Songs From The Shows - posted 03 April 2013

Ths will take place in the Reading Room on Friday, 31st May at 7.30 pm. Refreshments.  There will be a small charge for admission; funds raised will go towards the maintenance of the church.

Words & Music At Christmas - posted 24 December 2012

On the evening of 21st December 2012, the Church was packed for the annual Words and Music event.

The Church was beautifully decorated and candles were lit. A mixture of carols, songs and readings was enjoyed by over 80 people. David Marshall acted as the compere, and also acted at different times as Elvis and Del Boy to entertain us. The evening got off to an excellent start with 'White Christmas' sung by David Marshall and Vanessa Vicars. People were pleased to welcome the former Rector, Will Adams,  who gave an amusing but stimulating reading, and the younger generation was represented by Shannon Smith and Gemma Beck. Niki Philips had written a piece especially for the occasion (about Christmas Day 1914), which she read movingly, and Jenny Overson read an extract from 'Little Women'. The Helmdon Clangers (handbell ringers) made a welcome first appearance at this event, and the Benefice Choir sang well. Local musicians (Chris James, Joe Adhemar, and 'the Shunters') played various tunes and songs with verve, and David Mason expertly accompanied the choir and the audience. Solly Olushola managed the projection of a succession of appropriate images and photographs onto the large screen, which proved that you can find lots of things on the internet.

In the interval, Sue Lidgley and Judy Cairns drew the raffle, whilst mulled wine was served by Alex Corrin and Julia O'Brien, with their helpers, and mince pies were enjoyed by all.

The Friends of the Church very much appreciate the support for this event, which raised £476, a healthy increase on the previous year.

My thanks to David Marshall for putting the programme together, and to everyone who helped make this such a successful occasion.

Hugh Walmsley
Chair of the Friends

AGM Of The Friends Of St Mary Magdalene Church - 22 July 2012

                          Report from the Chairman –  July 2012

1. Events held since the last AGM

The A La Carte Group from Northampton came to sing in the Church in November 2011, and was much appreciated even though the group was not at full strength. £185 was raised.

The Words and Music event in December 2011 was held as usual and raised just short of £400, about the same as the year before even though the ticket price had been reduced. Thanks to David Marshall for acting as compere, and for co-ordinating the programme, which was much appreciated.

Thirdly, the gardens of Falcutt House and Stable House were open in June 2012. Just over 50 people came to see them, which was disappointing, but the lack of attendance  was presumably due to the cool and windy weather . At least it did not rain that afternoon! So in the circumstances the money raised - about  £300 – was a good result, although way short of the £500 raised when  the garden of Falcutt House was last opened for the Friends. I would like to thank Mr and Mrs Sandilands and Mr and Mrs Harris for their hard work in preparing their gardens for the day.

1. 200 Club

The 200 Club is run jointly on behalf of the Friends and the Reading Room. The 200 Club year runs from 1^st November, so does not quite match the cycle of the Friends. We are now well into the second year of the 200 Club, and the net income (after paying out prize money) continues to raise over £1200 per annum for each of the Friends of the Church and the Reading Room. However, we only achieved 197 members in the second year,  so we need to encourage people to maintain their memberships and try to get 200 members in the next year.

3. Other donations

Cis Terrey left £1000 in her will to be used for a special candlestick for the Church (which has now been dedicated), and to contribute towards the cost of floodlighting the east window. I am very grateful to Celia and her sister who found the balance of the cost of the floodlighting.

Unexpectedly we received a kind donation of £100 from the Helmdon Hurlers.

4. Future events

Words and Music

I expect this event will take place as usual.

I am very grateful to everyone for their support at the events we hold and especially to the members of the Committee and others who help make the events such a success. In particular, the Friends expressed their thanks to Will Adams for his support and interest during his time as Rector.

Hugh Walmsley

Chair of the Friends

£300 Raised At Falcutt Open Gardens - 27 June 2012

On Saturday 23rd June 2012, over 50 people enjoyed visiting the lovely gardens of Falcutt House and Stable House, and nearly £300 was raised for the funds of the Friends of the Church, which is very good.The weather was a bit on the cool side and it was windy, but at least it kept dry for the afternoon.

My thanks to all those who helped to make this occasion a success, by making cakes, serving teas etc., and especially I would like to thank Paul and Charlotte Sandilands and Simon and Jenny Harris who all worked so hard to get their gardens into such an attractive condition, despite the hostile weather of recent weeks!

Hugh Walmsley

Chair of the Friends

Words & Music At Christmas - posted 19 December 2011

On the evening of Friday 16th December 2011, over 70 people enjoyed the annual Words and Music event in the Church and helped raise nearly £400 for the Friends of the Church.

The evening got off to a lively start with a welcome by Bruce Forsyth (actually David Marshall in disguise), and David then acted as our host for the evening, with amusing jokes at regular intervals.

The audience enjoyed mulled wine and a mince pie, a raffle, and sang some popular carols - even managing some Latin verses very well.

The choir regaled us with songs which they had been practising this winter.

Readings  were made by Linda Adams, David Wright, and Abigail Marshall.

Much appreciation was shown for those who played instruments - David Wright (piano), Chris James (saxophone), Richard Owen (drums), John Plunkett (guitar), David Marshall (guitar), and Rob Rew (guitar) for whom this was his first performance in public, but it did not show !

Our thanks go to David Marshall for all the many hours he put into planning and performing such good entertainment.

Thanks also to everyone else who helped make this event such a success.

Hugh Walmsley

(Chair of the Friends)

Words  Music For Christmas - posted 29 November 2011

This will be on Friday 16 December.

                         click for poster

A La Carte Give Another Excellent Performance - posted 08 November 2011

On Friday 14 November, A la Carte, a  group of five fine singers (with their equally excellent pianist) from the Northampton Gilbert & Sullivan Group, were return guests of the Friends of St Mary Magdalene.

It was another excellent, toe tapping performance.  The group sang their way through a selection of hits  from the early musicals like Oklahoma, to the more recent Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Blood Brothers. Before the interval we had snatches of their Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire, and learnt that as ever, the policeman’s lot was not a happy one!

Altogether a splendid evening,  thoroughly enjoyed by the large audience, some of whom will, no doubt, after this tempting taster, wend their way to the Group's next Gilbert & Sullivan performance, The Gondoliers, at the Royal, January 16 – 21, which promises to be “a delightful evening of music, movement, humour and wit for all the family".  We are happy to add that, in addition, thanks to everyone involved, £185 was raised towards church renovation.

Return Visit Of The A La Carte Singers - posted 13 October 2011

On Friday 4th November, the A La Carte singers from Northampton will be performing in the Church, in costume. They will be singing excerpts from well known West End musicals and from Gilbert and Sullivan. On the last occasion when they sang here, they were much appreciated.

The performance starts at 7.30 pm, and tickets are only £5, available on the door or from Hugh Walmsley (01295) 768837. There will be drinks available.

Do come and support this event, which promises to be most enjoyable.

Chair's Report At The AGM - posted 3 July 2011

Events held since the last AGM  

The Words and Music event in December 2010 was held as usual and raised just short of £400. Thanks to Vanessa Vicars for co-ordinating the programme, which was much appreciated.  

The Brackley Male Voice Choir came to sing in the Church on 17^th June, and about 40 people enjoyed a range of songs. £185 was raised.  

As can be seen, this is a smaller number of events than in recent years, but reflects the small number of members of the Committee now, and also the effort that has been put into setting up the 200 Club.  

200 Club 

Roger Miles, Niki Philips and myself joined forces with Bill England and Eddie Garner from the Reading Room to set up the 200 Club last Autumn. Between us, we found the 200 people  necessary to fill all the membership places. This will raise over £1200 for each of the Friends of the Church and the Reading Room , and effectively replaces the income the Friends would have got from putting on say 5 or 6 events in the last year.  

Other donations  

The Parish Council gave the Friends £200 for the purchase of 2 more tables to match the existing folding table in Church. These have been ordered and should be delivered before the Fete, when I hope they can be first used.  

The HYHOs have kindly donated £300 from the profits from last year’s Summer Ball.  

Cis Terrey left £1000 in her will to be used for a special candlestick for the Church      ( which has now been dedicated ) , and to contribute towards the cost of floodlighting the east window. I am very grateful to Celia and her sister who have agreed to find the balance of the cost of the floodlighting.  

Future events  

A La Carte

I have booked them for Friday 4^th November at 7.30 pm, again in the Church.  

Words and Music

Date not yet decided.  

Falcutt House Gardens

Charlotte Sandilands has offered to open her gardens for the Friends in 2012.  

I am very grateful to everyone for their support at the events we hold and especially to the members of the Committee and others who help make the events such a success.  

Hugh Walmsley

(Chair of the Friends)

An Evening With The Brackley Male Voice Choir - posted 22 June 2011

On a rather wet evening on Friday 17th June, over 40 people came to the Church and enjoyed hearing the Brackley Male Voice Choir.

The Choir has about 30 members, all local men,  and looked very smart in their new outfits. They are currently performing at a number of local venues to help organisations in their fund-raising.

The Choir sang a variety of songs, some well-known and others less so; they also chose a mixture of songs from different countries. 

The Friends of the Church raised £185 from this event and are grateful to everyone for their support.

Please Note:  The Friends of St Mary Magdalene Annual General Meeting is on Monday, 27 June, 7.30 pm in the church. All  are welcome to attend. 

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