27 February 2023 - Mission Hall: Beetle Drive!
Beetle Drive
With Ploughman's supper - bring your own drink
At the Mission Hall, 7.30 on Friday 24th March
Tickets £6, from Yvonne Emery (832907) or Bill Egerton (833728)
With raffle. Proceeds to Mission Hall Trust.
26 February 2023 - Monthly Coffee Morning
Today I'm recovering from a fun Race Night! Over 50 of us spent tens of thousands of £SP (Sutton Poyntz Pounds) on a motley assortment of racing hounds.
Someone managed to come away with almost 5 times her initial investment to the admiration of all. She's keeping her secrets under her hat.
In case like me, you forget things these days, just a reminder that the next Coffee Morning is Friday March 3rd.
We are very lucky to have local First Responder Alan Hale joining us at the end of the morning to give us some Defibrillator training.
Again if like me you need a 'refresher' session, please try to be there, as we all know how vital this life-saving equipment is.
And a change of date: because of Easter, our April coffee morning will be brought forward to March 31st!
J & S
14 February 2023 - Defibrillator awareness / training on March 3rd
As you probably all know, the Sutton Poyntz Society got a defibrillator for the village. It was over 5 years ago and we’ve recently had to replace the batteries and the electric pads.
The defibrillator cabinet is located behind The Springhead near the entrance to the kitchens and The Duck Bar. If you haven’t actually been to see it, make sure you do… (Other nearby defibrillators are at the Preston Village Hall and (coming soon) at the St Andrew’s Church Rooms.)
It’s being discussed whether we should have another, probably at the Phonebox, but we’ll have to do some fund-raising as we’re talking about £1500-£2000.
It’s good to be familiar with how to use one, but they’re automatic (could even say foolproof) and they provide voice guidance to step you through the process. And they definitely can’t hurt anyone. From time-to-time, usually after a Coffee Morning, we get the local First Responders to come to the Mission Hall and give us a short demo and a reminder of how to do CPR.
And we will be running a session at the next Coffee Morning on March 3rd 2023.
Something that’s useful to know is that if you call 999 because someone has chest pains, they will of course send an ambulance - but they will also ask if there is a defibrillator nearby and suggest you send someone to fetch it. If it’s your spouse or partner lying on the floor you’ll probably want to stay with them, so it’s a good idea to think now who you would call to fetch the defibrillator. You’ll probably choose a neighbour (or someone living near the defibrillator) but once you have decided who it is (and of course asked them) you might also suggest they attend this next defibrillator awareness session with you. And put their phone number in your speed-dial / favourites!
It’s a great comfort to know that, if your patient takes a turn for the worse, you have a defibrillator right there beside you – just-in-case. There’s no need to open it up, and certainly not to open the sterile* electric-pad package, nor to get out the special scissors and start cutting their clothes off!
* Yes, the pads are sealed, can only be used once, and cost the best part of £100 to replace. Guess who we’ll ask to pay for a replacement! But if they did their job I can’t think of anything with such good value!
J & S
12 February 2023 - New dog litter bin needed
Why do you call your dog 'Carpenter'? Because every time I call him, he makes a bolt for the door!
Pity he can't repair the Dog Litter bin.
Do we have any part-time dog-loving, DIY carpenters in the village who could do a little job to help keep the village nice?
We replaced the lid of one of the dog litter bins recently but now the rest of the bin has disintegrated, so we need someone to knock up a replacement - it's just simple square box.
All the bins were made by Ray Aggett (thanks Ray!) but he's currently feeling a little under the weather. If you think you could step into his shoes a lot of people would be very grateful.
You can see exactly what’s needed if you look at the two bins (one-and-a-half bins) on Sutton Road. Of course we can cover the material costs.
If you'd like to help, please form an orderly queue... and reply to this email.
With thanks in advance,
J & S
7 February 2023 - Open Gardens - will you open yours too?
We have a good number of you who are looking forward to opening your gardens on June 17/18 but it would be nice to have a few more.
Even if it's only for one day (Saturday or Sunday) it will increase the variety for the visitors to see.
Attached is a copy of the programme we used last time (in 2015!) and it should give you an idea of what was so successful.
Any size, any style, all are welcome to participate!
Contact Hilary on 07707 830846 or by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
3 February 2023 - Biodioversity Group - Big Birdwatch data
A message from John Newbould, concerning the RSPB Big Birdwatch which took place last weekend:
"If members of the Sutton Poyntz Society took part and sent in their data to the RSPB, it would be great to collect the data locally as well because otherwise it is never seen. Each person will receive a consolidated copy of our results and newsletter. I attach the Word and Excel forms [N.B. not attached here] we use plus instructions for collecting bird data, which we do here on the last week of each month. Results should be sent to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Best wishes,
John"
2 February 2023 - February Coffee Morning this Friday
Just in case those little grey cells are letting you down, this Friday is the first one of the month so it’s time for coffee, cake and chat.
And you might also have forgotten that we’ll have the local Neighbourhood Watch and Police Community Support Officers joining us. Be on your best behaviour!
J & S
ps - if you want something to do on Saturday morning, the Village Market is taking place in the St Andrew's Church Rooms - full of arts, crafts, produce, plants and other interesting stuff. Probably coffee and cake too...
26 January 2023 - Race Night - Sutton Poyntz is going to the dogs! Via the pond...
An evening of "Race Night" fun at The Mission Hall!
Place your bets on Saturday 25th February 2023 at 7.30pm.
Win or lose - a fun evening is guaranteed*!
Sutton Poyntz Pounds will be the currency of choice. Ten of your British pounds will get you about** SP£5000 and a nice supper!
Jacket potato with chilli-con-carne, cheese or tuna.
Bring your own drinks!
Make your food selection when booking your tickets from:
Sue: 07813 267788 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Hilary: 07707 830846 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
AND WHILE WE'RE BOTHERING YOU, HERE'S SOMETHING ELSE:
Spring is just around the corner and the ducks will soon be nesting so it's time for a bit of a tidy-up around the pond.
Come and help in the Pond Clearance morning Saturday February 18th at 10am.
Wear wellies, bring just hand-tools - rakes, secateurs, and wheelbarrows - and your usual enthusiasm!
* normal refund policy will be applied (so good luck with that!)
** exchange rate of the day will apply with very reasonable commission to yours truly
J & S