St.Thomas’ Church Foxley  

We enjoyed a very warm and friendly traditional Carol Service at St.Thomas’, led by the Rev.David Head on 17^th December. A reasonable number of adults attended, but alas no children to enjoy the splendid tree, kindly donated by Brian Waters, and the crib; or the amusing poem about the animals in the stable, read by Mary Fletcher. The decorations, as ever, brought the dear old church to life and the candles glowed on the ancient pricket holders on the pew ends and in the windows. Finally, we were cheered by mulled wine and delicious mince pies and biscuits.

The Rev.Michael Baker conducted the Service of Holy Communion on Christmas morning. The combined collections from the two Services were augmented by the PCC allowing £250 to be sent to each of the chosen Charities for 2006 - Vis:

The Salvation Army and Hope & Homes for Children.

Diana Harvey, PCC Secretary

The Children’s Society  Annual Coffee morning was held at Foxley Lodge on 29^th.November and was very well attended. The House Box total was a record again at £918-18 and we managed £278-46 from the Stall, Draw and Donations.                                         Peter Neale, the Community Fundraising Manager for our area, spent the morning with us; he was enthusiastic about our efforts and is coming again to speak at a special Service in April. Since I was laid low with a cold, even more thanks than usual are due to our capable band of helpers, who counted huge quantities of small (and large) change, brewed the coffee and manned the stalls.

As usual, should anyone feel a generous urge to contribute to this worthwhile cause, please phone me and I can provide you with one of our little boxes, into which you can pop loose change or regular amounts. It is amazing how it can add up and it’s painless! We are also grateful for any unwanted clothing or household goods (not electrical) for the Society’s shop in Fakenham. It helps if clothing and household linen, clearly past their best, are kept separate and marked “Rags”. If you are keen to help even more, we do have vacancies for helpers in our Fakenham shop. The astonishing range of items donated and the people you meet are endlessly fascinating. You can also make use of any expertise you have related to fashion, antiques, bric-a-brac, jewellery, books or even ironing! Particularly, you have the satisfaction of knowing you are making a real contribution to assisting an excellent organisation devoted to improving the lives of the frightening number of abused and neglected children, so sadly present nowadays in our supposedly caring and civilized society.  Diana Harvey. Parish Co-ordinator (Sorry! New title, same job!) Tel:01362688650