Coffee Morning - 12th March

The above event takes place in the Methodist church hall on Wednesday 12 March from 10am to 11.30am. Stalls include general gifts, cakes and greetings cards.

The Christmas coffee morning raised £213 bringing the total for 2007 to £529.89p.

Jeanne Dean would like to thank everyone for their support throughout the year.

Women's World Day of Prayer 2008 - 7th March

The service for the Women's World Day of Prayer has been prepared by the women of Guyana and will take place on Friday 7 March in the Methodist Church, Chapel Road at 1.30pm.

The speaker will be the Reverend Ruth Ridge.

Soup and snack lunch begins in the hall at 12.30pm where all are welcome.

Flower Club - AGM & February Meeting

Chairman Caroline Dunn welcomed members to the Colne Valley Flower Club. The committee were voted back en bloc officers including key officers:

• President Christine Jeffries,
• Vice-chairman Clare Heyes, and
• Secretary Alison Bradshaw.

The club's charity for 2008 is the Acorn Village.

Wendy Munnion from Maldon provided a demonstration entitled Variations on a Theme which was varied and vibrant with a musical connotation.

Wednesday 19 March welcomes Linda Harman from Ipswich.

Gardeners Association - Spring Magic

The village Gardeners' Association restarts on Monday 18 February at 7.30pm in the Orpen Memorial Hall Lexden Road when guests will be admitted free. The speaker will be Nick Bugden from Notcutts who will present 'Spring Magic'.

Women's Institute - February Report

Vice - president Pat Moran welcomed everyone to the meeting's 87th birthday this month. March is Members Meeting and donations of jewellery, bring and buy and raffle would be appreciated.

Once again George Mills is asking for washing machine powder and toilet rolls for the orphanage in Chernigov. Our delegate will take these items to the County Annual Meeting at Southend-on-Sea following our meeting the evening before March 5.

Once again St Helena Hospice have asked our help by donating fresh not frozen baked cakes to be brought on Wednesday 2 April.

Following the sending of 222 items boxed up by 2 of our members to the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan before Christmas a thank you letter was received written by a 23 year old soldier. On behalf of his colleagues he wanted to express how much they all appreciated our kind thoughts especially as they are separated from their families.

The speaker Mrs Gianetta Nosworthy gave a very enlightening talk with slides on the history and present gardens of the Marks Hall Estate near Coggeshall.

Local man shortlisted for a BAFTA!

John Worland was winner on the BBC Look East programme of one of 15 regional final places for a prestigious BAFTA. The category he is entered is for the "Sixty Seconds of Fame Award" - a category designed to encourage more people to take up film-making.

He won the place after Look East broadcast a number of short films reflecting a theme of "Unite" - John's film, Empathy, which starred his grandson, was voted by viewers as their favourite and is quite charming.

To read more and see the film click here for the BBC Look East website article.