Village News and Events
in Boxted and Langham
If you wish to have an item included in this newsletter, please submit by Thursday 5pm at the latest. Thank you.
Stay safe everyone.
Beautiful Boxted
Chapel Road, Boxted, early on a Spring morning.
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Photo by John Davies
Village life in lockdown
Life for James Collitt and his family (pictured above) under lockdown is busy to say the least! Here James gives you an insight into what the family have been up to.
“Joelle and I have lived in Boxted for the last 3 years after moving from the middle of Colchester. We have loved being somewhere so open and pretty and quickly settled into village life. We have three children and our oldest two go to the local school which is brilliant. Joelle is a primary school teacher and currently on maternity leave with our third.
“Life in lockdown hasn’t been too different for Joelle as she was already at home; the biggest difference being that she now has to teach the oldest two instead of being off! The children have really enjoyed ‘mummy school’ and quickly made a school register for ‘Cheetah Class’, making sure they order their lunches each day. They have been doing numerous art projects and our oldest is currently designing and making a ‘house’ for one of her soft toys. It’s been great to see them baking and enjoying being outside in this fantastic weather. Both children have recently learnt to ride and are relishing the freedom of cycling.
Before lockdown, I used to run and walk along many of the local routes in the village and surrounding area by myself. Now that we are off together, we’ve loved exploring these routes as a family and try to go out most days if we can. Thankfully, the baby enjoys been carried in a sling so we do not have to stick to pram friendly paths.
“I have been furloughed from my job as an estate agent. No visits are currently allowed to value properties nor can viewings be conducted or surveyors able to assess properties with the result that the property market has ground to a halt with all estate agents shut. A skeleton amount of staff are working from home dealing with running sales and enquires.
“I have decided to work my way down the ever growing DIY and jobs list. It’s been nice to have time to consider what needs doing and to relax in the garden rather than constantly working and thinking about work; a rare treat. I did work from home for one week which was a different experience entirely. I am also on the parish council and although we can’t actually ‘meet’ in person, we are still planning to meet to discuss local issues using ‘Zoom’. Our children are far more experienced with this as they often ‘Zoom chat’ with their friends and relatives which is a great way to stay in touch.
“We do not know how long we will be in this position for and when the ‘lockdown’ will end or indeed how life will be afterwards but we are grateful for good health, local walks and the chance to be together and spend time enjoying things without the rush of modern life.”
Keeping calm and carrying on
Community spirit continues to be evident within Boxted and Langham as volunteers support those in isolation who cannot get out to carry out essential tasks such as food shopping and prescription collections.
Langham Community Shop continues to work tirelessly serving the villages by making up boxes of grocery orders and volunteers delivering to various residences. The Good Neighbours Scheme is also handling a number of requests serving both villages with most requests for prescription collections and drop offs.
The Good Neighbours scheme, which has been in operation for 11 years now, is proving to be more essential than ever and with many more volunteers stepping up to help, it is serving its purpose in many ways. The Good Neighbours contact details are below:
Monday to Friday 8 am to 7 pm. Call for help on
Monday……….230525 or 272773
Tuesday……….273804 or 271079
Wednesday….272755 or 272774
Thursday……..322301 or 272599
Friday………….273301 or 271813
PLEASE TELEPHONE THE NUMBER(S) SHOWN FOR THE DAY ON WHICH YOU MAKE YOUR CALL If there is no reply, please do not leave a message but RING ANY OTHER NUMBER.
Finally, during this difficult time, a quote to bring hope:
“Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul And sings the tune without the words And never stops at all.” ― Emily Dickinson
Claire Arculus
Virtual Parish Council meeting
Wednesday 13th May
Any members of the public who wish to join this meeting please contact the parish Clerk, Karen Thompson on boxtedparishcouncil@gmail.com
who will send you the link.
Digital help at home
There will be no digital help at the Hub for the time being, but fear not! You can still go online and get help and support.
Michael Smith at Colchester Borough Council is still offering digital support via a remote service. See the Council’s webpage (https://www.colchester.gov.uk/digitalaccesssupport/) or, for further information, contact:
- Colchester 01206 282 452/ Clacton 01255 686497
- Email: Digitalaccesssupport@colchester.gov.uk
Homemade face masks
Although the Government is not currently advocating the use of masks in public, you may wish to consider making one at home. The instructions come from Johns Hopkins University, experts in global public health, infectious disease, and emergency preparedness which has been at the forefront of the international response to COVID-19.
To make the masks a little more comfortable, use elastic instead of cloth for the straps.You can also add a pipe cleaner inside the top so you can bend over the nose for a snug fit.
It is essential to use tightly woven 100% cotton and you can use flannel for the inside liner to make it softer on the face.
Download the full instructions here
Get updates on Coronavirus from the government and take part in the latest symptom survey
The Government is asking you to share your coronavirus symptoms to help others. This will help the NHS to co-ordinate its response. https://www.nhs.uk/coronavirus-status-checker
Covid-19 symptom checker app
People of all ages and backgrounds are joining together to fight COVID.
Support the NHS, help scientific research and help get us out of lockdown safely.
Take 1-minute to report your health daily, even if you are well. To help support this important initiative, more volunteers are needed using the app.. You can even report on behalf of older relatives (like your mum or nan) in the app today.
Download the app for iPhone here:
https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/covid-symptom-tracker/id1503529611
Download the app for Android here
Be a Mass Observer on 12 May
Since the 1930s, ordinary people have written to Mass Observation about their experiences of key events. You can contribute your experiences to MO by keeping a journal of your experience of the Covid-19 pandemic.
It’s not too late to take part in the one-day documenting of your experiences on 12 May – find out more here.
MO would really welcome contributions from school children and wider community groups. This could be a journal, drawings or writing in any style to record your experience.
Click here for further information and to find out how to contribute.
As anticipated, we are now seeing a high demand for assistance with food and household essentials from elderly and vulnerable Boxted residents. We are now giving out care packages to our elderly, fragile and isolated members of the Boxted community.
We would like to support also any NHS workers in Boxted who are in dire need of help. The vast majority of people that we are assisting right now are well-known to us, and are those most in need
Therefore we would like to ask you if you might, from time to time, be able to donate ANY food, fresh or non-perishable, loo roll, household products or ladies’ sanitary wear/Tena products.
Donations may be collected by us from your doorstep, or you can deliver them to the doorstep of the Hub, Tuesday to Friday inclusive, 10 am till 2 pm.
We encourage everyone to join as one community. We have asked the vulnerable and elderly to get in touch with us should they need any help with the following:
- Food supplies
- Basic household essentials
- Pick-up or refill of prescriptions
- A friendly chat
We also offer a ‘meals on wheels service’ that you can order by telephone and which we can deliver to residents of Boxted.
You can contact us via telephone:
DAYTIME 01206 272129
EVENINGS: 07488 345019
https://www.facebook.com/boxtedhub/
Please note that the service we offer is primarily for those Boxted residents over 70 and those in most urgent need – who are vulnerable in these difficult times.
Langham Community Shop
With our amazing team of volunteers, helpers, and drivers – led by Charlotte and Helen – we are continuing to work behind closed doors every day fulfilling telephoned orders for collection, or for free delivery to residents of Langham and Boxted.
We are very well stocked with all store cupboard essentials, plus fresh bread, milk, fruit and vegetables, wine, beer, cakes, chocolate, treats and everything else that we always sell.
We continue to use many local suppliers for strawberries, asparagus, eggs, Highwoods Honey, Wicks Manor ham, bacon, sausages and burgers, Fairfield crisps and potatoes, Peacocks bakery.
If you would like to place an order, please call us on 01206 272431 between 9am and 11am and your order will be ready later that same day.
A selection of the vast array of products available from Langham Community Shop:
*** The Cheese and Pie Man visits on Wednesdays 8.30am-2pm ***
*** Fish and Chip Van on Fridays 11am-2pm ***
Church services
Churches can longer be kept open as places for prayer and solace.Therefore all churches will be locked and will remain so until further notice. The car park at Boxted church has also been closed for the time being although it is still possible to park and visit the graveyard.
Should you require prayer please contact Revd Mandy Elmes via email lwb.wb.gh.parishes@gmail.com.
Sunday services are now on the St Mary’s West Bergholt Website for all to view. This requires no Facebook account and therefore means everyone can access the recorded services. They will be uploaded on Sunday afternoons for as long as services are streamed.
Download the services booklet here
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So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own.
Today’s trouble is enough for today. – Matthew 6:34
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Join the Zoom meeting – 10th May 10:00am
Zoom Worship Service with Communion. Please log on from 9.55am for a 10am start.
Meeting ID: 879 4667 4262
Password: 832120
The purrfect place for Jerry
Jerry or Gerry (varies, sounds the same so we don’t suppose he cares) is old (about 19) but doing fine during lockdown.
As well as a cosy place to hide and sunny places to bask he gets a twice daily visit from a friend from Colchester with food and fuss and a weekly visit from Stephen Garner, the church warden.
As a Langham Hall cat as well as the church’s security detail, he has an account with a local vet for his routine care needs.
We do wonder if he is missing all the other visitors to the church and Sunday services though.
Essex Libraries service update:
Book of the month
Even more e-magazines
One-minute book reviews
Next visit:
Wednesday 20th May
7.30pm – 9pm
Boxted Royal British Legion car park
Useful websites for essentials
During these unprecedented times, you may find it useful to order some essential items online.
Milk and More
Colchester Dairy
https://www.facebook.com/Colchesterdairy/
Facebook
A Facebook group, “Colchester Borough Emergency Coordinations Group“, has been set up consisting of people offering help and support during this difficult period.
Useful links:
Boxted Village Hall
Boxted Village Website
https://boxtedparishcouncil.org.uk
Boxted Primary School
Boxted British Legion
Langham and Boxted Churches
Boxted Cricket Club
Mobile Library Service
Boxted Runners
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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Newsletter editor: Angela McLauchlan : Design and layout: Shirley Szymanek
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