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St Augustine's has an active Mothers' Union branch which meets monthly, generally on the first Wednesday in the month.
ST AUGUSTINE'S MOTHERS' UNION
St Augustine's M.U. Branch Leader's Report for 2011 Theme for 2011 – Faithful Relationships
Firstly, I began the role as elected Branch Leader last January taking over from Aliziki Kirunda, who had done a brilliant job the previous year. My enrolment as new leader took place on Sunday 24th July, along with two new members to our branch, Marcella and Blessing.
Wednesday 2nd February Branch Meeting was an informal chat amongst members about Mothers Union issues plus the items on their recent e-newsletter including the Bye Buy Childhood and letting children be children campaign where Reg Bailey our M.U Chief Executive had been recently appointed by the Sec. of State to lead an independent Review on the matter.
Wednesday 2nd March Branch Meeting our guest speaker was Aliziki talking to us about her move to this country from Holland and starting up her own business of a childminding network helping parents find the correct childcare.
Mothering Sunday on 3rd April we held our annual cake sale for the Make A Mothers Day campaign which we raised a staggering £90 with sales and donations! Thank you to all that baked and bought and supported us on this event.
Easter Saturday 23rd April our branch assisted Fr.Gavin on the Childrens’ Easter Workshop. This included lots of Easter crafts for the children to partake in organised by Georgie, the Easter Story told by Fr. Gavin, best decorated egg competition and then the all important egg rolling contest! Refreshements with soup and rolls were served with proceeds going to the Make A Mother’s Day campaign as before. Our overall total raised for the Make A Mother’s Day campaign was £160 to which we received a thank you letter for from Grace Cowley at fundraising at Mary Sumner House. Well done everyone!
Wednesday 4th May Branch Meeting celebrating our church’s’ 125th year in 2011 our guest speaker was Brian Stocks telling us about the history of our church from how it all started to the people that got it built. We were informed of the architecture and people who left money/donated items for the church. So much to cover we ran out of time but Brian will be back in 2012 to continue the talk.
Wednesday 1st June Branch Meeting our guest speaker was Richard Norton, the title of his talk was “What is the New Monasticism?” and he discussed practical Christian living. Richard spoke of his involvement with Monos which is an organization that is concerned with the current engagement between monastic culture, spirituality and contemporary society. This was a fascinating and enlightening talk with elements relevant to the Mothers’ Union. This talk was a preview to Richards’ forthcoming trip to the Vatican where Richard had been invited to speak at a conference.
Friday 3rd June we celebrated as a branch “National Families Week” with lunch at Sidcup Place with members, invited guests and children. It was a lovely warm and sunny day so afterwards we all went over to the park opposite to sit and enjoy the sunshine and watch the children play. The week concluded with a raffle that was drawn on Sunday 5th June after the church service in the hall to which we raised an amazing £100! We sent £72 to the AFIA scheme which helps needy families in the Southwark area to have a well deserved holiday and a £28 donation to Mary Sumner House to assist in their shortfall of finances.
Sunday 3rd July We held a Cake Sale with proceeds going towards the “Wheels Appeal” campaign. This took place after the Summer Children’s’ Service in the hall. We raised an amazing £85! And we received a letter of thanks from Emily Petty and all the team at Mary Sumner House.
Wednesday 6th July Branch Meeting our guest speaker was Cheryl Cartwright informing us on First Aid and what to do in a medical emergency. This was a very helpful talk and with demonstrations and practical advice for everyone.
Wednesday 3rd August Branch Meeting Picnic – Instead of an evening branch meeting we had a picnic lunch in the hall and the weather was kind so we also got to use the garden. Everyone brought a dish/dessert to share. There was also a M.U enterprises & information stall along with a “bring and buy quality seconds” stall that raised £50 for M.U’s A.F.I.A scheme. This event was open to all M.U members and their guests and children and great fun was had by all!
Wednesday 7th September Branch Meeting our guest speaker was Fr Jeremy Todd. He lead the meeting to discuss various issues within the family unit arising from the outbreaks of violence, rioting and looting we experienced in August to the breakdown of families and other problems and difficulties that some families face in our community and how can we help and support them through their difficult times? It was suggested that we may create our own family help group within the church and M.U branch so we look forward to making plans towards this.
Wednesday 5th October Branch Meeting we had the Woolwich Area M.U Vice President, Jodie Lomax, as our speaker. She talked to us about this year’s Mothers Union theme of “Faithful Relationships” exploring our relationship with God, spouses, children, family and friends - What it means to be faithful: trust, loyalty, love, respect, patience – show these traits to others and give confidence and empowerment. We draw on our own personal experiences in life and challenges we face, but one thing is for sure, God stays faithful to us.
M.U. Charity Quiz Night Saturday 15th October. This year’s quiz masters were the Burtt family who did a brilliant job organising and setting the questions so a big thank you to them. We had a total of 8 teams taking part and the winning team being Richard, Jacinta, Paul and myself. There was also a raffle on the night, so with total proceeds came to a fantastic £250, which will go towards M.U. campaigns, mission and outreach. I would like to personally thank Babs, Mick, Jenny and John for their help in assisting me in making the evening a success.
Wednesday 2nd November Branch Meeting our guest speaker was Fr. Gavin telling us all about his sabbatical leave over the summer. He started by informing us about the history of the sabbatical and how it was introduced for clergy to have time and the space out from hectic parish work and so to re-charge their batteries, do something different and/or creative. Fr. Gavin told us about what he had been up to in 3 parts : 1) Holiday in the Peak District – time for recovery 2) Clearing out - physically of unwanted things but also emotionally and spiritually 3) Writing a book on spiritual reflections and sacred space.
Wednesday 7th December Branch Meeting Christmas Lunch at The Pickhurst in Hayes with a wonderful festive meal with branch members and invited guests.
To conclude it has been a very successful year for our branch with lots of money raised (see Treasurers Report for more details) for various M.U. campaigns and appeals as well as continuing branch meetings with interesting and varied topics, and lots of different events to suit everyone, so a big thank you to all our guest speakers that took the time so generously to come and talk to us. We also had 2 new members join and also lots more interest by new-comers to our church. The M.U Enterprises has also been doing well where I have placed over £300 worth of orders, but also my promotions may have generated other private orders. So as 2011 draws to a close I would like to thank all our branch members for the support, encouragement & friendship that you have given and shown me throughout my first year as branch leader. I would also like to add special thanks to Jenny Davis and Babs Florence for all their extra work and assistance in helping me as new leader to which I am truly grateful. It has been a real pleasure this past year and hope we may continue to go forward as a branch to be just as successful in 2012 with lots more fundraising and special events planned as we enter and celebrate our 90th year.
OTHER BRANCH NEWS FOR FEBRUARY
As mentioned above our M.U Branch is celebrating its 90th year so we hope to organise some special events to commemorate this, so watch this space for further details as they unfold! I have the pleasure of announcing that our new Deputy Branch Leader is Kehinde Lipede. I would like to thank her for volunteering and wish her well in this new role and I am very much looking forward to working alongside her. For all those that were not present at the A.G.M there is a copy of the meeting’s agenda for you. If not handed to you personally then it will be waiting for you on our M.U table at the back of church. Rev’d James Percival has come to the end of his 3 year term of office as Southwark Mothers’ Union Chaplain. I had a letter from Liz Pullen with a request from M.U’s Finance Unit asking for a minimum donation of 20p per branch member for a gift for James, however I only received this letter just over a week ago and Jean Hatton wants this donation by 14th February at the very latest – so not a lot of time to organise this! Members/Branches are invited to send in messages on A5 size paper to go into a “book of memories” for him, I have the message sheets so please come and see me if you would to contribute to this and Babs will be collecting any donations for him. Rev’d James will be attending the Diocesan Council on 27th February where there will be a presentation done for him. Next Branch meeting is Wednesday 1st February at 7.30pm in the vestry and our guest speaker is Mick Florence talking to us about his career as a London taxi cab driver. All members and guests are very welcome to attend. For anyone reading this that is not a member of Mother’s Union and is interested in finding out more about us and maybe joining then please do come and have a chat with me and I’d be happy to help.
Lindsey Eve (Branch Leader)
Link to The Mothers' Union: www.themothersunion.org
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