Circuit News
Circuit News
Press Release from Sturry Church
New Community Orchard Takes Root in Sturry Thursday, 4 December, 2pm
On Thursday, 4 December community organisations will come together in Sturry to begin planting a Community Orchard.
The site is an area of two-thirds of an acre between the churchyard of St Nicholas’ Church, Sturry and the busy A28 as it enters Sturry. The land was bequeathed to the church from the estate of the late Viscount Milner (1854 – 1925) to hold for the benefit of the people of Sturry. It is known as “The Milner Ground”.
Community organisations have come together to make better use of the site.
For some years, the neighbouring Junior King’s School ground staff have helped with grass-cutting. Other maintenance work has been done by offenders from the Community Payback scheme; these are people who have been sentences to do unpaid community work instead of time in prison. And Sturry Parish Council has also assisted.
In recent months the stakeholders have expanded to include the Sturry and Broad Oak Residents’ Association and the Green SABORGS (Gardening Group), as well as committed individuals.
Financial help has come from Canterbury City Council to finance improvements in biodiversity
Sturry Church is working hard to improve its rating as an “Eco Church” by improving the area and encouraging wildlife.
The aim is for this plot of land to become a widely-used community asset and a “green lung” for the rapidly expanding population of Sturry.
The next step is to plant a Community Apple Orchard with help and guidance from Grow Fruit Trees, a local nursery working with the National Fruit Tree Collection at Brogdale, near Faversham. Local people will eventually be able to pick the fruit
On Thursday, 4 December at 2pm, ten apple trees will be planted in the Milner Ground. The varieties are a mix of eaters and cookers. They will fruit throughout summer and early autumn. The apples are: Falstaff, Queen Cox, Sunset, Lord Derby, Early Worcester, Greensleeves, Discovery, Bramley and Revd W Wilkes. We hope that representatives of the community groups behind the project will be present, including the Sheriff of Canterbury.
Jane Freeman, Churchwarden and Church Steward at Sturry Church, said, “It is wonderful to see so many groups in our community come together and produce something which helps the environment and encourages healthy eating”.
1 December 2025
For more information, contact Jane Freeman, 01227 710175, jane.m.freeman@hotmail.co.uk
All-community, All-faith Remembrance at Sturry
On Remembrance Sunday, 9 November, the annual service around the Sturry Village War Memorial was an event for the whole community. It is always a poignant event, as we remember each year amongst our war dead, the casualties from Nazi bombs on Sturry in 1941 which killed 15 people and led to the village having the epithet, “England’s Most Bombed Village”.
As well as the usual Sunday worshippers, on 9 November very many others gathered to remember our war dead.
For the first time, we were joined by local Gurkha veterans, who are mainly Hindu. They laid a wreath and participated in the ceremony
Staff and pupils from the local Junior King’s School, the preparatory school for the King’s School, Canterbury, attended. They a laid a wreath and played the Reveille and Last Post.
Our friends, the supervisors and offenders from Community Payback, were also there and they had made a special effort to clean up the War Memorial and its surroundings.
We welcomed our local civic parish councillors, from Sturry and Hersden, who attended and laid wreaths.
Our local Scouts off all branches also paraded.
Monkton
SINGING FOR JOY
We are a voluntary outreach group of Monkton Methodist Chapel, we realised there is a great need for people to get out of their homes into social places and a need to thrive and keep well. We focussed our group on enhancing wellbeing, social interaction and tackling isolation within our community, and reaching out to the vulnerable who may never get out of their homes. We work on building confidence and making friends and of course singing and dancing.
The group is a wide mix of men and women, aged 30 to 86! We started with just 6 members and we now have 25 plus an extensive waiting list. We are extremely popular, we are into a full year in October running weekly, so we are definitely sustainable.
We use backing track’s they choose the songs. I send them out on email, I send lyrics, I reduce the arrangement of the words, it helps! They learn at home and we come together and sing. I am a singer but you really don’t need to be! Just passion is all you need. I sing a guide vocal on my phone and send it via what app. It’s pretty simple. They print their own words and bring extras for those who haven’t got access. We ask for a donation, its pays for the tracks. We do not expect anyone to learn the words, just have a go! They certainly do!
We often are asked to perform for other charities and wellbeing activities in and out of the village. This year alone we have played 13 times to various audiences. This winter we are venturing to performing in a musical Nativity and a Pantomime and are really keen to keep this motivation going. Re-living our inner child does wonders for wellbeing. Our group are extremely grateful for these opportunities to perform and have a social hub, whilst they are learning to sing, and keeping active.
The singing group provides a safe, welcoming space as is attended regularly, we also provide beverages and cakes and time to socialise after. We also have a safeguarding officer. We have a social network so we can keep in touch if anyone needs help or support.
There is a clear demand for the group and the opportunities it offers to connect individuals and take part in a positive, supportive and safe environment. We focus mostly to build friendships and confidence. Improving mental health, wellbeing and resilience are key aims for this group. Singing together has proven benefits, lifting mood, reducing stress and creating a strong sense of belonging. Alongside the singing we teach mindfulness, celebrate birthdays and achievements and showcase individuals with “Star for a night” which they love. We have just introduced chocolate Monday for anyone who’s really shining! We realised as we get older you may not get a birthday card or told your great, so we always celebrate. Our group have told us they love attending and it’s the best part of their week. They look forward to Mondays and we certainly see new friendships have formed they there is nothing more satisfying than singing in a group and hearing people laugh. We know research shows what singing does for the brain and wellbeing. Here we are in the woods singing under the canopies of the trees. I think they laughed more than they sang!! We want them to experience all of Gods wonderful world and the gift of voice. Give it a go, they will come. Lauraine Lee
Outreach
Monkton have shared plans for more outreach for the community – a men’s wellbeing/social group, a women’s group of movement to music and mindfulness.
The congregation has grown to double figures from just a handful.
Union Church Margate
Our Food for Thought initiative has been selected as a winner for the 2025 Community Project Awards by the URC Reform magazine. They tell us they received dozens of entries this year, all showing creativity, effort, passion and community engagement, with many remarkable submissions. The quality of entries made the judging particularly challenging but our project stood out and has earned a well-deserved place among the finalists. Our prize will be awarded at their conference in Derby on 5/7/25.
Union Church will also feature in BBC Songs of Praise on Father’s Day where the team will interview Harry Baker, the celebrated Margate poet who has just had their first keenly awaited baby and Christopher Butler who was introduced to the faith by his three adopted children. Both Harry and Christopher are regular members of Union Church.