More information regarding Westbury here
St Augustine's Church
We held the Remembrance on the 10th November with about 50 attending. In addition to the Parish Council and School, we also had representatives from the family of the bomber crash, the Brackley Royal British Legion and RAF Croughton.
The Christmas Bazaar is on Sunday 24th November 2-4pm. If you have any iterms to donate, please contact Pat (704864) or Gill (841599)
Fabric Update
We are working on a number of projects at the moment as part of preserving our lovely12th century village church that is 850 years old next year.
We are very grateful for the support from our Friends organisation FOStA who raised funds to replace one of our windows that was in a poor condition and in danger of collapsing. That window is at the rear opposite the porch and the window now looks amazing - you can see the before and after below!
We are also very grateful to those who have donated to help us repair the church boundary walls - the work is not fully finished and more is still taking place. However these are now much improved including the removal of a lot of ivy that was undermining them.
We are also going to straighten the church notice board that has been taking on a distinct lean!
We are grateful to those who clean the church and prepare the flowers. The churchyard team have also been working hard to get the churchyard into great condition - new volunteers for all these activities are always gratefully received!
Benefice & Westbury Website
We have our St Augustine website section on the Benefice website that includes information about the church opening, building and also the history.
In addition, a number of Paula's addresses are now available to listen to on the site.
All the services are listed along with lots of extra information that we hope you will find useful.
Brackley Food Bank and Baby Basics
We are supporting the Brackley Food Bank and you can leave donations in the red box in the church. Full story here including what types of food they are seeking.
We are also supporting Baby Basics and information on how you can support both these charities is on the web site.
Parish Giving
To be able to pay our running costs and to maintain the church through these fabric projects, we need ongoing regular giving from the community. If you can support us, you can do this via the Parish Giving Service and thank you – it would mean a lot.
You can also support our fabric for FREE while shopping online by clicking here or on the image below. We currently have 21 supporters but more are gratefuly appreciated!
FOStA
FOStA is a charity set up to help maintain the fabric of the church. We work closely with the Parochial Church Council (PCC) to ensure that our ancient church is kept in good repair. Lots of work is being done this year – if you would like to know more, or contribute in any way to this effort, please contact westburyfosta@gmail.com.
We are very pleased to hear that the work on the window which FOStA has raised funds has been progressing. It’s not one of the stained glass windows, but was the most urgent in need of repair, with gaps letting the weather in and distorted support bars. This is our second project, after helping fund the new lighting, and we continue to raise funds for the other windows.
Although we were disappointed that more people did not join us, the picnic in the churchyard was great fun as well as being a very friendly occasion, and those who attended learnt a lot about the church and churchyard by following Arthur Lewis’s churchyard quiz.
The next event is the Safari Supper on Saturday 14 September, starting in the church at 6.15pm. If you would like tickets (£20 a head/£40 a couple) please contact Rupert Smith at rawsmith1@hotmail.com or 07747 775674. Especially, please get in touch If you would be willing to host a course for four or more people (starter, main course or pud – and with a big discount on the ticket price). And please let us know any dietary requirements
Westbury Parish Council
Meetings are now held on Monday evenings, 7.30pm at Westbury Village Hall. The next ones are 09/09/24, 14/10/24 and 11/11/24; everyone is welcome to attend.
We launched a new website over the summer which is inclusive and compliant with the latest accessibility guidelines. We hope the new layout and additional content will allow parishioners to access council and village information more easily and allow better communication throughout the Parish. https://www.westburyparishcouncil.gov.uk/
Community Speed Watch
Community Speed Watch enables volunteers to work within their community to raise awareness of the dangers of speeding and to help control the problem locally. If you would like to join our team of volunteers, please contact Cathy, our Parish Council Clerk: clerk@westburyparishcouncil.gov.uk
Neighourhood Plan
Westbury’s Neighbourhood Plan has now proceeded through all but one of its formal stages. Following receipt of the examiner’s report, and the decision notice from Buckinghamshire Council, the Plan can now proceed to referendum. Referendum is the last stage in the making of the plan when the community can vote for or against the Plan. You will be asked “Do you want Buckinghamshire Council to use the neighbourhood plan for Westbury Parish to help it decide planning applications in the neighbourhood area”. It is hoped the referendum will be held later this year and we hope as many residents as possible will vote. Information on Westbury’s Plan can be found at: https://www.westburyparishcouncil.gov.uk/the-council/neighbourhood-plan
Village Emails
To join our popular mailing list, you can sign up on our website at: https://www.westburyparishcouncil.gov.uk/our-community/village-email-bulletin/
Fix My Street
Anyone can use this online tool to report a problem on a street/road in Buckinghamshire (including fly tipping) or to track the progress of reported issues at: https://www.fixmystreet.buckscc.gov.uk/
HS2 Mobile Visitor Centre (MVC)
If you would like to find out more about HS2 activity, the MVC will be parked at Westbury Village Hall on 18th July 10am – 12pm.
Westbury Community Shop and Cafe
Well, this is very exciting, we were featured in The Sunday Times, as part of their Pulling Together feature, which highlighted the great work community-owned businesses do for their local areas. Our lovely Mel was interviewed and appeared as our cover girl, championing our local products and our work with young people who work with us to gain valuable work experiences. We are super proud of how far we have come in just a few years.
In July, to mark the start of the summer holidays we put on our first Children’s Community Theatre Production, when Scoot Touring Theatre came to Westbury and put on a fantastic adaptation of Quentin Blake’s Mrs Armitage on Wheels. It was a glorious day so we were able to set up outside and had two sold out afternoon performances which were both super fun. With the support of our lovely Parish Charity, we were able to subsidise these shows. Watch this space for more theatre productions next year.
Our annual Christmas Market this year will be held on Friday 29th November, from 3pm – 6pm. We will have lots of local stall holders, with fantastic gift ideas and produce. A sizzling BBQ and lots of tasty drinks will be on offer. Then from 7pm Elvis will be entering in the building for an entertaining evening. Please join us for all the fun. As usual we will be making up Christmas hampers, place your orders in the shop, where we can make lovely bespoke hampers for you, using our locally sourced products.
Over the winter months we will be putting out a selection of board games, so if you fancy coming out and challenging some friends to a Monopoly Marathon or a Domino Duel, feel free to spend the afternoon with us.
Please think of our shop and café, when you are doing a top up shop, or nipping to town for a coffee or a sandwich. Running local businesses these days is a costly affair, so just shopping with us once a week can make such a difference. If you have a business, we can offer business lunches, snacking boxes, made to order sandwiches. We support over 40 local businesses and employ local staff and young people. Everything we make goes back into our community, so please pop in for a bunch of bananas, some eggs, milk or bread and jam, and of course a Cinnamon Swirl and a coffee, join the shop local revolution and invest in your community!!
Don’t forget every Friday we celebrate the end of another busy work week with our delicious Friday Night Takeaways, available to both takeaway or to eat in. To mix things up a bit we have booked a few exciting food vans to visit us each month over the Autumn. Look out on social media for the current week’s menu.
Westbury Community Cinema
Westbury Community Cinema will kick off our Autumn season, on 19th September, when we will show, Wicked Little Letters, with the brilliant Olivia Coleman (not for the faint hearted!). Doors open at 7.00pm, with the film starting at 7.30pm. Refreshments are available for purchase from the shop prior to, and during the film. Other dates to add to your film diaries are 17th October, 14th November and 12thDecember. If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive film title information directly, please email westburycinema@gmail.com.
It costs over £20,000 each year to keep the church open and maintain the churchyard. If you are able to help at all, please click here or on the Parish Giving Scheme logo below or support us through your online shopping for free here
