NEWSLETTER NO 6
SPRING 2007

 Dear Friends

Welcome to the 6th Newsletter of the Friends of Dedham Church. 

I am sure you will be delighted to know that all of the Tower steps have now been replaced and work will begin shortly on the platform at the top of the Tower. An official 'opening' ceremony of the Tower has been planned for 19th May and we will send you more details about this nearer to the time. 

A survey of the Churchyard was undertaken by Essex University Archaeology Department and this will help form the basis of a report on proposals for a way forward to meet the needs of the community. We will keep you updated on any developments.

We hope to see you at the AGM when we will be discussing our planned projects for 2007. 

Hadrian's Wall Challenge 29th September - 2nd October 2006
I am sure you will be pleased to know that Joanna Wilson and I successfully completed our Hadrian's Wall Challenge. We were overwhelmed with the generosity of friends, local businesses and members of the community and a staggering £10,800 was raised. This allowed the Friends to comfortably achieve their aim of raising the money for the Tower project by the end of 2006. Thank you to everyone who supported us.

Visit to Middle Temple - Wednesday 19th September 2007
Following our very successful visit to the Palace of Westminster last year, we are organising a tour of the Middle Temple in London for the 19th September 2007. There will be a guided tour of the Bencher's apartments and Middle Temple Hall, followed by a three course, waitress-served, lunch in the hall. Thereafter we will visit Inner Temple gardens and the spectacular Temple Church. The cost of this very special opportunity is only £40 inclusive of tour, lunch and coach. For further details please see the letter enclosed with this newsletter.

AGM
The Friends AGM will be held on Wednesday 21st March in the Duchy Barn, Dedham at 7.30pm. A letter is enclosed with this newsletter giving you more information. If you are able to attend please contact Maria Johnston either by phone (01206 322913) or email (mariajohnston@btinternet.com). We look forward to seeing you there.

If you would like to know more about the work we are doing at the moment or have any queries please don't hesitate to get in touch.

With best wishes
Jacqui Freeman
Chairman
Tel: 01206 322263

NEWSLETTER NO 5
SUMMER 2006

Dear Friends

Welcome to the 5th Newsletter of the Friends of Dedham Church. 

I am sure you will be delighted to know that all of the Tower steps have now been sponsored and the replacement of the final flight of steps should be completed by the end of August. Health & safety work in the Clock Tower has now been completed and the clock winders can perform their duties safely! We are now raising money to build the platform at the top of the Tower and you will see from the report on the Dedham Ball below that we are well on the way to raising these funds. Our aim is to complete the renovation of the Church Tower by the end of this year.

A survey of the Churchyard will be undertaken by Colchester Archaeological Trust over the summer and this will help form the basis of a report on proposals for a way forward to meet the needs of the community. We will keep you updated on any developments.

The Dedham Summer Ball - Friday 23rd June
This was a fabulous evening, thoroughly enjoyed by 164 guests. Although the exact figure is still not known I can report that, including sponsorship pledges for the walk (details given below), well in excess of £7000 was raised on the night! Thank you to everyone who attended and who helped make the evening such a success, both financially and socially. Next year's Ball will be held on Friday 29nd June and we have already had a flurry of re-bookings so if you are thinking of coming do get in touch soon.

Visit to the Houses of Parliament - Friday 27th October 2006
The Trustees wish to extend a special invitation to members - to a tour of the Houses of Parliament on Friday 27th October. The tour, with specialist guides, will encompass both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, giving a unique insight into the history of the Palace of Westminster. North East Essex MP Bernard Jenkin will join us after the tour for a sumptuous tea in the Terrace Pavilion. A coach will leave Dedham at 9am, arriving in London at approximately 11am, allowing time for a visit to one of the many additional attractions in the vicinity, including Westminster Abbey, the Cabinet War Rooms, Tate Britain and the London Eye. Further details will be provided once you have registered your interest. 

The 90-minute tour will start at approximately 2.15pm and the tea will take place in the Terrace Pavilion from 4pm until 6pm. The coach will be back in Dedham at approximately 8pm. The cost of this very special opportunity is only £40 inclusive of tour, tea and coach. If you would like to attend please could you fill in the slip overleaf and return it to Maria Johnston. Please ring Jacqui Freeman (322263) or Karen Walters (323129) if you have any queries.

Hadrian's Wall Challenge 29th September - 2nd October 2006
At the end of September, Joanna Wilson and I will be walking along Hadrian's Wall to raise money for the building of the platform at the top of the Church tower. Hadrian's Wall is 84 miles long and we have been challenged to walk it in four days! Peter Wilson has promised £1,000 towards our cause if we manage this and we would really welcome your support for this venture. If you would like to sponsor us do please get in touch or fill in the form at the end of this letter. Thank you. 

If you would like to know more about the work we are doing at the moment or have any queries please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Wishing you an enjoyable summer.

Jacqui Freeman
Chairman
Tel: 01206 322263

NEWSLETTER NO 4
SPRING 2006

Dear Friends

Welcome to the 4th Newsletter of the Friends of Dedham Church. I am sure you will all be delighted to know that the replacement of the 3rd flight of Tower steps should be completed by the end of February and we are now inviting sponsors for the final flight of steps. 13 of the 37 steps for the fourth flight have already been sponsored and we have also received a grant of £1,500 from the Fowler, Smith & Jones Trust. Our aim is to complete this flight by the summer and then complete the health & safety work in the Clock Tower. If you are interesting in sponsoring a step do get in touch.

There are a number of Friends events coming up over the next few months that you may be interested in

AGM
The Friends AGM will be held on Wednesday 22nd March in the Duchy Barn, Dedham at 7.30pm. If you are able to attend please contact Maria Johnston either by phone on 01206 322913 or by email on info@friendsofdedhamchurch.org.uk. We look forward to seeing you there.

The Dedham Summer Ball - Friday 23rd June
This will be the third Summer Ball organised by the Friends and this year we are hosting it by ourselves. It will be held on Friday 23rd June at Le Talbooth and promises to be yet another extremely enjoyable evening! The evening will start with a sparkling wine reception at 7.30pm followed by a delicious 3 course meal and dancing to music from 'Essence'. The evening will finish at 12.30am and tickets are £45 a head. Last year we raised over £2,000 for the Friends and we are hoping for even greater success this year. We need to sell 150 tickets and so far 120 have been booked. For further enquiries and to book your tickets please ring Jacqui Freeman on 01206 322263.

Best wishes

Jacqui Freeman
Chairman, Friends of Dedham Church

Dear Friends

Welcome to the 3rd Newsletter of the Friends of Dedham Church. I am sure you will all be delighted to know that the replacement of the second flight of Tower steps has now been completed and we are now inviting sponsors for the third & fourth flights of steps. 12 of the 27 steps for the third flight have already been sponsored and we are hoping to get grant funding for the fourth flight. If you are interesting in sponsoring a step do get in touch.

There are a number of Friends events coming up over the next few months that you may be interested in…

Flowers for Christmas - Wednesday 9th November 11am - 2.30pm
Jill Nicholls will be demonstrating how to put together beautiful flower arrangements for the Christmas period. Morning coffee and lunch are included in the price of the ticket and the arrangements will be raffled off at the end of the lunch. The demonstration will be held in the Assembly Rooms in Dedham and tickets are £10. Tickets are available from Just for You in Dedham and from Maria Johnston on 01206 322913.

Thoughts on Christmas - Thursday 1st December 7.30pm
The Friends invite you to an evening of light-hearted entertainment with a Christmas theme. Come along and enjoy a glass of mulled wine and listen to poetry, readings and sketches. The evening will be held in Dedham Church and is open to everyone. Entrance is free although donations will be gratefully received. To help with numbers, if you are interested in attending this festive evening please complete the slip below and return to Maria Johnston. Thank you. This is also an excellent opportunity for anyone who has sponsored a step and not had chance to see it, to come along and view the steps and gives the Friends an opportunity to meet and for us to thank all those who have helped raise funds for Dedham Church over the past 18 months.

Summer Ball - Friday 23rd June 2006
The Summer Ball held on 15th July was a huge success and raised almost £2,500 for the Friends of Dedham Church. Everyone really enjoyed themselves and we are delighted to announce that next year's ball will be held on Friday 23rd June. Next year, the ball will be held in aid of Friends of Dedham Church as Friends of Stratford St Mary Church will be hosting their own ball later in the year. As in previous years, the ball will be held at Le Talbooth. The evening will start with a sparkling wine reception at 7.30pm followed by a delicious 3 course meal and dancing to music from 'Essence'. The evening will finish at 12.30am and tickets are £45 a head. £10 from each ticket will be donated to Friends of Dedham Church. For further enquiries and to book your tickets please ring Jacqui Freeman on 01206 322263.

Best wishes

Jacqui Freeman
Chairman, Friends of Dedham Church

NEWSLETTER NO 2

SPRING 2005                        

Dear Friends

Welcome to the 2^nd Newsletter of the Friends of Dedham Church . I am sure you will all be delighted to know that the replacement of the second flight of Tower steps has begun and should be completed by the end of May. We are now attracting sponsors for the next flight of steps and hope we can start work on them before the summer is over. If you are interesting in sponsoring a step do get in touch. (You can read more about the Tower steps project in Newsletter No 1, below)

There are a number of Friends events coming up over the next six months that you may be interested in

Mid Summer Ball Friday 15^th July
The Milsoms have once again very kindly organised a summer ball on behalf of the Friends of Dedham Church and the Friends of Stratford St Mary Church. It will be held on Friday 15^th July at Le Talbooth and promises to be an extremely enjoyable evening! The evening will start with a sparkling wine reception at 7.30pm followed by a delicious 3 course meal and dancing to music from Essence. The evening will finish at 12.30am and tickets are £40 a head. Le Talbooth are kindly donating £5 from every ticket to the Friends. For further enquiries please ring Jacqui Freeman on 01206 322263. To book your tickets ring Linda at Le Talbooth on 01206 323150 and please let her know you are booking as a Friend of Dedham Church.

Members Evening Thursday 15^th September

We are holding our first Members Evening on September 15^th, offering you a wonderful opportunity to go hind the scenes??. Starting at 7pm , members will be given a tour of the Church that reveals some of its little known secrets and go up the Tower on a fascinating tour that culminates in a chance to appreciate the views across the vale. The evening will finish with a glass of wine and canapes in the Vicarage. If you are interested in attending this evening you can email us at info@friendsofdedhamchurch.org.uk

The Mitchell Monologues from October

Although we don't have a definite date as yet, we thought it would be useful to give you advance notice that we are starting a series of lectures in October. Subjects will include how to start your own vineyard and the dark side of Gothic architecture. The lectures promise to be extremely informative, interesting and hopefully amusing! We intend to hold these lectures every other month and there will be a reduced cost for members. Watch this space!

 Best wishes

Jacqui Freeman

Chairman

NEWSLETTER NO 1
AUTUMN 2004                            

Dear Friends

Welcome to the first newsletter of the Friends of Dedham Church. Some of you will have joined at the launch in May, others as a result of our information leaflet and some by persuasion! Whatever the route, we share a common purpose in seeking to care for and maintain St. Mary the Virgin Church in Dedham, and the Trustees thank all its members for their interest.

I know that many of you were present at the launch in May and I am sure you would agree that it was a truly memorable occasion. The London Community Gospel Choir gave a fantastic performance and it was great to see so many people dancing in the aisles possibly a first for Dedham Church ! Despite the large costs of the launch weekend, and, although raising funds was not the focus, £557 was added to the Friends coffers.

So far this year the Friends have held three fund raising events:

Music & Poetry Evening March 2004, Gould House, Dedham

Kindly organised and hosted by John Sharman with poetry readings by Patricia Eddington and music by John Sinclair. The evening raised £290.

Midsummer Musical Evening June 2004, in the Grounds of Munnings

By kind permission of the Trustees of Munnings. Despite the rain, over 100 people enjoyed the Ipswich Hospital Band and a picnic. £438 was raised for the Friends and £221 (raffle proceeds) for the Ipswich Children's Hospice.

Gala Evening July 2004, The Talbooth.

Kindly organised and hosted by The Talbooth, this glorious evening raised £1,481. We hope to make this a yearly event.

We would like to thank the hosts of these events for their contribution to our fund raising efforts.

Financially, the Friends have made an excellent start. Funds have been raised from events and membership subscriptions, and we have also received two large donations from local benefactors. Currently our funds stand at £17,000. A large amount of this has been gift aided so this figure will increase considerably.

So, the question on everyone's lips must be what are we going to spend the money on? Well

Tower Steps Project

We felt it was important to start with a project that would appeal to as many people as possible and bring benefit to both the Church and the whole community. Replacing the steps up to the Church Tower, installing a hand rail and creating a walkway at the top of the Tower will not only restore the Tower to its former glory but will also allow it to be opened up to the general public on a regular basis. I am sure the opportunity to appreciate the fine views across the Dedham Vale will be welcomed by everyone and the Friends see this as an excellent first project.

This fund-raising project was originally initiated by Dedham Church some time ago and one flight of steps has already been replaced. The money was raised through individuals sponsoring a step and to commemorate this sponsorship their name was permanently engraved on the step. The intention is that this excellent fund-raising idea will be promoted by the Friends as one way of raising the necessary funds. A figure of £350 has been agreed as the cost of sponsoring each step.

Current forecasts indicate that £60,000 will be needed to complete the whole project and our aim is to raise the necessary funds within the next 12 months. Currently £12,000 has been raised towards replacing the next flight of steps and the Friends will be contributing the additional £4,000 needed so that work can begin on this flight as soon as possible.  We are also applying to the many grant-giving bodies that exist to obtain additional funding and we will be considering additional ways that the money can be raised.

One of the things we hope to do is give members the opportunity to contribute to Friends steps and to find a way of commemorating this permanently within the Church.

I am sure you will all agree that this is a very exciting project and one that is deserving of our time and money. If you are interested in sponsoring a step do please get in touch. If, like me, you find ?350 a large amount of money to give all at once, we are offering a standing order service so that the sponsorship can be paid over a period of time.

Oil Tank

The Friends have also recently given the Church £2,000 to replace the oil tank, which was in a poor state of repair and causing some considerable concern to the oil suppliers.

And finally.

If you have any projects that you would like the Friends to consider or have any general suggestions for the Friends, do please get in touch.  Either write to

Maria Johnston, Membership Secretary, Friends of Dedham Church, Highlands , Coles Oak Lane , Dedham or email info@friendsofdedhamchurch.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you!

With best wishes

Jacqui Freeman

Chairman