Thank You from Foodbank Co-ordinator Gill Gay and Swale Foodbank

Dear Upchurch, you gave so generously again today.

The price of everything is soaring, yet you are digging deep to help those who need a helping hand.

A special thank you to Chris and Brian, who helped me collect the food and take it to the warehouse - they had so many empty shelves.

We had a chat today, and Swale Foodbank stocks four centres where people go for help. Three are churches, and one is at a school. They also deliver to people with no means of getting to a centre.

Well done, Esther and her team of volunteers, and to all the centres on the front line.

May God bless you all as you share his love ❤️

I will be collecting your donations for Swale Foodbank again next month at the bus stop opposite the church on Wednesday the 7th of June, between 10:30am and 11:30am.

Thank you

Gill Gay - Foodbank Co-ordinator

Email: gilliangay99@yahoo.co.uk

Knitting Group Decorates the Centre of Upchurch Village for the Coronation of The King and The Queen Consort

Click the photo montage to enlarge it.

The ladies of the knitting group, with their partners, have decorated the railings at St Mary's Church with eye-catching knitted gold and purple bunting and Charles and Camilla characters, adding some welcome colour to the centre of Upchurch village.

Their lovely decorations mark the national celebrations for the Coronation of The King and The Queen Consort on Saturday the 6th of May 2023.

A lovely knitted post box topper, complete with characters, has been added, along with bunting hung between the posts on the corner of Horsham Lane, from the bus shelter and the Post Office railings.

It looks superb again - thank you, ladies!

Go and take a good look for yourself...

Read more about the Coronation of The King and The Queen Consort on Upchurch Matters at >> https://bit.ly/41bSoOu

Upchurch Matters

From the Potting Shed - May 2023

Sponsored by Upchurch River Valley Golf Course Ltd

The year seems to be flying by, and May is approaching. April had a sting in the tail with some wintry weather, and the wise gardeners up here in Suffolk are telling me not to plant out until after the first full moon in May. I cannot remember a frost in May down in Kent, although a few years back, we had a frost on 29th April, which clobbered my seedlings. A local landscaper has been in and taken down a number of trees in the garden and along the southern boundary within the fence line. This has allowed a lot more light and air into the garden, which will be more noticeable in the summer without a canopy of leaves taking all the light. The brambles and undergrowth are slowly getting cleared, and things are starting to take shape.

The lawn should be growing vigorously in May, especially if it got a weed and feed in April, and any re-seeding will start to show this month. Keep cutting and scarifying if you are keen, and it should look full, green and weed-free in time for the BBQ season. I have yet to get started on the lawn, as much of the time is spent logging up after the trees came down. It is the first time I have split logs with an axe, and there is definitely a knack to it. The Sycamore splits quite easily, but the Acacia is hard work.

The sod has been cut for the new vegetable patch, and the turves have been placed green side down in the ditch, which is now 80% full of all the trimmings and clearing up. The soil at the surface is a fertile loam, which starts to turn to clay at a depth of 6” and becomes yellow at 12”. It is full of roots which need to be cut and cleared with a sharp spade. I am digging trenches down to a depth of 12” and have given up on the idea of double digging. That should be sufficient for most vegetables except maybe for Parsnips, which can go a lot deeper... I will see if I have the energy. The seedlings are up and running in the shed, including Broad Beans, which I have started in pots. They normally go straight into the ground in March, but the patch isn’t ready yet. Similarly, the New Potatoes are still waiting to go in, not to mention the Maincrop, but still time. I usually get seed potatoes from B&Q, but they are few and far between up here, so I bought mine from DT Brown of Stowmarket. The longer you wait, the more deals the seed merchants offer, but you risk missing out on the popular varieties. I have gone for Charlotte as an early this year instead of Rocket. It is a salad potato, and it will be interesting to see what it is like. However, they offered a good deal on Picasso, which in my opinion, is the best mashed potato.

The sod is being cut - Turves green side down.

The spring bulbs are still putting on a good show, although the Daffodils are finishing up. It is best to deadhead the flowers, let everything die down and then tidy up at the end of the month. The borders will be getting going, and there is a good opportunity for basal cuttings from a lot of perennials and division of clumps to increase stocks. The Easter Bank Holiday is traditionally a time to purchase hardy annuals from the Garden Centres and start making up containers. Annuals are also ideal for filling gaps in the borders due to winter casualties.

Fruit will be blossoming, and the small fruits forming, so provide trees with a good mulch to provide a slow-release feed, which they need at this time of year. Miracle Grow is a good all-round fertiliser to use as we get well into spring as it is high in phosphate and potash, which generates root growth and encourages flowering.

May is a very busy month, but everything for the summer should be planted out by the end of the month, and then all is set. Personally, I will concentrate on the vegetable patch and just tidy the borders this year. Next year we hope to start creating a cottage garden in the front, but you can’t do everything at once... and it is meant to be fun... stressful gardening is a contradiction in terms. If I can get the trees logged up, dig out the vegetable patch and get the seedlings planted out by the end of May, I will be delighted.

If I can’t do all that, I will have to drown my sorrows... which sounds like a good option!

UHS is always looking for new members and tries to encourage a fun attitude towards friendly competition. So if you want to grow your own fruit, vegetables, and flowers or even enter any of the shows we hold each year, please get in touch. We would be happy to hear from you.

If you are interested in becoming a new member, (all ages are welcome), please contact Tracy Wells: tracywells0312@gmail.com

Sean Barry

Bulb Planting & Litter Pick at Upchurch Village Hall

As a way of marking the coronation of King Charles III, hall volunteers will be joining in the spirit of The Big Help Out and volunteering their time to add colour and tidy up the village hall grounds.

If you would like to help them on Monday the 8th of May, between 10:00am and 12:00pm, they will be very pleased to see you.

Equipment will be available to borrow/share, but if you have your own, please bring it along.

The hall will provide the bulbs, but if you have extra bulbs or plants to donate, please bring them along - Thank you.

UpARA will be using the hall but have kindly agreed for volunteers to use the facilities as and when needed.

For further details, please Call: 07368 461507 or Email: enquiries@upvh.co.uk 

Upchurch Matters

Cake Bake for the King's Coronation in aid of St Mary’s Church Bell Tower Restoration Fund

My neighbour Sarah Mitchell will be generously baking her fabulous cakes this Coronation Weekend in aid of the St Mary’s Church Bell Tower Restoration Fund for collection in person from Upchurch.

There is also a lovely Victoria Sponge to be raffled at £2 per entry, the same as the one pictured.

The raffle winner will be drawn on Friday afternoon and can collect the sponge on the morning of Saturday the 6th of May.

For more details, including cake prices, to be entered into the raffle and to contact Sarah, visit >> https://bit.ly/3HwP8Fk

We have raised £36,000 towards the restoration of the bell tower so far, but please help us to reach our goal of £50,000!

You can still donate at >> www.justgiving.com/campaign/upchurchbelltower

Thank you

Elspeth Baecke

UpARA Newsletter - May 2023

Hello UpARA members,

Birthday Party... come and Join us for our Birthday Party on the evening of Friday the 19th of May, from 7:00pm. There are still a few places available and it is now open to bring non-member guests/friends.

It is BYO food and drink, and you are sure to have a great time with entertainment from the very talented Nick Boswell.

Don't delay and reserve your places in the usual way, by email to: uparaupchurch@gmail.com, or by text to: 07802 250773.

Tickets are just £5.

Thanks... for turning your phones to ‘silent’ during our last Friday meeting. It was so much nicer to listen to David Bowdler and his excellent musical repertoire without interruption - let’s keep it up!

A slight change... please note our May meeting is on the 3rd Friday of this month, followed by the AGM.

UpARA t-shirts, in various sizes, are just £15! They will all be out and on display to purchase on May the 19th.

The thoughts of Chairman John

Hi everyone,

We have reached that time of the year once again and we are putting together our thoughts from over the last year of our holidays, and all our activities and getting reports for the AGM.

The next massive event is the coronation of King Charles; several of us are of a certain age to remember his mother’s coronation and all the pomp that went along with the event. I can remember some of the people in our close without a television joined us to watch the event, the first to have been televised.

The next afternoon we all gathered in our village hall for the pageant put on by us school children, our prize was our own coronation mugs.

The hall was decked out as a street party and a great time was had by all.

As the end of our year has been reached, we have raised in excess of £5,000 for charity; some of which went to Ukraine DEC, The Turkey Earthquake Aappeal, the Poppy Appeal and Smile Malawi. Next month we will be handing over money that we have raised for the Bell Tower Charity.

Enjoy the coronation celebrations, looking forward to seeing some of you at the Potters week.

John W

Payments

At the next meeting, Brenda and Malcolm will be taking any money due for the lunch at the Golf Course on the 31st of May.

For any queries on trip and holiday availability, email: uparatrips@gmail.com, (we now have a separate ‘trips’ email address, although any emails to the main address will still get through if trip related).

Pick-up times for Potters holiday Monday 8th May

• Upchurch (opposite the Church) 10:00am 

• Otterham Quay (up from 3 Sisters) 10:10am 

• Rainham (The Cricketers) 10:20am 

• Rainham (opposite Pump Lane) 10:30am 

Northern Ireland trip

For those coming on the Northern Ireland trip in September, please note that the full balance for this is due in June. The itinerary for this trip is on our notice board as is the festive itinerary for our Holly & Mistletoe trip to Llandudno.

Activities

Please look at the calendar for all the activities we currently undertake, and if you haven’t tried them, why not give it a go?

Some of our numbers have been dwindling of late, and we need a new input of enthusiasm to boost this. The sad fact of all that we do, is that they can only continue with the participation of enough people. If you’re not sure, just email us and ask!

May Calendar

Mondays May 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th at 10:00am - Short Tennis

Monday, May 1st, at 2:00pm - Kurling

Tuesday, May 2nd at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art

Tuesday, May 2nd at 2:00pm - Table Tennis

* Wednesdays May 3rd, 17th, 24th, 31st at 10:15am - Line Dancing

Friday, May 5th at 1:00pm - Village Walk

Monday May 8th - Friday May 12th - Potters 

Tuesday, May 9th at 10:00am - 10 Pin Bowling at Hollywood Bowl  

Tuesday, May 16th at 2:00pm - Petanque

Please note the new summer times

Friday, May 19th at 10:00am - Village Walk, 

** Friday, May 19th at 2:00pm - Monthly Meeting

Wilf Lower, ‘Behind the Scenes of TV’s Golden Years’

AGM to follow 3:30pm - 4:00pm

Friday, May 19th at 7:00pm - Party Night with entertainment by Nick Boswell  

Tuesday, May 23rd at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art

Tuesday, May 23rd at 2:00pm - Table Tennis 

Wednesday, May 31st - Lunch Club at River Valley Golf Club

* There is no Line Dancing on May the 10th

** Please note our Monthly Meeting is on the 3rd Friday of this month 

Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.

Email: uparaupchurch@gmail.com

Website: www.upara.club