Work Party on the Green

Thanks to all those villagers who turned out on a sunny Saturday to help with the tree felling around the Grimmer - whether armed with a saw, minding the bonfire, stopping by for a chat or supplying tea and biscuits, thank you all. see photos

Fred Rose (Sept 1924 — Jan 2010)

Daphne, Paul, Hazel, John, David and Linda would like to thank everyone for the large number of cards and letters of sympathy and to all who helped in so many ways with Fred’s funeral.

Fred was well known in the village having moved to Wickham Skeith with Rita in 1953. Over the years he helped at various village events including until recently collecting the money at the Wednesday club and selling Poppies for the Royal British Legion. For many he was best known for delivering the newspapers, a role which he and Rita performed tirelessly for the best part of 35 years until their retirement in 1986. Running alongside this there were also many other enterprises including the keeping of chickens and pigs.

Fred was born in Wetheringsett into an era that has long since disappeared when the horse was still 'King' on the farm and the roads were virtually empty of motor vehicles. At the age of 18 months his mother died so he was taken in and brought up by his grandmother. He attended Wetheringsett village school but admitted at being more interested in getting home to play football than in education.

After leaving school at 14 he joined the general grocers 'Abbots of Debenham' where he worked until being called up into the army in 1943. It was quickly spotted that he had a great aptitude for all things mechanical so was assigned to the newly formed regiment of the 'Royal Electrical & Mechanical Engineers' (R.E.M.E). After training he was posted to Egypt and Palestine remaining there until being demobbed in 1947. He loved his time and experiences in the army and would regale countless stories to anyone prepared to listen.

After de-mob he worked as a motor mechanic and bus driver and it was here that Fred met Rita when she would often catch his bus into Ipswich. He said that 'Love could draw you further than gun powder could blow you' and this was proved very true as he would regularly cycle from Wetheringsett to Coddenham (a round trip of some 25 miles) to visit her.

They were married in 1952, moving to Wickham Skeith the following year. After spending almost 40 happily married years together and bringing up 5 children, Rita sadly died in 1992. Fred was very much a people person so it was with great happiness that he started seeing Daphne a few years later resulting in them getting married in 2000.

Gardening was one of Fred’s life long loves and he was never happier then when out planting, digging, weeding or picking. Woe betide the weather if it was wet for any length of time! Even in his final days he was still talking about getting home from hospital and getting out into his beloved garden.

He will be greatly missed as a husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather.
David Rose (Feb 2010)

Community Speed Watch - Volunteers

The Community Speed Watch scheme has now received funding for all of the equipment and the volunteers are due to start their training shortly. Anybody wishing to join the scheme should contact John Formby.

Cake Event in Support of BLISS

The cake event at Ayton in February was a real success with fantastic support from the people of Wickham Skeith. Thank you from Caroline Aldous to all those who attended or who gave donations. About £200 was raised for Bliss.

Caz is still trying to raise sponsorship so people who wish to contribute can visit her web page www.justgiving.com/caz-aldous or post donations through the door of Ayton on The Green.

Friends of Mendlesham Health Centre

During 2009 the Friends organised events to raise money to purchase equipment for the benefit of patients. In May a Spring Fayre raised £309.05p and it is hoped that another Fayre will take place in June - Monday 7th. During the Flu injection clinics a game of "Pick a Pill" took place at Mendlesham and Bacton. This was well supported and raised £564.10p. In December the annual Christmas Fayre at Mendlesham Health Centre raised a staggering £748.04p. So the total raised last year was £1621 .19p. This is a marvellous result and was due to all those who helped to organise and staff theses functions and to all those who came and supported the events and who donated draw and tombola pnzes.

A big thank you to our local milk delivery service (L R Lummis) who kindly advertised these events on the weekly milk bills. This was very much appreciated.

FIRST RESPONDERS

"Community First Responders" are volunteers responding to emergency calls on behalf of the East Anglian Ambulance Service. When a person calls 999 a First Responder is notified by ambulance control, and living locally they should arrive prior to the ambulance to treat the patient. First Responders undergo a comprehensive first aid training which is delivered by the Ambulance Service. This training covers basic
life support, the use of oxygen and a defibrillator. For example if a person's heart has stopped due to a heart attack and is in a rhythm called ventricular fibrillation, the only way to get the heart into a more regular sustaining beat is to pass an electrical charge through the heart muscle. The first eight minutes are the most vital. lf someone trained with a defibrillator can get to the person quickly then their chances of survival will increase considerably. Our "First Responders" are undergoing training with the "East Anglian Ambulance Service" very soon thanks to funds raised within our community.

The Active Wellbeing Project is a Suffolk Sport Initiative and works with partners across Suffolk to deliver sport and physical activity based courses for adults. The aim of the project is to get the adult population of Suffolk more active, with an emphasis on the fun and social side of taking part in sport/physical activity. Due to the rural nature of Suffolk, the idea of using Village Halls is being trialled as a base for various activities, thus providing people who live in rural communities the opportunity to benefit from the Active Wellbeing Project at a convenient location. If this is something you think could potentially work in Wickham Skeith please register your interest by contacting Katrina Maguire, Active Wellbeing Co-ordinator on 01394 444289 or by email; katrina.maguire@suffolksport.com.


Suffolk Volunteering Federation

Suffolk County Council has launched a new initiative to recruit local volunteers to search out activities and services in their community. Such opportunities can then be recorded onto the Suffolk lnfoLink website. The website will provide information for all to access and get involved in their local community. You can volunteer as a Suffolk lnfoLink champion. Training is provided and expenses paid.

For further information phone 07545 248222: email to infolink@volunteeringsuffoIk.org.uk or look at the website www.suffolk.gov.uk/infolink .