Dear Parishioners and Visitors,
I regret to advise you that, due to the ongoing situation regarding the Covid-19 virus, there will be no services in St. Mary's Church during the current lock-down.
The Church will remain open for private prayer and reflection.
The next scheduled service, beyond the current lock-down period, is the Holy Communion service to be held at 10 am on the 13th December 2020
Please ensure that you and your families keep safe and well during this very difficult and trying period.
God Bless.
Dr.J.A.Elmore
Churchwarden
Support with Feeding you and your Family:
NEW INFO - Nov 20
The Queen, Brandeston: The Queen is committed to remaining open for its shop and take-away food. During November they will be offering take-away food in the evenings Thursday - Saturday and take-away Roast Lunch on Sundays. They will be operating a pre-order system so book your slot early to avoid disappointment. Follow this link for details of take away and delivery menu.
The info below has not been updated yet.
Fram’s Food Share Shed: Outside Framlingham Library there is a small green shed. You can leave food here as well as take food, or home goods as needed.
Waveney Foodbank in Framlingham: Area Coordinator 07484 394 749
Neathouse Cafe, Dennington: Will arrange food parcels including fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and bread. Also offers a huge range of delicious fresh takeaway lunches from sandwiches to cheese scones to home-baked cakes and brownies (including gluten-free and vegan). Can arrange doorstep delivery for residents via Zone Leaders to Maree Marshall who coordinates. Call Vashti at Neathouse (please pay over the telephone) 01728 638957
John Hutton: Remains open for meat, milk, newspapers, vegetables and essential items as well as coffee and burgers / hot bacon rolls.
The Victoria, Earl Soham.
The Old Mill House, Saxtead: Call Nick on 01728 685064 for options, or follow this link.
Cretingham Bell: We offer takeaways on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday nights. There is not a set menu, we post on the Cretingham Bell Facebook page what we are offering each week.
Rumbles Fish and Chip Shop, Framlingham: If you ring in advance they’ll pack your order up and you can pop down to collect it ten or fifteen minutes later.
01728 723 643 4.30-8.30 Mon to Thurs 12.20-8.30 Fri and Sat
Cash only
The Dennington Queen: Offers takeaway lunches on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays and takeaway evening meals Tuesday to Saturday. Click here for details.
Framlingham Crown: We are gearing up to reopen on the 4th of July. We will not be able to provide our regular service for meals on wheels anymore. We will continue to deliver Sunday lunch as long as we have volunteers to deliver the meals. The options will be beef, chicken or nut roast and a couple of puddings to be confirmed on order. For orders please ring The Crown on 01728 723521. We please ask that you leave us a message if you get the answerphone so that we can get back to you.
Just to remind you that Rev Stephen Brian will be retiring and leaving Earl Soham in the next few weeks. His last service in St Marys will be this Sunday, 19th at 10 am, a service of Holy Communion. His final service in the benefice will be on Sunday 2nd August at Dallinghoo and it is hoped this service can be held outside and will be followed by a suitably socially distancing 'bring your own' picnic.
If you would like to sign his farewell card from this parish, please pop into the church porch before this Sunday's service, where you will find the card. Please take your own pen!
Regards
Mavis
I have just received the following message:
"If you are able to identify the young man on a bicycle who checked if I needed help in any way at about 3.00 am on Sunday 5th June as I cycled through the village, please pass on my thanks on to him.
He is an absolute credit to your community. He was pleasant, showed tremendous concern and offered all kinds of help.
I often cycle 50 to 70 miles in the small hours and his offer of assistance gives me much hope for the future when we have young people like him.
As it happened I was fine and needed no assistance, but the offer was much appreciated.
Kind regards,
Robert Walker
(Reydon)"
If you know who this considerate young man is please pass on Mr Walker's thanks.
Please Donate Food
Food Banks rely on your goodwill and support
As the coronavirus pandemic unfolds in the UK we will find families within our community becoming more vulnerable. This will lead to very worrying times for those affected.
We have set up a food bank and would really welcome donations, and promise to use them to provide help to the more vulnerable members of our community.
Drop off point location:
Within the inner wooden railings of the Primary School. Please use the plastic crate which can be found in the labelled large wooden box.
Opening Times:
The crate will only be available during school hours 9 am – 4.30 pm
What to donate:
Preferably non-perishable food such as cereal, soup, pasta, rice, tinned food. Fruit and vegetables also welcome.
How to access the food bank for your household:
Contact your Neighbourhood Leader for support and we will make a doorstep delivery to you. This is the safest and fairest way to distribute food to our neighbours at this time.
The Earl Soham Support group remain focused on keeping people safe and ensuring our community has enough to eat through this crisis. We know this is a big ask but it is important we all continue to support everyone within our village.
If you have any queries please contact
Susie Nicholass: 07768 986046, Susie.nicholass@gmail.com
Or your Neighbourhood Zone Leader
Emotional Support for NHS Staff
The Church of England is offering phone support for NHS staff who would like to speak to someone outside the service. This is open to people of any or no religion.
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust (NSFT) has set up a 24/7 helpline offering immediate support for mental health difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic. Staffed by mental health professionals from the Trust, it will provide reassurance, self-help advice, support and signposting. ‘First Response’ is available on 0808 196 3494. Follow this link to see more details in a new tab.
Medical Supplies:
Framlingham Surgery Update. Our latest messages to patients is on our website (www.framlinghamsurgery.co.uk) to include a whole range of advice to worried parents. The Practice will be open for dispensary and telephone calls right over the Easter period 8.30-6.30 Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday and we are gearing up to work over the next May bank holiday also. 111 will be able to book directly into home visiting slots but these will be triaged by Suffolk Federation who will be providing the visiting service from yesterday in relation to COVID-19 related illness. The message to patients is that it is VITAL to use 111 online as there is a huge pressure on 111 telephones.
Framlingham GP Surgery Dispensary: Will home deliver medication from Earl Soham and Framlingham GP Surgery to Earl Soham residents unable to collect from the surgeries due to self and households isolating. Contact via Leaders to Maree Marshall who will coordinate.
For non-emergency health issues, please call 111. In an emergency, call 999
Prescription Requests. We have been advised by Framlingham and Earl Soham GP Surgeries that all patients must now arrange collection of their prescriptions from the dispensary, other than those who are “extremely clinically vulnerable”, received an official letter from the NHS advising them to shield and who remain in shielding upon the advice of their clinicians. This will be reviewed in the case of localised lockdowns / second wave and the surgeries will send updates accordingly.
Laundry and Dry Cleaning Service
I run Castle Cleaners in Framlingham and we have been advised we are allowed to trade as we provide a service to many in the community who rely on us. We are currently supporting a number of our most vulnerable residents in Framlingham and surrounding villages but can help
anyone who needs to use our services now we are at home. The shop has large capacity machines that can clean at high temperatures should anyone wish to clean sheets Duvets, blankets, bedding, pillows, bedspreads, sofa covers and other household items. We can deliver and collect. Please share to anyone you feel may need the help. Stay safe and well. Jo
Health and Fitness:
Dog Walking: If any residents would like to spend some time with a canine companion, we have had offers of a dog-pal. We are looking into this in more detail and will be in touch with residents.
Allotments: If any residents need help maintaining their allotments over the next few weeks, this is a great opportunity for our younger village residents to fill their homeschooling timetable! Please speak to your Zone Leader and we can find a resident or family to support you with your allotment.
Library Books
We are investigating the possibility of setting up a walking mobile library; however, we need to consider and avoid the possibility of the virus being transmitted on books.
A safer solution to those of you who have access to the internet (probably everyone who is reading this) is to download ebooks from the county library.
This page https://www.suffolklibraries.co.uk/elibrary/ explains what is available on the eLibrary and has a link to the application form. It is noting that one can also apply for cards for adjoining counties which will increase the range of books one can borrow.
You can find out more and a link to the on-line application page to register for access to the eLibrary service here.
If you don't have a library card, you can apply for one on line here and the library service will email you a membership number,
Book Sharing Precautions
Many of you may wish to share books with friends or neighbours to help pass the time whilst stuck at home. However you should be aware that the virus can survive on paper for up to 24 hrs and for several days on plastic covered books. If you do borrow books, it is recommended that all books are put to one side and not handled for at least 24 hours after receipt to allow time for any virus to die off. Remember to wash your hands thoroughly after receiving the books and putting them aside.
Any books with plastic covering should be wiped down with a disinfectant wipe or soapy water before being set aside for 24 hours to allow any virus on the pages to die off; do not forget to wipe down any plastic flaps inside the cover.
Spiritual and Emotional Support:
St Mary’s Church: The church is no longer open, visit the St Mary's Church page for more information.
Residents struggling with anxiety or worry can speak to a local support network by calling The Worry Tree on 01728 400 533.
Entertainment
For those who who like to watch something different to normal TV, there is a wide variety of entertainment being broadcast FREE over the internet.
The National Theatre is streaming a new free play from its archive of live recordings, every Thursday night.
Each show will be available for a week, click here for details.