A newly designed side entrance will help us save energy and, it is hoped, also protect us from having our corridor flooded during extreme downpours - something we have increasingly experienced over recent years, as extreme weather became more frequent. The new construction, installed at the end of July, is of aluminium and thermal glazing. It retains all the functionality of the previous timber construction: the door can be opened in both directions, and the mobility threshold means that it remains suitable for wheelchairs and other mobility aids. It offers much improved insulation which should go quite some way towards reducing our energy use for heating the building, once we have to turn the heating back on again.
On the afternoon of Sunday 25 June, our Quaker Meeting House garden was one of 19 local gardens to be open to the public as part of Bradford on Avon Secret Gardens 2023. We counted nearly 200 visitors, including quite a few locals who have lived in Bradford on Avon for many years without ever having popped up Whiteheads Lane. Probably the most frequent description visitors gave to our garden was "peaceful".
In past years, our Quaker Meeting has brought Journeymen Theatre to Bradford on Avon several times. Journeymen Theatre are Quakers Lynn and David Morris whose plays have tackled various social and political issues. On Saturday 4 March, they will be performing their final play "Breeding Grounds" at St. Margaret's Hall in Bradford on Avon. Lynn and David are playing a couple: she's an agency carer and climate change activist, he's a pragmatic back bench MP. They struggle to find common ground.
Doors will open 6.30pm, the play starts at 7pm. Tickets cost £5 and are available from Ex Libris bookshop in the Shambles or online from https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/breeding-grounds-journeymen-theatre-tickets-510543959727 Following Saturday 17 December, our weekly 'warm space' opening (11am-2pm) with soup lunch will take a break. It will resume on Saturday 7 January and is expected to run every Saturday until the end of March.
Meetings for Worship will continue as normal. As both 25 December and 1 January happen to be Sundays, we will hold (more or less) perfectly normal 'blended' Sunday Meetings on those days, with children's meeting on offer as well. Our mid-week Meeting for Worship on Wednesday evening will also continue. We'll be starting the new year with a picnic lunch after Meeting for Worship, followed by a worship-sharing session on our peace testimony. Let's hope this may help a little bit to make 2023 a more peaceful year. |
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