Parish Council profile : Toby Cooper
Toby
Cooper and his wife Alison, their two children Daisy aged four and son
Barney aged 2 moved to Longparish in May of last year from London.
Wanting to bring their children up in a better environment than hectic,
dirty and traffic choked London they had scoured the local area, but they
looked no further when they saw 5 The Withies in Longparish.
They are not sure whether it was the architecture, the river or, very importantly, our school which drew them here, but here they are, and very happy too!
Almost immediately Toby volunteered to join the Parish Council because he wished to contribute to the community in which he and his family live, and to play a part in how it develops.
While Toby has not been involved in Parish Council activities before, there are many aspects of the Council work that are of interest to him. In particular, encouraging Longparish's safe and friendly atmosphere for Daisy and Barney to grow up in, maintaining village services and amenities, preserving existing architecture and buildings, and helping to plan for new buildings to be in keeping with the village.
Toby's job as a business manager in the pharmaceutical industry, he says, has far less glamour than something like an astronaut but it is, nevertheless, the reality! However, he holds a private pilot's licence which seems very exciting! Other out-of-hours activities are family biking, becoming familiar with gardening and outdoor interests (once the fair weather returns) and the family are hoping to enjoy some sailing too. Meanwhile during the winter there are plenty of unfinished DIW (Do It Wrong) projects to work hard at avoiding.
Cheryl Dowler
( No Parish Council report this month because the meeting is after the magazine deadline)
St Nicholas Longparish
CHURCH SPRING CLEAN
Saturday 12th March
10 am to 12.00noon
Coffee and cakes provided
Please come and help to give
the church a good clean
and the graveyard a tidy up
Please bring any tools that may be useful.
Christian Dryden 720398
Anders Dinesen
We are all very saddened by the death of Anders Dinesen. He was a well-known character around the village, and much loved and respected. He died, peacefully, at home, Lower Mill, on Saturday, 5th February. The funeral has taken place in his home village in Denmark.
There will, however, be an opportunity for us to pay our tributes to Anders and to show our support of Anne-Marie and their family at a special Thanksgiving service at St Nicholas Church on Tuesday, March 29 th at 12 noon.
All will be very welcome.
Nona Harrison
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ALPHA COURSE
We shall be starting an Alpha course after Easter, open to anyone from the benefice but based in Longparish. Alpha courses have proved tobe very popular around the country, and aim to give a practical introduction to the Christian faith.
Each evening involves a relaxed meal and a talk on that week's topic, followed by discussion and questions. Nobody is “picked on” or pressured into speaking at any time and it is an ideal opportunity to explore together some of the critical issues about life and faith in God in a friendly and supportive way.
The dates for the course will be in three blocks of three evenings on Mondays from 7.30 -9pm:
April 4 th ,, 11 th and 18 th ;
May 9 th , 16 th and 23 rd ;
June 6 th , 13 th and 24 th .
The first meeting on 4 th April will be an introductory evening, starting with a meal at 7.30pm, when you can come along and find out more about it all. There will be a short talk:
“Christianity: Boring, Untrue & Irrelevant?”
This will be held at the home of Jonathan & Alice Evans, Orchard House, next to Longparish Village Hall). Further details from Jonathan & Alice (720702) or me, Nona Harrison (720215)
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Easter Lilies
Anyone wanting to give lilies to the church at Easter, please let me know by March 14 th so that I can order them.