Time for another ‘Chat’

With the 2008/9 season just over the horizon I thought it was about time for another ‘Chat’ updating readers as follows.

I am grateful to Nigel Bedingfield for kindly updating the website. This now includes details of all members who have agreed to serve the club for the 2008/9 season in the wide range of capacities listed. Needless to say I am also grateful to them including Tristan Baynes and Richard Ling (joint men’s club captains) and Merna Merrett (men’s fixture secretary) who have kindly volunteered since the AGM.

My thanks to Irene Bicker and Linda Hunter who have prepared the 2008/9 subscription invoices which will shortly be landing on members’ doormats together with details of the coaching/training arrangements for the forthcoming season.

Recent activity at the club has included the hosting of the Village Games, the cutting of the hedges, the spraying of the car parks and pitches (to, respectively, kill the weeds and to prevent the onset of the dreaded algae) and the ‘oiling’ of the balcony. In respect of these activities I am grateful to David and Judy Cobbald, Jose Tibbenham and Robert Stimpson (re preparation for the Village Games), David Cobbald and Andrew and Richard Longe (hedges and spraying) and John Pestell, Tony and Sue Williams, Peter Halls and Robert Stimpson (balcony).

I thank everyone who attended the ‘In The Mood’ picnic concert organised jointly by Harleston Lions, Harleston Scouts and the club and kindly hosted by Julian and Philippa Taylor at Starston. After initial concerns (particularly on my part) the event was well attended and as expected very enjoyable with Timescape putting on an excellent show.

Former GB and England goalkeeper Simon Mason will be taking a Goalkeeping Day at Dereham HC on Sunday 7 September. The day is aimed at goalkeepers of all levels. If you wish to attend please ring Karen Young (Active Norfolk) on 07827 308998.

My thanks to David and Christine Johnson and their team of club members who so efficiently organised the car parking at the Heveningham Hall Country Fair on Sunday 6 July thereby benefiting the youth section to the tune of £500.

Congratulations and very best wishes to Neil Toulson and Anna Truman and to Chris Reeve and Tracy Baker on their recent marriages.

For the past three years the men’s 1sts have been kindly sponsored by Durrants, the well known local firm of chartered surveyors, auctioneers, valuers and estate agents. Following the expiry of the sponsorship agreement we are actively looking for a replacement company. If you have any ideas please let me know. The same applies to firms which might be prepared to have a pitchside advertising board at the club.

Congratulations to Carl Sitch on his selection to play for England U18s in the 4-nations tournament currently taking place in Cardiff and on his selection to play for England in the UK Schools Games between 28-31 August in Bristol and Bath.

With kind regards and best wishes to all members, supporters and friends of the Club.

A total of £600,000 is to be made available in the form of small grants to the voluntary and charity sector by Great Yarmouth and Waveney Primary Care Trust (PCT).

From next month the PCT will make £200,000 available per financial year for the period up to March 2011 through its “Small Grants Programme”.

The programme will be run in partnership with Waveney Community Forum cvs and Voluntary Norfolk, and be open to small groups in the third sector (voluntary and community groups, social enterprises, charities, co-operatives and mutuals) with a maximum annual turnover of £100,000.

Lyn Blizzard, Health Improvement Principal at Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT, said: “The small grants programme recognises the importance of a healthy and thriving third sector by providing funds to small organisations that may not be able to participate in larger commissioning and procurement processes.

“These organisations are often in touch with groups of people who do not always want to engage with the Health Service and they respond to local needs by involving and empowering local residents in the delivery of services – and are often run by local people for local people.

“The Small Grants Programme will help the PCT to deliver on its local priorities to improve the health and well-being of the people of Great Yarmouth and Waveney.”

She said the programme will also enable wider groups of people to be part of the effort to meet Local Area Agreement (LAA) targets for improving health which both Norfolk County Council and Suffolk County Council and their partners, including the PCT, have signed up to with central government.

Ms Blizzard added that in April next year Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT would become a member of a joint board with partners including Suffolk County Council and the voluntary sector which would consider applications for funding from organisations who could contribute towards achieving LAA targets.

The criteria of the Small Grants Programme is similar to that which will be used by the joint board and it is expected that the two schemes will integrate over time but the PCT is keen for funds to become available across the whole of the area it serves as soon as possible.

By working in partnership with Waveney Community Forum cvs and Voluntary Norfolk the PCT programme will also provide support and guidance to small groups on developing their projects, she added.

* Organisations in Waveney who are interested in the Small Grants Programme should contact Waveney Community Forum cvs on 01502 582201

and those in Great Yarmouth should contact Voluntary Norfolk on 01493 845925.

The Devil's Grave

Back on the east coast of Norfolk in England the fishing communities prospered, and great fleets hauled in full nets from the mighty herring shoals. It was said that in the biggest harbour at Great Yarmouth during the fishing season, so large was the fleet from all over England and Europe, that you could walk over a mile across the tightly moored ships and smell the gutting of the herring, carried out by thousands of women who came to the area.

Not all the communities joined in the new way of life. The little village of Sea Palling got on with its laying of crab cages and harvesting the reeds for thatching. Babies were born, old folk died, and the seasons moved across the wide horizon.

Memories remained and legends were created. Along the beach where they say there was once a causeway, even the tough grass never grew. Folk from the villages around never liked to walk on that stretch of coast, especially when the winds change direction and came from the north-east to send their salty sprays crashing upon the land.

If the locals are not too frightened they will tell how on such nights a ghostly spectre can be seen rising from the marshes. A body of a beautiful woman ascends from the badlands, tempting in form and singing to those who would listen. But when the unwary approach, the woman turns into a horrible, cruel and evil reincarnation of the devil, slimy body crying out for mercy and deliverance from her eternal damnation in the muddy pit of the earth.

The Devil's Grave is not marked on any map. It is said that if the ghost of Lady Camilla has recognition in spoken or written word, her power will return and haunt the old district of Lothingland.
– Anon