Normanton on Soar

Ross Aston aston.ross@gmail.com

ST JAMES’ CHURCH REOPENING. We were delighted that from Sunday, July 12, St James’ Church’s doors were once again open for public worship as well as for private prayer.

Services follow the recommended guidance (and common sense) and are as safe as we can make them.

We know that some people will not feel comfortable in returning to church at this stage so you may wish to note that our friends at East Leake will continue online worship for the foreseeable future on www.eastleakechurch.org

Because of the ongoing risk from COVID-19 and the continuing restrictions, services will be different in some ways from what you may be used to: there will be no singing, all services will be held in the nave, some pews will be cordoned off to ensure social distancing and numbers will be restricted to 30.

Hand sanitiser will be available and we will be asking people to use them on arriving and leaving the church. No collection will be taken but there will be a plate for offertories and GiftAid envelopes near the door.

To make sure that everyone visiting remains safe, we are asking that should anyone who visits the church later suspect that they have COVID-19, they should contact either Brian Archbold or Peter Tyers.

The church would then be closed for 72 hours and a full clean would be carried out before it would re-open again.

NORMANTON ON SOAR MEN’S ASSOCIATION. At the time of writing it is considered unlikely that the 15th July and 11th August meetings (BBQ/ Treasure Hunt and Petanque) will go ahead but, if circumstances change and guidelines allow them, these will be reinstated and publicised as widely as possible.

WILDLIFE NEWSLETTER. The Normanton on Soar Environment group is currently welcoming submissions from village residents and villagers for their monthly newsletter, which includes photographs, stories and ways to enjoy and support the village’s plants and animals.

If you would like to receive a copy or contribute a photograph, wildlife sighting, article idea or ‘think piece’ please do get in touch and email nos.environment@ gmail.com