Three years ago the Friends of St Cyrs held a Safari Supper on Friday 14th February. It was held to raise funds for the planned Disabled Access, Kitchen and Toilet in the Church.
Now, three years later, all the above has been completed, thanks to a wonderful community effort.
However, the work continues. We now need to make the back of the church more suitable for events and now, thanks to the rain, we need to look to repair the leaking roof.
So, the Safari Returns to St Cyrs to start the next tranche.
What Can I do to help?
Buy a ticket. Tickets are now on sale through the web! See the QR code below or just click here . Tickets are £40 per person for a 4 course dinner including drinks.
We have people making starters in batches. If you can make a dozen or twenty please contact us.
The same with desserts, have you a special pud?
Remember the date
The Stinchcombe Safari Supper – Friday 17th February 2023
How it works
We all start at the church from 7.00pm for starter / canapés
At 8.00pm we move on to various hosts in the village for the main course.
From 10.00pm we all come back to the Church for puds, cheese and coffee
To buy a ticket
Tickets are only sold on-line. Just Scan the QR (Quick Response) code below with your phone or just click here to get to the sales site.
Questions and Contact
The main contact for all queries and questions and to offer help is Roger Batty: 07765 468 756 or rogerbatty2@aol.com
Advent and Christmas services for St Cyrs and St Georges
Saturday Dec 17th 5:00pm Outdoor Christmas Carol Service at St George with twinkly lights, hot chocolate and cookies
Sunday Dec 18th 6:30pm Candlelit Carol Service, at St Cyr
Wednesday 21st Dec – 7pm Blue Christmas a service on the Longest night for those who don’t feel like celebration at St George
Saturday Dec 24th Christmas eve 2:30 pm Live Nativity at St Cyr (specially suitable for children) 4:30 pm Crib service at St George (specially suitable for children) 9:00 pm Christmas Communion Service at St Cyr 11:00 pm Midnight Mass preceded by Carols from the Choir at St George
Sunday Dec 25th Christmas Day 10:00 am All Age Communion Service at St George
Join us from 1 December to open a daily family activity on our Advent calendar as part of our Advent and Christmas campaign – Follow the Star: The Great Invitation.
What fun we had at the Yercombe Lodge Fundraising and Awareness Evening held at St Cyr’s with the Dursley Male Voice Choir on Friday 26 August.
Over 100 attendees came along for this fantastic evening in the newly updated St Cyr’s which is now Open2All and how we enjoyed the range of songs and music – from Sea Shanties to The Bare Necessities as well as tasty refreshments.
During the interval, Cee Kay, the Manager of Yercombe Lodge told us about the background and services offered and due to the many people saying how unaware they were of what happens there, I thought I would share her words with you.
Yercombe Lodge
Yercombe Lodge is in Stinchcombe, on the left, as you leave the village towards Wotton Under Edge (on the B4060). We have some unbelievable views over the river Severn towards the hills of South Wales and the Forest of Dean and it is an absolute joy to come to work every day and see the changing scenery throughout the year.
Yercombe Lodge is a local charity providing residential, respite and day services for the “elderly, frail and disabled” of Gloucestershire. It is friendly, homely and small, situated in 18 acres of woodlands and gardens with those stunning views. We have 11 rooms for short respite stays and full residential stays – often needed where the person has no family to help, or the family cannot help or the family need a break from caring.
I say “elderly, frail and disabled” but our users are often elderly but not old, our users live with disability and are not disabled. They are all in need of our help in one way or another
We also offer a wide range of additional services including day care as well as a day centre with a full range of activities, encouraging arts, crafts and a social atmosphere.
We believe that all those who come to Yercombe Lodge experience a high-quality, person-centred approach to care and support to which we are dedicated. This happens within our friendly, homely environment, while respecting peoples’ personal dignity, individuality and privacy. In order to achieve this goal, we continue to develop and deliver our services so that they are tailored to the changing needs of our service users, their families and carers.
In 1939 Herbert Maxwell Workman bought the house and the adjacent field. In the fifties he added to the property by buying Yercombe Wood. In the later years of his life he devoted much time to planning for the future use of his home – a centre for the disabled and elderly of Gloucestershire
Yercombe (Gloucestershire) Trust was set up in 1972 in order to carry on Maxwell Workman’s charitable work. Since that time numerous Trustees have continued the founder’s aims and developed the Trust to what it is today. The present facilities within the house are far beyond Mr Workman’s original vision. We are now open 24/7, 365 days a year
The Pandemic and now the cost of living rise though, have taken their toll on what we have been able to deliver and to keep our rates affordable. The pandemic meant we had to shut our Day Centre for many months and as a result we are now struggling to fill it again.
We need your help to publicise what we do. In particular we need to re-fill our Day Centre and improve the lives of those individuals who so desperately need help. Please accept our challenge and be our voices in the community. Wherever you see a need please make them aware of what we can do.
Clearly if you, or someone you know, has a desire to donate to our cause, fundraise or volunteer your time to help out then we would love to hear from you. Please feel free to speak to any of the Trustees or me if you want more information or feel you can help in any way.
Thank you. Cee Kay
To Learn More
To find out more or make contact with Yercombe Lodge please call 01453 542513 or look on our website and thank you again to all who have supported this event.
Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust “Ride and Stride” Event
On Saturday 10th September 2022 it will be the Gloucestershire Historic Churches Trust “Ride and Stride” event.
Andy Hamilton and Richard Bartlam, joined this year by two or more brave co-venturers (would anyone else like to join us?), will once again be cycling on behalf of St Cyr’s. The route this year is yet been finalised, but will likely involve visiting churches around Slad (a very hilly area!) and coming back to St Cyr’s during the afternoon.
They will be visiting as many churches as they can along the way, – so please encourage them with your generous sponsorship!
You can pledge your sponsorship at the “justgiving” website (search on the justgiving website for “St Cyr Stinchcombe” – QR Code below) or complete the form in the church porch.
Thank you for your support and generosity. This Charity provides valuable funds and expertise to maintain all our amazing Churches in the county, and 50% of all funds raised will be directly returned to St Cyr.
Download the New self-guided audio tour of St Cyr’s Churchyard at your convenience, using your mobile phone
The audio guide uses Guide.AI, which is an app developed by a young man called Ben Floyd. He is supported by the Prince’s Trust and mentored by Stinchcombe Hill resident, Paul Creamer.
The App
The app itself is free but you pay for each audio guide you download. Once purchased you can save the audio guide to re-use or download it again without further payment. As well as supporting a fledgling business you would be donating to St Cyr’s and the Stinchcombe History Society, which each get 20% of the purchase price.
Amongst other attractions, the existing range of guides includes some Cotswold walks. More guides are being added all the time. Paul is currently working on a guide to Stinchcombe Hill on behalf of the Stinchcombe Hill Trust.
Week 9 – report of work for disabled access, toilet and kitchen – 3rd May – 6th May
Excellent progress has been made on work outside and inside of the church this week. The following has been achieved during this short week due to the Bank Holiday, but Jacko, our village plasterer worked all day on Saturday to skim the inside of the toilet.
✔ Continuing the work on the approach up to the porch from last week, the stone slabs were re-laid in exactly the same order as they were taken up. Work started on laying them down on a bed of mortar to form a slight ramp up to the porch step.
Due to the extreme weight of some of these large pieces of stone, extra hands were needed such that four men were required to take a corner each in order to gently place the slabs in just the right position.
While Jon mixed and barrowed a constant supply of mortar, the slabs were set down, carefully followed by Doug who grouted the joints between each stone.
The last small slab was ceremonially set down by Ian to form the final piece of the jigsaw.
One of the additional tasks to make the path complete was to tie in the existing path up to the graveyard with the new path. Doug laid two small slabs and concreted a joint in the same style as the existing path.
Another consequence of raising the path is the need to also lift the adjoining grass so that it will be the same height as the new path. This will be accomplished with new turf.
A further issue is the consequential reduced height of the wooden bench that is dedicated to Hector Woodward. This will be released from its concrete footings and built up such that the seat is 46cm above the path.
✔ The flaking lime render was removed on the low wall in the porch where the new armoured cable is to be channelled. Once the cable is hidden in the groove, the wall will be re-skimmed with fresh lime mortar.
✔ The new worktops, sink and solid oak kitchen units were delivered on Tuesday and stacked in the church adjacent to the bell tower. The hole for the sink in the longest worktop was already partly cut out to avoid cracking and will need to be completely removed and the edges finished before assembling the sink underneath.
✔ Meanwhile, inside the church, Derek and John continued with the plumbing. The new water heater was positioned on the corner wall where it will be enclosed in one of the kitchen units. This unit was adapted to accommodate the 45 degree angled wall.
✔ The pipework for the cold water supply to the heater and kitchen sink taps was fitted with all the associated joints and bends. The hot supply and waste was also attached to the wall and fed through to the area behind the toilet. Simultaneously, the water supply and waste to the hand basin in the toilet were fitted. Final wooden linings were fitted to the openings behind the toilet in readiness for plastering.
✔ Sound insulation was cut and fitted between the timbers of the ceiling and walls of the toilet cubicle. The outside walls will be clad in oak faced plywood with solid oak tracery, but only after the plastering has been accomplished.
✔ Saturday saw Jacko from Overend Barn skimming the plasterboard in the toilet cubicle.
It was decided to bury the time capsule in a niche between the toilet and kitchen. This will not hold up progress around the lift well and will mean all evidence of the work, including these weekly reviews, can be included up to the final day.
Access to the church will continue to be closed during next week while internal work continues.
Week 8 – report of work for disabled access, toilet and kitchen 25th April – 29th April
Progress was made both inside and outside of the church this week. The following has been achieved during the five working days of the week:
✔ Having now repositioned the front steps it was clear that all of the stone slabs leading from the gates to the porch will need to be lifted and re-laid higher to accommodate the new landing level by the gate posts and incline slightly up to the porch such that there will be no step to negotiate when entering the porch.
Jon and Doug carefully lifted each stone slab, marked them with a letter and a plan made of their positions so that they could be re-laid in exactly the same order.
Jon and Doug barrowed Type 1 stone chippings from a delivery by the roadside and laid to form a slight gradient up to the porch threshold. A laser was used to confirm the incline angle. The gravel was finally compressed with a vibrating plate before the slabs will be relaid next week.
✔ The remainder of the gravel was deposited on the ramp and again compacted ready for the slabs to be laid on top.
✔ Meanwhile, inside the church, Will inserted a damp proof membrane in the lift well before the sub floor was laid. A laser was used to confirm the precise depth such that reclaimed tiles could be laid to match the existing floor level, on top of a lime screed. A plastic conduit was first positioned adjacent to the existing church wall to carry the electric cables that are necessary for the lift and to take power to the lights on the ramp outside.
Once the mix had cured, Will laid new concrete blocks to form the retaining walls around the lift enclosure.
✔ Armoured electric cable was threaded through a small, drilled hole in the stone wall adjacent to the steps up to the parvis room, to take the wire through the porch to the outside. The cable will be hidden in a groove cut into the bottom of the wall in the porch and then secured in place with lime mortar. At the same time, the flaking render on the lower walls of the porch will be removed and re-skimmed with lime mortar.
Although not in the original specification, this is one of the additional jobs that will make a tremendous improvement to the fabric and aesthetics of the church. Similar additional work will be undertaken in the kitchen area where the walls are in very poor condition.
Discussions were had regarding the plumbing and supply of hot water to both the kitchen sink and hand basin in the toilet. Derek has kindly agreed to source all the plumbing fittings and we hope to begin the installation next week. The main water heater was fixed in position ready for enclosing in one of the kitchen cupboards that are to be delivered on Tuesday next week.
Jacko, the plasterer who lives in the village, came on Thursday to inspect the plasterboard that Derek and myself had fixed onto the interior of the toilet cubicle stud work. Not being builders by trade, we were both relieved to hear him comment that he had ‘seen much worse’!
Jacko hopes to skim the walls and ceilings next Saturday, after which, the final electrical fix can take place that will include securing the switches, sockets, alarm cord, ventilator and water heater over the basin.
Access to the church will continue to be closed during the week while internal work continues, but evensong will still take place on Sunday.
