OVEREND METHODIST MISSION

Banners Street, Cradley, Halesowen, B63 2SL

ANNUAL REPORT 

Report to the Annual General Meeting

April 2008

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PASTORAL LETTER 

As the Annual General Meeting comes upon us yet again, we can look back with satisfaction on the achievements of the last year. Although I have not spent the whole year with you, I would like to offer my thanks to Paul for not only supporting the church through the transition of ministerial responsibilities but also during my period of ill health.

In my short time here I have observed a transformation at Overend due to its leadership team and tirelessly committed members. Firstly, the new carpet and chairs in the church, following the hard decision that was taken by all to remove the pews. Secondly, the physical changes to the worship place have increased in the last few weeks with the appearance of the screen and projector coinciding with the purchase of the wish list of multi-media equipment to enhance worship and fellowship activities within the church and groups.

As for the groups, all uniformed organisations are doing well, with numbers increasing, and the Play Zone are also having an influx of new children. Our Sunday School continues to provide an important place of nurturing of young disciples and I believe it is moving in the right direction - thank you to the leaders for their hard work. Two things have happened this year where we must praise God and thank those whose energy and time have helped to turn ideas into reality. Firstly the Friday Night Youth Club which regularly has over twenty children in attendance enjoying games and friendship with other children and the leaders who provide the fun, great work. Then we have the production of the DVD for which we give thanks to Nikki for the filming and editing of it, to Barry whose idea it was and finally to the leadership team for running with the idea. By the time of this meeting the DVD should have been posted to lots of houses and given to the children who appear in the DVD for their family and friends to view.

As for the spiritual as well as physical growth in the church we have welcomed six new members; David and Ann Smith, Fred and Gwen Roden, Diane and Elizabeth Alford. We have also welcomed through baptism Oliver Thorpe who now attends Sunday school.

On a sad note we recall the passing away of our dear friends Marie Smith and Bessie Deeley, their absence is still felt within our congregation and more heavily in their families. Together we continue to support Janet and Pete, Audrey and John, Roger and Jackie, Jack and Jessie.

To the future we prepare with hope and enthusiasm for the coming together with the Brierley Hill and Stourbridge Circuit in the amalgamation of the two circuits to form the new ‘Vale of Stour Circuit’ and the welcome of the new Superintendent Minister Michael Williams. I would like to take this opportunity for our church to thank Paul for all his hard work and the love and support he has given to this church and circuit. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the leadership team for its organisation during my illness and to the membership for its patience, love and support. It is a privilege to be the minister of such a fantastic church and fellowship as Overend and I look forward to the new year serving you and God in this place.

The most thanks must go to God for being there for all of us.

God bless you all

Your friend and minister

David Alford   

STEWARDS' REPORT 

The 12 months since our last Annual Church Meeting on 17 April 2007 have been very active and exciting in many ways, alongside the ups and downs that life can throw in our path.

In September, we were delighted to welcome the Reverend David Alford as our new Minister.  Unfortunately, David experienced what has been referred to as (tongue firmly in cheek!) the Overend curse - as all Ministers to have taken charge of us in recent times seem to have suffered ill health of some kind!  However, David kept this physical disruption to his ministry to a minimum and has since thrown himself in the life of the church.  Also, we have been very blessed because David brought with him his lovely wife and daughter, Diane and Elizabeth.

Through the year, we have welcomed Malcolm and Margaret Poole, Aline Nzacahayo, Joe Smith and Chris Homer into membership of our church and also Fred and Gwen Roden, Diane and Elizabeth Alford and Anne and David Smith who transferred their membership here.

We have witnessed the baptism of Megan and Oliver.  It has been lovely to see young Oliver join our Sunday School and to have his parents, Helen and Stuart, join us for Sunday morning worship. 

In addition, we are delighted to have seen so many other new faces amongst us over the last year. In some cases it really does seem that they have been with us so much longer, as they have so quickly and actively sought ways to contribute so positively to church family life here at Overend. 

We have also faced great sadness, first upon hearing of Enid Case’s death in April, then Marie Smith in September and Bessie Deeley in October.  They each gave so much to so many of us, in different ways and we will each remember them in our own way.  They each gave an example of a life of faith in action and we give thanks for the times of fellowship and friendship that will live through our memories of times shared at Grainger’s Lane, Trinity and latterly here at Overend.

We seem to have seen more than our fair share of milestone celebrations this year with an 18^th and a 21st birthday at one end of the scale and then more 50^th, 60^th, 70^th, 80^th and 90^th birthdays than I have room to mention individually. If we add to this the special Wedding Anniversary celebrations, we can look back on a number of happy gatherings we have shared together over the last 12 months, either as a church or in smaller groups.   

All of these times, whether sharing in sorrow or occasions to celebrate, serve to draw us closer as a family.  For many, this relationship of caring, support and sometimes simply sharing is a vital lifeline and it is a role that applies to each of us as the body of Christ. 

No-one can fail to notice the physical changes to our worship area over the last 12 months.  Last June, our Church Council took the decision to refurbish the church with new carpeting and to replace the pews.  This was far from an easy decision for many and extremely hard for some.  However, the decision was made and, with all now in place, we can see what a remarkable difference these changes have made to the worship area.  The new seating gives us increased flexibility to experience different forms and styles of worship, such as the Love Feast in January.

We have taken our refurbishment a stage further to bring us a step into the 21^st Century.  Ministers, Local Preachers and Worship Leaders now have the opportunity to enhance our worship, Bible study sessions and prayer meetings using the new multi-media equipment we now have in place.  We are currently arranging training for volunteers within the church who could support those not able to master the technology and also visiting preachers.

Also on the technological side, we decided to produce a promotional DVD of life at Overend that we could distribute to the new housing estates in the locality.  Over the last few months each organisation and group based at Overend has been interviewed, filmed and recorded for posterity!  We have been delighted with the result and thank Nicki Bainbridge for all of her patience with us and hard work in putting this together.  No-one who watches the DVD will be left in any doubt of what a diverse bunch we are.  Nor can they fail to be amazed at how much goes on here, from the variety we have in Sunday worship, supplemented by Bible studies and prayer meetings, to groups to cater for the needs of different age groups.  

One of our particular aims has always been to be a church where all will find a welcome and we hope that the DVD will demonstrate to our local community that we are a living church, packed full of people just like them that they probably pass in the street.

Another important addition to our Church has been the Youth Club that we began last June for young people of High School age.  This has proved to be a very worthwhile and successful enterprise.  This link to young people, and providing a safe and enjoyable environment for them to meet with others, is a vital step in our mission to serve our community.  We all owe the leaders our support for the work they are doing and thank them for their time, effort and commitment to this project on our behalf. 

Finally, I cannot omit from this report that our tradition for superb food has been continued through the year with our Harvest Supper, Summer Fayre and Gift Day celebrations, Christmas Fayre and we even added in a Spring Fair this year.  It takes a lot of work and commitment to pull these events together and we thank all involved in making these events happen for everyone’s enjoyment.  

So many individual people are involved in doing so many things to support life here at Overend Methodist Mission.  These things are so often done in the background, when no one can see and therefore can so often go unnoticed. I can’t give examples because, in naming some, I will be leaving other out! However, I’m sure some of you must stop and think sometimes, who is responsible for that I wonder? How did that come about? How did that happen? Who did that? On the other hand, you might have thought of something that you might like to do or some way you feel you could contribute.  Never be afraid to ask!

We have always described ourselves as a church where all will find a welcome and I have heard many share that this has most definitely been their experience. If anyone has experienced otherwise, we would certainly like to know about it.  We can’t pretend to always get it right because we’re human, but we can all learn from our mistakes if we know about them.  Now, to all who have experienced and shared in this welcome, we are each called to ensure we pass this on to others.

Shirley Hollingsworth

Church Steward

WORSHIP & FELLOWSHIP
The main function of the Leadership Team is to plan the worship and fellowship life of the church. To this end we meet about six times a year. In some respects, the period from April to August proved to be quite a difficult time for Paul; due to Rev Robert Readshaw’s sabbatical and subsequent illness, he found himself carrying the weight of ministry on his own shoulders. We are deeply grateful that Rev David Alford, due to commence on 1st September as our probationer minister was able to carry out some pastoral duties early, thus relieving Paul of some of the pressure.
We were delighted to receive David into our circuit on 31 August and looked forward to a return to normality. This was not to be, as David himself experienced health problems and it was not until 1 January this year that we were able to get back on to an even keel.

The Leadership Team continued to meet and carry out its duties, under the chairmanship of Paul, David or, in their absence, Barry.

Worship:

The situation outlined above led to regular united circuit services being held on Sunday evenings. These were held at monthly intervals and themes included the abolition of slavery, refugees and education. It was pleasing to see Overend well represented at all of these services.
As well as the major festivals, we also try to ensure that designated Sundays, covering World Mission, Education, Youth, Homelessness, Racial Justice, World AIDS Day, Asylum etc are also observed.
A musical group presented the cantata Jerusalem Joy on Palm Sunday last year. This year the Worship Group has conducted services relating to the 300th anniversary of the birth of Charles Wesley in December and the passion story in March.
One completely new innovation this year was a Love Feast service one Sunday evening in January. It was well attended, far more than usually attend on Sunday evenings, and proved to be a very moving occasion.

The Leadership Team is concerned that we may have to ask ourselves if we should discontinue evening worship. Attendance in the last six months has become quite sparse, especially considering that in the stewardship renewal campaign held in September 2004 as many as 45 people committed themselves to attend worship regularly on Sunday evenings. On some evenings recently the attendance has been around 20.

The Sunday School Anniversary services in May and the young people’s carol service in December continued to maintain the high standards to which we have become accustomed. The singing of “The Inn Crowd” was particularly noteworthy.

Worship continues to be central to the life of the church and we are fortunate that so many of our members are involved in its planning and presentation.

Fellowship: It is good that members invite the whole church to join in their special celebrations. This last year Margaret and Keith provided lunch for the whole church in celebration of their ruby wedding anniversary and Muriel invited everyone to her 80th birthday party. The numbers attending this latter event were swelled by members from St Peter’s Parish Church joining us for the annual songs of praise service.
Other opportunities to share in fellowship with other churches came in December as we sang carols outside Providence church and in January during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

Prayer meetings: Prayer meetings took place at monthly intervals, on mornings, lunchtime and evenings. Meetings were led by Paul, David, Margaret, Pat and Barry.
In June we held an all night prayer vigil with six people taking responsibility for one hour’s devotions and in July Margaret led us on a guided prayer walk around places of historical interest in Cradley.
The prayer labyrinth that was so successful in Advent last year was repeated this year during Holy Week. Our thanks to Margaret and Keith for the work that they put into its organisation.

Bible Study: There were two Bible Study sessions held this year. In October / November we undertook a course of study of some Old Testament prophets. These were led by Barry, and Revs Frances Biseker, Tony Kinch, Roger Jones and Mike Mason. A more informal course was held during Lent, based upon the Lord’s Prayer and these were led by our own members and ministers.

Mission and outreach: At our November meeting we discussed the outreach of the church and the opportunity presented by the new housing developments taking place within the area. New homes are being built on Huntingdon Gardens, the old Henley Foundry site and the Clancey site in Belle Vale. In total this amounts to over 400 new dwellings and we have a responsibility to offer the gospel to all who are willing to hear it. It was decided to produce a film in DVD format to promote the activities of the church for free distribution to the new houses, firstly to the site opposite the church in Banners Lane. The church council agreed to set aside £500 to fund the project.
Recognising the excellent work that Nikki Bainbridge has done in filming “Joseph” and “Pharaoh to Freedom,” she was asked to make the film. The work was carried out between December and March and distribution has now begun. The film is of high quality, and the church council will be asked to fund additional copies for all the children within our various groups as well as the new houses in Huntingdon Gardens and the Clancey site in Belle Vale.

Barry Blunt
Leadership Team Secretary

PASTORAL COMMITTEE

The Pastoral Committee meets annually to review church membership. In April last year our membership stood at 93. At the meeting in June 2007 we reported one death (Enid Case) and three were removed from membership thus leaving us with 89 members. Since June 2006, two members have died – Bessie Deeley and Marie Smith. Five people were brought into membership in July 2007 (Aline Nzacahayo, Joe Smith, Margaret & Malcolm Poole and Christine Homer). A further 6 members were admitted by transfer in January 2008 (Gwen and Fred Roden, Diane and Elizabeth Alford, Anne and David Smith). Our membership currently stands at 98.

Our members are divided into 13 classes and the leaders of those classes, together with the church stewards and our minister form the Pastoral Committee. Emma Alston and Madeline Blunt became new class leaders, the latter replacing Marie Smith.

Barry Blunt
Pastoral Committee Secretary


 

WEBSITE

1 – background

Overend Mission has had a website since November 2000. In the past few months this has undergone a major overhaul and as a result it now contains:

• Details of each organisation of the church, their meeting times, latest news [when provided!] and a contact point;
• Details of up and coming services & events;
• The weekly church Newsletter;
• An archive of 12 months’ worth of previous Newsletters;
• A history of Overend and Trinity Methodist;
• Spiritual ‘sustenance’ by linking to the website of the Methodist Church GB where a daily ‘bible reading’ and a daily ‘prayer & meditation’ can be accessed for personal devotions;
• Details of ‘who is who’ at Overend;
• The latest 7 press-releases issued by the Methodist Church GB [these automatically update to our website, via an RSS feed, each time there is a press release];
• Photographs of events and special services that have taken place at Overend;
• Some sermons delivered at Overend – to be read via a word document;
• Details of our facilities [i.e. easy access, toilets designed for wheelchair users, a loop system, large print versions of books, changing facilities for babies, a crèche in morning worship, that we operate a safeguarding policy with regard to children].
• A personal message of welcome from our Minister, Paul.

Our website’s content adheres to the ‘general guidance’ suggested by the Methodist Church of Great Britain.
 

2 – current position

·         Each week 25 people receive the church’s Newsletter in advance by email (+7 v last year);

·         The cost of the website to the church is two-fold:

1.    the ‘hosting’ by an internet service provider - for 2007/08 this was £48.65. (Because we use an American ‘host’ the payment is in US dollars and due to the strength of the £v$ this represents a £9.83 saving over last year’s costs.) The annual renewal date for this cost is 8^th November.

2.    the ‘domain name’ [this is the name of our website i.e. www.overend-methodist.org] which was renewed on 9^th December for two years @ £11.59 total.

3 - What Next?

For churches with something to say, the internet is an opportunity to say it. We are limited to what we can offer only by our lack of imagination … !

• A presence on the internet can be saying "this is an active church that is prepared to move with the times, so come and see for yourself."
• Newcomers to the area or people looking for a new (more active, more family oriented) church can find the background information interesting and useful.
• We know that people who have moved away from the area look at our website to see what is happening.
   

With the help of Nicki Bainbridge I will be selecting various clips to go online – these will not include any young people or youth activities as this aspect was not covered in the ‘consent form’ Overend issued for the DVD filming. We shall be using the “Youtube” website link for two reasons (1) its ease of use – it’s only ‘one click away’ and guarantees quick-loading – whereas ‘Windows Media Player’ [usually the default player on the PC] is a slower and more cumbersome process (2) the “Youtube” website holds kudos with the younger folk within the church & wider community and we may gain therein a wider audience! Time will tell. This is a fantastic opportunity to show-off the life of Overend. (We’re also considering showing “out-takes” from Nicki’s filming … these will be a selection of the more humourous parts of the filming not used, for obvious reasons, on the DVD. It’ll be fun for us all to watch and may even show others that we ‘church folk’ actually have a sense of humour!!)

4 – the number of visits to our website

The table below shows the number of visits to the Overend website per month (and with average daily numbers within that month). These numbers seem high to me but they are collected by the website’s ‘host’ and to whom I have twice sought confirmation of the numbers. It is not possible to identify how many of these are church members viewing the website for information [e.g. to look at the Newsletter to see what time an event starts] or are new ‘visitors’ to the site looking for information about us. There is a possibility some of the numbers are inflated by ‘auto-spammers’ who visit websites in the hope of gleaning personal information. That said, these figures are very healthy and the Leadership Team may wish to consider how best we can capitalise on this.

Bill McBain

SUNDAY SCHOOL

Membership 2005/2006

Crèche           4 (2 regular)

Judith’s          4 (3 regular)

Deb/Rich’s    5 (4 regular)

Emma             6 (5 regular)

Total               19 (14 regular)

Membership 2006/2007

Crèche            5 (4 regular)

Judith                          3 (3 regular)

Deb/Rich’s    5 (5 regular)

Emma             3 (2 regular)

Total               16 (14 regular)         

The number of young people attending on a weekly basis has stayed the same.  We have maintained contact with a number of other young people through circuit activities, and other church events such as the Love Feast and Easter Crafts which will be mentioned later on. 

Finances

In February 2008 we had £1200.00 in the account.

The accounts are audited annually by the church.

CRB Checks

All the Sunday School teachers have up to date CRB checks.

Highlights of the past year

·      Two nights of activities leading up to Easter Crafts on Good Friday

·      Anniversary May 2007

·      Karting June 2007

·      Youth for Christ Event @ Coventry Central Methodist October 2007

·      Pizza and Games followed by Circuit Youth Service @ Providence Nov 2007

·      Young People’s Carol Service – The Inn Crowd December 2007

·      James and The Giant Peach Jan 2008

·      Pizza and Games followed by Love Feast January 2008

·      District Skiing Trip – Feb 2008

Circuit Events

Events have been less frequent, to allow members of Overend to spend more time on work and activities with the Sunday School and Youth Club.  There have still been a number of events which have been well attended with about 40 young people at each.  The Christmas event at Overend was attended by over 50 young people from the circuit and from Overend members from the Sunday school, rainbows and youth club.

·         July 2007– BBQ @ Overend

·         Dec 2007 - Christmas Party and short time of worship @ Overend

·         Jan 2008 – Film Night @ Providence

·         Feb 2008 – Valentine Disco @ Providence

·         March 2008 – Easter Crafts @ Overend

Aims last year:

·      Continue to offer teaching on Sunday and other fun and fellowship throughout the year – Each Sunday four classes are offered to meet the need of the various ages, as shown below.  Materials are taken from Salt Teaching Resources for Crèche and Deb/ Rich’s and Emma follows the preaching lectionary. More time has been spent providing activities outside Sunday Morning teaching to increase fellowship between the young people.

·    Information Leaflet – a leaflet was produced and is on the board, the content is also on the website and has been used as a basis for the DVD which will promote all the churches activities.

·    Take morning communion – this has resumed over the past few months

·    Easter Holiday Activities – see highlights

·      Use the new technology to help teach and develop the young people – this has been delayed but the IT equipment has been ordered and will progressed this year.

·    Weekly Youth Club – see youth club report

Teachers

We are still able to offer four classes due to the number of teachers and helpers:

Paul                                                                - Crèche

Judith                                                             - 5 – 10’s

Debbie and Richard                                                - 10 – 14’s

Emma                                                            - over 14’s

Thanks

Again thank you to all the members for the generous financial contributions made again, last years Sunday School Anniversary collection was higher than previously.  The contribution makes our work much easier as we do not have to spend time additional time on fund raising but can concentrate on developing the young people.

The support from everyone is always touching – all the teachers feel valued and the young people can feel part of a family not there to be tolerated.  It is good that we are all involved together in so many activities that spans all ages.

It is with thanks again to Belinda for organising the Anniversary and Christmas services.  This year we picked a difficult musical at Christmas and it is to Belinda’s credit that the young people did it so well and enjoyed presenting it.

Aims Next Year:

• To hold a weekend away in the summer 2008 – over 9’s
• Attend a Christian Music Event in 2008 – over 9’s
• Build on the success of the games and pizza nights encouraging attendance to special evening services
• Hold a joint Sunday school/ youth club event – to encourage greater links with those young people we have some contact with.
• Investigate activities for the under 9’s outside Sunday School – subject to interest.

YOUTH CLUB

Core Team Members

Emma Alston, Jan Brennan & Paul Westwood

Treasurer

Richard Homer

Helpers

Debbie Westwood, Sandra Callard, Shirley Hollingsworth, Judith Ramsay, Richard Homer

Date Youth Club held - Friday Nights from 7.00pm to 8.30pm

Cost - £1.00 per week but the first week is free

Age Range - 11 to 16 Years

We started the Youth Club on the 22^nd June 2007 and since our first night we have had 47 different young people come through the doors, with the average weekly attendance being 17.  Members have been people we already have links with or have found out about youth club through word of mouth.  Now we have an established group and new activities we have leafleted the local streets and hope to increase awareness of youth club and what it offers.

The young people are asked to sign a ‘code of conduct’ which is basically a few rules that we expect the young people to agree to and show respect for.

The young people are also given a form to take home which is an ‘Individual Record and Consent Form’.  This form gives the leaders contact information for the young person in case of an emergency.

Activities Offered

PS2s, Table Tennis, Table Football, Music, Board Games, Tuck Shop, Badminton, Football, Cooking, Crafts, Theme nights and we are adding all the time.  We have had different crafts including pumpkin carving and apple bobbing for All hallows Eve, Christmas biscuits and decorations, pancakes for Shrove Tuesday and chocolates for Valentines Day.  Our main aim is to have fun, as you can tell this usually includes food.  We believe in having fun within a safe environment.

We have also invited the young people to the circuit YELLL events and we are glad that a number of them attended the Christmas Craft Event, Film & Popcorn evening, Valentines Disco and Easter Crafts.  We aim to continue to develop these links and hope to hold a joint Youth Club/ Sunday School event this year.

As the opportunity arises we express our faith through daily activities to the young people; discussing morals such as swearing, attitudes to each other, our faith throughout Christmas and Easter.  Throughout lent the young people donated change from there tuck money, £   was collected and has been sent to help The Dalit children in India.

Income – as at 4^th March 2008

Subs - £372

Church Donation (ex BB money ring fenced for youth work) - £1000.00

Profit from bonfire £56.15

Profit from tuck shop £60.00     

Margaret Bradley recently applied for a grant from the council on behalf of the Youth club and we are very pleased to advise the grant has been given for £1000.00.  Our thanks are expressed to Margaret for her help.

CRB Checks

All the helpers have been CRB checked

Aims for this year

·         To continue to develop links with the young people attending.

·         To advertise the youth club to the young people in the local area through leaflets and the new DVD.

·         To purchase new equipment with the grant from Dudley e.g. a pool table and craft items.

·         To hold a joint event with members of the Sunday School.

Paul Westwood

GUIDES

January:  We made coconut cakes and cuddly toy penguins.  A photographer came to take a group photograph.

February:  We took part in the district Thinking Day service.  To celebrate Shrove Tuesday we made pancakes.

March:  We also made Mother’s Day cards and presents. We also made Easter decorations and had an end of term Easter party.  Along with Brownies and Rainbows we went to the division disco.

April:  We did some more cooking – this time we made multi-coloured fairy cakes.  The Guides also made puppets out of wooden spoons.

May:  We took part in the division Guide challenge by making models out of recycled materials.  We also had a pantomime night using the wooden spoon puppets.

June:  The Guides made gifts for Father’s Day.  We planned a visit to the local park but unfortunately, due to heavy rain, we had to stay indoors and play games.  We used our new sports equipment, purchased with Sainsbury’s Active Kids vouchers.  Thank you to everybody who helped us save the vouchers.  We had over 3000 in total.

July:  We participated in the district outing to Telford Park.  The Guides went shopping and ice skating.  The rain cleared and we were able to have a BBQ.  We also went swimming and to McDonalds.

September:  The Guides earned Go For It! Glamorama which involved making face packs and cucumber toner.  We also had a bingo night.  On September 15 we went to Alton Towers for the day.  A good time was had by all.

October:  The Guides earned two badges – confectioner and party planner.  The party planner badge involved organising our pumpkin night party which took place at the end of October.

November:  To celebrate bonfire night we cooked hotdogs and camp donuts on a camp stove outside.  We had a quiz night and made Advent calendars.  On Remembrance Sunday we joined in the local parade and church service.

December:  We made mince pies, crackers and peg doll fairies.  We had a Christmas party as well as participating in the district carol service.

Sarah Bennett

Unit Guider

BROWNIES

We have had a good year.  With two successful Pack Holidays with 1^st Lutley Brownies, where we had Oxfordshire pioneering team work with the Brownies making bridges, catapults and swings, which was enjoyed by all.

In the summer we went on a district outing to Telford Park.  For Christmas we took the Brownies to the Black Country Museum to hunt for Santa.

We have taken many badges as a pack, such as water safety, fire safety where we visited Old Hill fire station and circus skills, where a man taught the Brownies various skills that they all enjoyed.

There was much more badge work and various crafts throughout the year.

Annette Bache

RAINBOWS

We have had another busy year doing lots of activities including:

• Making fruit salad to celebrate harvest
• Tasting some fair trade foods
• Making poppies for Remembrance day
• Lots of craft activities about animals, from piggy biscuits to jelly fish to Easter chicks.
• Going to Wonderland in Telford on the District trip
• Joining with all the other Rainbows, Brownies and Guides in the District to celebrate ‘Thinking Day’ here at Overend, with a short service in the church followed by activities with an international flavour in the schoolroom.

We currently have 14 Rainbows

Our young leader (Jodie Russon) and our Rainbow Helper (Laura Alston) are developing their leadership skills and becoming an integral part of the team.

A number of Rainbows have enjoyed taking part in circuit youth events and some Rainbows have recently expressed an interest in attending Sunday School – we hope they will come and join us on a Sunday too!

Emma Alston