Lancashire Wildlife Trust have just four weeks to save Brockholes Quarry Wetland from development. The Trust wants to create a haven for wildlife there and a place for people to enjoy nature but it needs to raise £50 000 in the next four weeks to save the area which is the size of 130 football pitches.

Brockholes could be an inspirational place to visit: a mosaic of open water, reedbed, flower-rich grassland and woodland. It is encircled by the River Ribble, where otters are returning and adjoins the largest ancient woodland in Lancashire (also in our care) where badgers and bluebells thrive.

Please seriously consider making a donation to the Trust. Every £1 you donate to them is worth £300 to the Appeal. The Trust have made a response form available as a PDF for donors to download and complete.

As your thoughts turn to Christmas shopping, please remember to use the church’s online shop whenever possible when making any online purchases. The shop has now raised £105.63 since it opened last year. Every purchase you make through the buy.at/fulwood site makes money for Building Together.

Over 100 retailers are accessible through the webshop, including Marks & Spencer, John Lewis, ELC and Littlewoods. Many retailers provide exclusive offers to the webshop, such as discounts or offering free delivery to the customer, providing more reasons for supporters to buy products through the webshop.

The webshop is straightforward to use and no technical knowledge is required. Retailers such as Virgin.net offer up to £27 commission for each broadband product purchased through the webshop.

For some time now there have usually been several empty seats on the mini-bus when it arrives at church on Sunday mornings.

The route it takes is along Garstang Road to Parklands Drive and then along Broadwood Drive, Tower Green, Sharoe Green Lane (North), Brookside Road, Conway Drive, Black Bull Lane, Regent Drive, Oxford Road and Lytham Road.

If you live near to this route, or in the general area through which the mini-bus passes, and would like to start using it, speak to Eric Waterhouse (tel. 863743). It would be very pleasing to see this particular service better patronised even if it means leaving the car at home!

Are you a tax payer? Would you like some of your tax to go to the church or to charity? If so, please consider completing a Gift Aid Declaration. This would enable the church to claim back the tax you have paid on your donations.

Understandably, the Inland Revenue needs to be able to check things are being done properly so we need to keep a record. This means that regular giving should be made either by special envelopes or by bank standing order.

Other giving: Communion Fund, Christmas charities and even coffee money, since the profits from this are given to the church project (currently Friends of Mulanje Orphans) can also be gift-aided using special envelopes.

Envelopes for regular giving are green and may be obtained from Eric Waterhouse. Envelopes for other donations are yellow and may be obtained from Ann Done.

See the board on the wall near the Vestry door for more information.

Thank you to the Church Stewards for having completed the ‘blitz’ on the notice board and shelving in the church entrance and corridors to such good effect. There is more to come yet! We look forward to the end results.

We are sorry if the premises are not always left as tidy as they could be. Perhaps we have forgotten that each group is responsible for arranging the room ready for its use and leaving the room as it was found. We thank the Church and School cleaning groups for doing their best to keep the premises clean.

Our premises are appreciated by outside groups, some of whom (Rhythm & Rhyme, Slim Start) request the Library, the Parlour is in demand for AGMs by a variety of groups: Barnardo’s use both rooms several times a year, not forgetting the Music Exams three times a year!

Kathleen Speight

The Plant Sale brought in £237.50 after the bill was paid. The Men’s Weekend was another great success, both socially and financially. The Concert and luxury tea (and it was a luxury tea!) raised £621.00. Thank you to Brian Sumner and all the men who contributed to a fun afternoon and evening.

Forthcoming events

Christmas Fair

This will be held on Saturday, 2^nd December (times in the Notices). It will have an international theme. Donations of toiletries, groceries, sweets, chocolates, cakes, preserves and fancy goods may be placed in a cardboard box on the pew in the corridor or given to a Church Steward or a member of the Fund Raising Group.

Katy and Daniel’s Recital

This date has been changed and will now take place after Christmas on Sunday, 21^st January after evening service.

Dates for the more distant future include the ACTS production of Babes in the Wood from Thursday, 15^th to Saturday, 17^th February and a Gospel Concert put on by Mike Cushing and the band on Saturday, 17^th March. Make a note of the dates.

Junior Church would like your unwanted china for our stall at the Christmas Fayre. Our stall has a China theme and we are asking for donations of China related things as well as items of china in decent condition so that we can sell them, or fill them with sweets or pencils and then sell.

Donations will be gratefully received by Delma Whitman, Janet Wales or Joyce Clarke.

Thanks for your support and generosity.

Lately several amounts of money have been received which include £17.05 in tiddlers from Gordon Cuthbert, £50 as a result of Richard Holyfield selling a car (well done, Richard), and £51 from the sale of Christmas cards and paper.

The presentation by the 2 Sues was excellent and enjoyed by everyone. The music and the photography were wonderful. We raised £226.50 (after expenses). Our thanks to Mavis and Len Fletcher and Ann Done and to all the Continue reading Building Together in November

Yes, we are still recycling although the blue boxes have disappeared. They have been replaced by five brown bins which are in the back car park.

This means we can, once more, recycle all the materials which the City Council will collect with the exception of textiles.

We have checked with the Recycling Department and clean aluminium foil may be put in the bin labelled Cans.

The bin labelled Plastic bottles is only for bottles or items stamped with the recyclable triangle and number 1, 2 or 3. Other plastic is not suitable and has to be separated from the bottles before processing.

Paper towels are not suitable for recycling, being of low grade paper. They will compost down on domestic compost heaps or in domestic composters but not in the brown bins, please!

Many sincere thanks to all who sponsored me to walk along Blackpool Prom on Friday, 6^th October. I raised £106 + Gift Aid for Galloway’s Society for the Blind, a local charity. I have now received my certificate.
Thanks,

Alison Stevens