Village News and Events

in Boxted and Langham

Boxted Evergreens
Thursday 5th December, 2pm
Christmas Lunch

Please note that this is not in the village hall – Evergreens will be celebrating their last get together of the year at the New Times, Tiptree. As Linda Tralau has stepped down as secretary, please note that the new person in this role is Diane Dell.

Thursday 5th December
Pat Nearney Entertainer
Friday 6th December
Visit to Snape Maltings Christmas Show

Church services

Sunday 8th December
Sung Eucharist

• 9.30 am St Peter’s Boxted.
• 4 pm Children’s Service at the Methodist Schoolroom

Parish Council News

Steve Kent, Heidi Chaplin, Arabella Brentnall, and Jamie Seakens were all recently co-opted on to the Parish Council.

The council now has it’s full complement of 9 members:

• Cheryl Damen – Chairperson
• James Collitt – Vice Chairman
• Angela Mclauchlan
• Arabella Brentall
• Gene Pugh
• Heidi Chaplin
• Jamie Seakens
• Robin Oxford
• Steve Kent

The parish council clerk, Karen Thompson, can be contacted on boxtedparishcouncil@gmail.com

https://www.essexinfo.net/boxted-parish-council/

Boxted in 2019
Photography Competition

Judging will take place in January 2020 followed by an exhibition in the village of the winning images. It is also planned to publish a book of the winning images and possibly a calendar.

Entries will be £1 per image (50p for Under 16s) with 50p for each image in excess of 10.
The competition rules are on the Boxted Village Website and more information is available from: stephenwhybrow@msn.com

Boxted Village History Books

Are you wondering what to buy someone for Christmas? Here are two interesting and informative books that will delight anyone, not just Boxted residents.

Details on how to obtain these publications is at https://boxted.org.uk/community/books/

New Councillors wanted in Langham

The Langham Parish Council is comprised of local residents who are concerned about the village and work on behalf of the village, with its best interests in mind. These Councillors are volunteers and give up their time to protect the village community. If the Parish Council did not exist, running of the village would come under the umbrella of the Borough Council. The village would then have no say in subjects such as planning, finance, highways or the running of the recreation ground. Taxes could be increased at will.

The Parish Council must follow Local Authority and Government rules and regulations, which can be quite complex, especially as we are dealing with public money. The Parish Council has one paid employee (the Clerk) who is the Responsible Finance Officer and ensures that the Parish Council works within the law.

The Parish Council has a vacancy at present for a new councillor. The new councillor would be expected to attend monthly meetings of the full council and sit on one or more committees. Training is given to new Councillors. We have an application process to follow as we require people with certain skills.

If any of the local residents are interested in learning more about the role of councillor please contact either Carol Harbach (Clerk) on carolharbach@hotmail.co.uk or Peter Dawson (Chairman) on Peterdaw50n@hotmail.com for further information.

Dog fouling in Langham

It has been brought to the attention of the Parish Council that there is an increase in dog fouling occurring in the village, this is on the recreation ground, on the roadside outside residential houses and on footpaths within the village.

The zone wardens have been informed and will be increasing the visits they make to the village to monitor the situation.

We fully understand that this is a minority of dog walkers creating this problem, who may well come from outside Langham however this may not always be the case.

This may in future have financial implications to the village as the football teams and caravaners may decide not to use our facilities due to this problem and we will not have an award winning recreation ground anymore.

“In England and Wales, Local Authorities can introduce public spaces protection orders, making it an offence not to clean up dog mess in certain areas. Under these orders, a person who doesn’t clean up after their dog may face an on-the-spot fine of up to £80. These fines are known as fixed penalty notices. If a person refuses to pay they can be taken to a local Magistrates Court for the dog fouling offence and fined up to £1000”

As local residents let’s make sure we do our bit and keep the village clean.

Reverse Advent Calendar with Colchester Foodbank

The church youth groups are participating in this and any donations can be taken to The Edge, The Zone or the village churches.

Twelve tips for Christmas and after

Stephen Armson-Smith
Crime Prevention Tactical Advisor
Essex Police

1. If you must store Christmas food and drink, presents and other goodies within garages and outbuildings, ensure that they are out of sight and that it’s securely locked with good quality well fitted locks. Treat your shed to a shed alarm.
2. Avoid tempting window shopping burglars; don’t leave presents and valuables on full view in front of a window.
3. Ensure that your windows and doors are closed and locked before leaving the house. Don’t attract burglars to your home by leaving it in darkness; leave lights on timers, perhaps treat yourself to a TV simulator too.
4. Lock gates to keep unwanted visitors from getting to the rear of your home.
5. Whether an evening out or Christmas shopping keep your bags, handbags, wallets and mobile safe. Busy places make it easier for the sneak thief, so be alert at all times.
6. Park safely; look for a Parkmark accredited car park www.parkmark.co.uk/car-park-finderCheck that your car is locked before you leave it and don’t leave valuables and gifts on display in your car.
7. When you go to leave the house and find that your car is all iced up, don’t leave it unattended with the engine running to de-ice it. It only takes a second to steal your car and it would invalidate any insurance claim.
8. Attending a Christmas party – make sure that you have considered how you are getting home in advanced and avoid using unlicensed taxi’s. Ensure you drink responsible and are aware of your surroundings, whilst keeping your drink and belongings safe. www.suzylamplugh.org/Pages/FAQs/Category/personal-safety
9. Watch what you put on social media; check your settings to ensure that you are not broadcasting when you are not at home and the lovely gifts you have received.
10. After Christmas don’t advertise your nice gifts to the thieves by putting the empty boxes out for collection, disguise them, fold them up inside out or put them inside other nondescript box.
11. Record your new property free on www.immobilise.com , install tracking and security apps on relevant electrical and computer products.
12. Have a Great Christmas and New Year!! For further crime prevention advice see: www.essex.police.uk/cp/crime-prevention/

 Dates for the diary …

Bingo at the Hub
Tuesday 10th December
2-4pm

Wednesday 11th December
Visit to Thursford Christmas Spectacular

Kelvedon Singers Festive Christmas Music
Sunday 8th December 7.00pm
St Peter’s Church, Boxted
Dixit Dominus by Handel

Tickets £12 in advance or £14 on the door

Wine and refreshments. Contact Sarah Phillips 01376 561719 email sp@base.nitrex.net
or Jasper Hunt 01206 322098 email boxtedconcerts@gmail.com

Beer and The Bible
Monday 9th December 8pm
The Shepherd, Langham

Boxted WI
Tuesday 10th December
Boxted Village Hall
This will be our Christmas party but we will also be focussing on issues contained in one of the 2019 WI campaigns this year which is ‘No more violence against women’. With that in mind we will be having an ‘orange’ themed evening as this is the colour that marks the UN campaign to eliminate violence against women. Visitors are very welcome to join us.

We will also be collecting items to support the Colchester and Tendring women’s refuge and would welcome donations from the wider village community. These can be brought to the village hall on the night, given to any WI member or contact us on 272597. The list of new items they are looking for is as follows:

• Toys for the children
• Single quilts*
• Pillows*
• Towels
• Duvets covers* – All families are provided with new bedding & towels, They then take them when they move on from the accommodation.
• Toiletries
• Makeup
• Nail Varnish
• Tinned food – Food parcels are provided to all families on admission.
• Pasta
• Jars of sauces
• Rice.

* Only new bedding and linen accepted for the Women’s Refuge.

Coffee with Cops
Wednesday 11th December, 2.30pm-3.30pm
Great Horkesley New Village Hall
Your chance to get to know your local community policing team over a coffee.

The Edge
Friday 13th December 7.30-9pm
Boxted Methodist Hall

Snow White Panto
Saturday 14th December, 4pm and 7pm
Boxted Village Hall
Not to be missed!
The Boxted Amateur Players’ 2019 pantomime.

Matinee prices are £6.50 adult, £3.50 child.
Evening performance all seats are £6.50.
Buy tickets at buytickets.at/boxtedparishcouncil

Reindeer Ramble
Sunday 15th December, 11.30am
Langham Community Centre
0.75 mile Christmas ramble in the woods. £3.00 each or £10.00 family ticket. All proceeds to 2nd Langham Scouts.

Mobile library
19th December 2019
Boxted playing field car park
Also on 9th January 2020

Useful links:

Boxted Village Hall
Boxted Village Website
Boxted Primary School
Boxted British Legion

Little Owls Pre-School
Langham and Boxted Churches
Boxted Cricket Club
Mobile Library Service
Boxted Runners
Boxted Neighbourhood Plan

Boxted WI on Facebook
Boxted WI on Twitter
Boxted 10K
Boxted Airfield Historical Group
Langham Community Centre
Langham Community Shop
Langham Village Website
Dedham Vale & Stour Valley ANOB
Essex County Council’s PROW Interactive map
Colchester District Neighbourhood Watch

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boxtedvillagenews@gmail.com

Newsletter editor: Angela McLauchlan Design and layout: Shirley Szymanek