel tower to the cheers and well wishers of
Paris will remain with us forever. We had done it, we had met the
challenge. We had justified the money you had donated and supported us
with.
The morning started well enough with a
ride through the forests outside Paris and only one hill!!! The
countryside gave way to the Paris suburbs and although the route into
the ‘Centreville’ was littered with road works (much like London
really!!) we all made it to the Louvre where all 137 congregated for our
police escort to the Eiffel Tower. It was a truly great feeling to have
been part of a team that had done so much and the trip to the Eiffel
Tower, even around the Arc de Triumph, was greeted with cheers from
tourists and Parisians alike.
Conclusions and thanks
By mutual consent, for the three of
us, this was the greatest individual physical challenge that we had ever
faced. Although we are reasonably fit and are recreational bikers and
have some experience of cycling distances, cycling in excess of 80 miles
every day for 4 consecutive days was quite punishing on the legs, bums,
shoulders, neck etc. However, a hot bath for some (or a cold beer for
Tony!!) soothed the pain and made things a little more bearable.
The camaraderie within the group was
fantastic. Everyone helped each other – if anyone stopped and was on
their own they were asked and helped. The team spirit was remarkable
for a group of people who didn’t know each other on Wednesday morning
but by the end were bosom buddies.
Some facts
– during the trip the group drank 5000 litres of water, ate over 2000
bananas and oranges, 1500 tracker or energy bars, and had over 450
punctures.
Whilst I have been bleating on about
how tough this was and the pain we felt, it is, of course, nothing
compared to those who suffer hunger and endure poverty every single day
of their lives and have known no different. Your generosity of
sponsorship and donations of money will, rest assured, help those people
of this world who are less fortunate than ourselves. To date you have
donating a whopping great £4000 for this cause and that is fantastic –
thank you to each of you who have given your money and to those of you
who have helped us with your prayers and support.
Would we do it again? As long as
there is hunger and poverty in this world – you bet we would. Cycling to
Paris is nothing compared to that.
Thank you
Tony, Heather Blakeburn and Robert
Hill of Epsom Methodist Church
Christian
Aid Report 2009 – Churches together in Epsom
The Christian Aid accounts have at
last been finalised, and I report these now for your information.
Due to the economic crises I think we all knew that it would be a
difficult year, and it has proved to be the case with total giving
from the area down 37% on 2008. Only 2 churches showed an increase
on giving this year, St Stephens (16%) and St Martins (9%) – so
congratulations to them. It was obviously disappointing that St
Barnabas decided to not participate in the house-to-house collection
due to their church celebrations and the commitment they felt that
their congregation were giving to that, so due to the fact that last
year they had a £1,000 donation from one member of the congregation,
this has probably skewed the figures slightly.
However, a huge thank you must go
to each of the Christian Aid organisers, and each church should
realise how much work goes into arranging this task. It is
especially difficult for those who are new to it, so a big thank you
to June Grant (Baptist) and Elizabeth Martin (Wells) who dedicated
themselves to fulfilling this commitment – it is much easier the
second year so I do hope they will be able to continue.
|
|
2008 |
2009 |
|
Epsom
United Reformed Church |
£600.00
|
£410.00
|
|
Wells
Church |
£503.19
|
£374.70
|
|
Christ
Church |
£1,900.00 |
£1,674.92 |
|
St
Martins |
£1,224.41 |
£1,343.05 |
|
Methodist |
£3,218.48 |
£2,366.74 |
|
Baptist |
£2,500.00 |
£1,868.68 |
|
St
Stephens |
£448.22
|
£532.97
|
|
St
Barnabas |
£1,707.44 |
£249.00
|
|
TOTAL |
£12,101.74 |
£8,820.06 |
On a much more positive note, on
top of these figures, I know of two extra events that have been
carried out in the area recently. St Stephen's held
a Quiz Aid evening in June, which I believe was a great success, but
unfortunately I don’t have the amount of money that was raised to
hand. [see footnote] (also in May, Epsom United Reformed Church held a Quiz
Night :- details above) In addition three
members of Epsom Methodist Church, Tony & Heather Blakeburn and
Robert Hill cycled from London to Paris and raised nearly £5,000.00
and a lot of members from EMC supported their huge effort. I can
report that they all arrived in Paris, rather exhausted, but
exceedingly pleased that they had completed the challenge. More
information and photos are
here.
Cold Calling
Several collectors noticed a
yellow ‘No Cold Calling Area’ sign supported by Surrey Trading
Standards. According to the Surrey County Council website it states
“The zones do not seek to prevent legitimate charity collections,
however, we would expect charity collectors to be able to
satisfactorily identify themselves”. As all Christian Aid
collectors are supplied with an identification badge, this shouldn’t
be a problem.
Statistics
One of my collectors carried out an
interesting statistic on the envelopes that he was delivering and
collecting. In a road of approximately 50 houses he reported:
52%
positive collections
24%
refused/not giving
20%
Out/no reply
4% appeared empty
So we must remember for each of
those houses that don’t give, there is another house that will, and
I know it is difficult, but we must try to not get despondent with
each envelope that is returned empty.
So lastly, on behalf of Christian
Aid, I must express my thanks to firstly the organisers from each
church, your efforts make a huge difference, secondly to all the
collectors who walked the streets of Epsom to collect. It is not an
easy task to fulfil, but as a member of the Christian community it
is a way of evangelising to the people of Epsom that we care about
those not as fortunate as ourselves. Lastly to every one of you who
made a donation to the work of Christian Aid.
Gillian Mead
Summary of Christian Aid collections May 2008
I have now finalised the accounts for Christian Aid
Week from Churches Together in Epsom (CTiE) and can report that we
paid in a total of £12,101.74
|
House to house collections |
£9,533.35 |
|
Public street collection |
£316.45 |
|
Church collections |
£2,568.39 |
The
public street collection in Epsom town centre on the 17 May 2008
raised £316.45. We did this last year for the first time and
collected £270.25, so another big increase, and certainly a
worthwhile effort. I know for some of you it probably felt a bit
soul destroying standing there with very few members of the public
contributing, but again by everyone doing a bit we achieved a lot.
I haven't given the
Church names, but the following is a break-down by each Church of
percentage increase or decrease so that we may be aware of the
situation
|
£'s in 2008 |
%
|
|
600.00
|
0% |
|
503.19
|
7% |
|
1,900.00
|
19% |
|
1,224.41
|
-2% |
|
3,218.48
|
11% |
|
2,500.00
|
-14% |
|
448.22
|
-38% |
|
1,707.44
|
72% |
|
12,101.74
|
12% |
I
couldn't do this without you all, and for those who deliver and
collect on a regular basis I am so grateful because you make my job
so much easier. If anyone wants any more details about amounts I can
supply these it if requested.
If
anyone wants the job of Christian Aid secretary for CTiE more than
happy to speak to you.
Kindest regards
Regards Gillian Mead
Summary of Christian Aid collections May 2007
for Epsom
The total amounts for the whole of Epsom from the 8 churches was
£10,665.34, and the total from the public street collection held on
19 May was £270.25, making a grand total of £10,935.59 sent from the
Epsom area. This is a fantastic achievement, and just the
street-to-street collection was 9% up on last year. This comes from
a mixture of some churches having a healthy increase and some having
a very slight reduction.
Once again I would like to say a huge thank you to all my regular
street collectors, and also those who volunteered to do the public
street collection.
If anyone would like further information on Christian Aid, then do
visit their website above, or let me know if I can be of any help
Gillian Mead
Please
e-mail me asp
Gillian Mead
Christian Aid
Christian Aid was born in 1945 to bring hope, reconciliation and
care to those who survived the devastation of the Second World War
in Europe. For more than 60 years, they have made a practical
difference to millions of lives around the world, and have spoken
out powerfully for freedom and justice. They are backed by the
churches of the UK and Ireland, and work across five continents with
people and organisations, regardless of religion.
Today 1.3 billion people live in extreme poverty. Tonight 800
million will go to bed hungry. This year 12 million children will
die before their fifth birthday. Yet our world has never been
richer. These are horrifying statistics, yet it needn't be like
this. Rich and poor can fight together for justice. They can dream
of a better world – and take real, down-to-earth steps to bring it
about. Christian Aid's job is to help root out poverty in practical
ways. We do whatever is needed to support poor people and their
communities, whether it’s speaking out against the causes of poverty
or funding vital work on the ground.
The Make poverty history campaign for global justice now embraces
hundreds of organisations and millions of supporters. We work
alongside partner organisations, churches and people throughout the
UK and Ireland to strengthen the movement to make poverty and
injustice history.
Our local Christian Aid
Secretary is happy to supply more information or receive offers of
help.
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