St Peter's Yaxley

…reaching out in love and faith

Thank you

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Dear Friends

I write this as we are just entering Lockdown 3.0 as it seems to be known. I am not sure that any of us would have thought last summer that we would be back to this place again. We have taken the decision at St. Peter’s, that we will not be opening the church building for Sunday Services at this time to keep people safe. Our services continue online as well as the weekly mailings that are sent out.

It can be hard to wonder what we have achieved over the last weeks and months but on the last Sunday of December we did a look back at 2020 after we looked through some of our social media for the year and realised how many things had gone on. We are so very grateful to the community of Yaxley for your support, especially through the work of the Foodbank. Our amazing volunteers continued throughout last year and will carry on volunteering in this year. The community of Yaxley and our surrounding villages have been so generous in their donations that there were days that we could barely get out of the front door due to the number of donations, so thank you 😊. We were able to make more Christmas packages than other years and sadly we expect the demand to continue, and probably increase, but Foodbank is still running on Monday and Thursday afternoon from 3pm to 5pm in the church and no vouchers are needed. Like so many individuals and organisations in the village, we do not want to see anyone go hungry due to their circumstances.

You may also have been involved in Explorers, (all age activities) which launched in the summer holidays, ran again in October half term and we started again in Advent through to Epiphany. Our Explorers bags were collected by so many people, in fact 170 went during December and I loved seeing so many people out and about on the Nativity Trail. We enjoyed Christingle and singing Away in a Manger on our doorsteps and seeing your photos of your crafts and activities. Explorers will take place in February half term so look out for more information on this during the month and make sure that you join in our Explorers activities.

One of the things we are passionate about is prayer and we continue to pray for our community of Yaxley and for an end of this pandemic. If we can pray for anything for you, please let me know.

Look after yourselves and stay safe.
With every blessing
Rev Sarah – yaxleyvicar@gmail.com 01733 248690/07498 230858

Autumn Days

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Dear Friends,

Over last weekend, it seemed to go from summer to autumn literally overnight. I had to go searching for jeans and warmer cardigans and on some days, I managed to resist the urge to turn on the central heating, on other days, not quite so much!!! As I write this, schools are returning and my goodness what a lot of thought and effort has gone into our schools re-opening this term – well done to all those who work in our schools and to our families as well. I found myself the other evening singing the song autumn days by Estelle White, which we used to sing in school. It talks about all of the lovely things that we think about in autumn which is one of my favourite seasons – grass being jewelled, swallow curving in the sky, shoes so comfy that they’re worn out and battered and the taste of apple pie. It made me smile a few years ago in previous parishes, when a school sang this at their Harvest Festival – it brought back many memories and it was funny to think that the song was passing down the generations.

The chorus to the song says: “So I mustn’t forget. No, I mustn’t forget. To say a great big thank you I mustn’t forget.” As we go into October, we will be celebrating our Harvest Festival. I have loved seeing the pictures that people have taken in Yaxley across the fields, of sunflowers, combine harvesters and amazing views of nature. This year, our Harvest Festival will be different due to our ongoing Covid 19 situation but we will still gather most likely through the wonders of YouTube to give thanks for all that God has given us.

I have heard so many people saying this year, in all that we have individually and collectively gone through that they have learnt about the things that are important to them. They have learnt that we don’t need so much stuff, they have learnt that what we value is our relationships with each other in our families and with our friends. That we value and want to care for our planet and we want it to be able to live, breathe and continue for those that have just started school this term and for many generations beyond.

As we go into this month, let us remember to say thank you to each other for the little things, the big things and everything in between. Come and join us for our Harvest on the 4th October at 11am as we give thanks for the work of our farmers, our produce packers, for distribution networks and workers and for our God who created the beautiful world we live in and those we get to share our lives with.

With every blessing for this coming month. Rev Sarah.

Yaxley Foodbank Annual Report – September 2020

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We have just completed our annual stocktake and I thought it would be a good time to provide an update on your local foodbank.

Firstly, I would like to start with a round of thanks. It hasn’t been an easy time, with some of our volunteers having to temporarily drop off the rota because of age and health shielding concerns. We haven’t forgotten you and would like to welcome you back as soon as is feasible. The remaining volunteers have done a wonderful job continuing to provide a service to those in food crisis since the lockdown in March. Our way of working has had to change in that we are no longer allowed to welcome clients into the building or offer refreshments but we hope the warmth in our welcome remains. We have also developed new patterns of working in the store, which, looking on the bright side, seem to be more efficient than before.

I would also like to thank those groups and individuals who so generously donated to our supplies and to our cash reserves. This has not only enabled us to more than manage the increase in demand, but also to improve the healthy eating options in our provision for clients. Since May we have been issuing £10 Fruit and Veg vouchers that can be redeemed through Kemps, the local Yaxley greengrocer in addition to our standard food parcels. This gives our clients the option to choose fresh produce of their choice to help feed themselves and their families whilst supporting a local small business.

There are specific thanks to the Yaxley Parish Council who continue to support us in many ways and also the East of England Co-operative and Yaxley Co-operative store who support us in food donations. Last Christmas, we were able to donate new toys to the children of the families we support through our Christmas parcels scheme due to the enormous generosity of the East of England Co-operative and their regional customers.

Coming back to our stocktake, the following figures may be of interest to some:
Stock Donated 11,396Kg
Stock Given Out 10103Kg
Food Parcels Issued 243

As you would expect, this is a significant increase of about 25% in both donations and parcels issued on the 2019 figures despite the fact that the summer holiday period was quieter than usual due to the school meal voucher scheme decision. We also expect the coming months to increase demand further as the jobs market starts to tighten significantly. Since lockdown in March we have ceased to request vouchers as we understand that these are not easy to obtain from many of our current voucher holders. Although it is helpful if clients come with a voucher, we do not turn away those in need.

Again, I would like to offer our enormous thanks to all those who have supported us in the past year and we look forward to continuing to help the vulnerable in our community this autumn and beyond into 2021. If you know someone who is in food need, please do not hesitate to encourage them to get in touch with us via email or on the foodbank telephone, 07579825798

Chris & Sue Grant

Hello & Thank You

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I am writing this just a few days after I was licensed as Priest-in-Charge (Vicar) of St Peter’s Church, Yaxley by The Bishop of Ely.  It was an incredibly special service and friends and family came from all over the country.  There was also an unexpected surprise, as people from The Wenlock Team of Parishes which were my previous parishes in Shropshire came to support me for this service.  The community of St. Peter’s Church worked incredibly hard to ensure everything ran smoothly and I would like to thank them.  Along with friends and family and so many people from St. Peter’s Church community, were also many different representatives from Yaxley.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for being there and part of such a special evening.  It is going to take me a good while to get to know people, names and places, but do say hello if you see me out and about and I will eventually get there!  Thank you for coming to support me.

Simon and I are really excited to be in Yaxley and part of the St. Peter’s community.  People have been so helpful as we try to find our way around the village and this side of the country.  I was ordained 6 years ago and have been in Shropshire for these 6 years and before this, I was a nurse working mainly in cancer care for 13 years.

Thank you for your welcome to the village and I am looking forward to getting to know people here.

With every blessing,

Rev Sarah (Vicar)

01733 248690 / 07498 230858

vicar@saintpeters.co.uk

Yaxley Foodbank

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Firstly, we would like to thank all those local people who so generously support the food bank. Without your regular donations, we wouldn’t be able to continue to help vulnerable families in our community.

This year, we have been busier than ever, having already given out over 2 metric tonnes of food from our base at St. Peters Church. This has meant that with the busy summer holiday period fast approaching our stocks of food items are significantly lower than usual for the time of year. During the school summer holidays, when school meals are not available, we provide weekly food parcels to a number of families struggling to make ends meet. This means we give out a large amount of food during this period.

We would like to make an appeal to the folk of Yaxley and the surrounding villages. Would you consider placing a few items in one of the collecting baskets around the locality?

We are particularly short of the following items:
Tinned meat and fish
Tinned vegetables
Tinned potatoes
Tinned fruit
Long life milk
Long life custard
Tinned rice pudding

Our baskets are in the following locations:
Yaxley Co-op
Yaxley Lakeside Surgery
William de Yaxley School
Fourfields School
Yaxley Infants School
Farcet Primary School
Austin Hall
St Peters Church
St Mary Magdalene Church Stilton

Thanking you all again for your continuing support.
St. Peter’s Church

For all enquiries, please call or email Laura