Archive
Peter Todd Charity Ride 6th August
On Sunday 6th August Peter completed the Chester Challenge a 55mile/90Km bike ride in aid of Young Lives v Cancer (formerly CLIC) the charity that Peter & Diane's daughter Sophie works for. If you'd like to support Peter and help him reach his target of £500 then he's set up a Just Giving page which you can access by clicking here
When a child is diagnosed with cancer life becomes full of fear, for them and their family. Fear of treatment, but also of families being torn apart, overwhelming money worries, of having nowhere to turn, no one to talk to.
At Young Lives vs Cancer, we help families find the strength to face whatever cancer throws at them. But every day 12 more children and young people hear the devastating news they have cancer. We’ll face it all together – but we can’t do it without you.
Peter Todd Rwanda 2017
Peter was in Rwanda in early February riding with a group to raise funds for Tearfund projects. Tearfund was the underpinning charity that enabled the Nailsea Uganda Water Project to work so well. Peter has raised over £1472 which includes the £204 generously given as a result of his talk on the 16th March. The whole group has now reached £44,456 towards its target of £50,000 for the continued work in Rwanda. Rwanda’s GDP per Capita is $693 ours in the UK is $41,500. Its poverty level is 39.1% of its population of 12 million. That means 4,692,000 people! The money raised will help to reach more people using the tried and tested methods that Tearfund and its partners use to enable people to help themselves to get out of the cycle of poverty.
Peter Todd & Richard Lancaster - Coast to Coast 2015
The Nailsea Uganda Water Project is being supported by all the churches and many other community groups to install Rainwater Harvesting systems to provide clean water to six rural and remote communities in SW Uganda - the three-year project is nearing completion and as a final push to try and reach the final-year target of £60k Richard Lancaster undertook a sponsored bike ride from Whitehaven to Tynemouth over the August 2015 Bank-Holiday weekend.
The ride had been conceived by Peter Todd but the day before Peter had to pull out of the ride due to a family bereavement so Richard ended up doing the ride on my his own whilst Peter did the ride a couple of weeks later. Here are Richard's words:-
"The first day was challenging and I covered about 59 miles from Whitehaven to Penrith. The second day was really tough with some big climbs on the 55 mile ride from Penrith to Parkhead Station on Stanhope Moor (it turns out the Pennines are a load of big hills – who knew?). The final day came as a pleasant change with quite a lot downhill as I covered about 40 miles to complete the ride via Newcastle to Tynemouth. The total distance was around 154 miles and so far I have raised £1,083 with some more sponsorship yet to be collected.
Here are a few photos of the ride – clockwise from top left:- (1) at the C2C start in Whitehaven harbour dipping my wheels in the Irish Sea, (2) going through the lakes on day one, (3) at the bottom and then (4) the top of Hartside Pass one of the biggest climbs on day two, (5) day three nearing the end on the riverbank in Newcastle and finally (6) with Rose (who met me at the end of each day’s ride) on the beach at Tynemouth after finishing the ride and performing the traditional dipping of the bike wheels in the North Sea – and in case you are wondering the strange bulge on my stomach is the map I was using – it was the easiest place to carry it!"
Peter Todd & Richard Lancaster - Water to Water 2014
Our first fundraising ride for the Nailsea Uganda Water Project was in 2014 when Peter & Richard rode from - Nailsea to Taunton, Plymouth to Ilfracombe, back to Barnstaple (cos there was no room on the ferry) and then Bristol to Nailsea - 184.6 miles in 3 days - phew!
Worship on Wheels - Sunday July 2nd 2017
Building on the success of last year, a second Worship on Wheels service was held at Nailsea Methodist Church on Sunday.
As before, it was a café style service enabling scooter and wheelchair users to bring their wheels to the tables and be fully involved in the worship.
Alison Morgan interviewed her fellow Access For All campaigner, Steve Ledbrook, of Backwell, who has Becker Muscular Dystrophy.
Steve inspired everyone with his positive ‘can do’ approach to life.
He is a volunteer with Sunshine Radio at Weston Hospital.
He gave a glimpse of some of his whacky fundraising antics for Muscular Dystrophy UK, including climbing across the top of the O2 Arena in London in his wheelchair, sitting in a pod on the Weston Wheel for 30 hours and going down the longest zip wire in Europe!
Steve told of his campaign work with Trailblazers, a group of disabled campaigners, part of Muscular Dystrophy UK, who tackle issues affecting young disabled people.
Trailblazers aim to fight social injustices and ensure people can gain access to higher education, employment and social and leisure opportunities
As well as all the above, Steve is also a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Young Disabled People and Muscular Dystrophy UK, First Bus Passenger Forum, and North Somerset Council’s Disability Access Group.
He is encouraged by seeing positive outcomes from campaigns and is hopeful that his dream of a totally accessible public transport network will one day become a reality.
The Rev Deborah Mallett reflected on Jesus’ promise of inclusion and liberation for all, set out in Luke 4 16-21.
Jesus gave his time, attention and priority to people who others side-lined.
He taught his followers to do the same.
Deborah noted that the motto of the Paralympic movement is ‘Spirit in Motion’ and suggested this should be a motto for all.
Talented musicians added to the welcoming warmth of the service, accompanying the hymns and finishing with a super rendition of ‘Wheels Cha Cha’.
The fellowship continued with tea and fabulous homemade cakes.
No one was in a hurry to leave. Alison Morgan July 2017
Mycon 50th Anniversay - Sat 28th Feb/Sun 1st March 2015
On the weekend of Sat 28th Feb/Sun 1st March we celebrated 50 years since the opening of the MYCON youth centre in the Wesley Building. On Saturday we had an open afternoon when anyone who had attended or helped in MYCON was invited along and Trevor had prepared a display of the history of MYCON and the Wesley Building.
On Sunday we held our morning worship in the Wesley Building Hall and the service included contributions from all the groups who currently use the Wesley Building. There was dancing from the Adele's pupils, a Busy Bees video, and spoken contributions from Lunch Club and Girls' Brigade. The service also included the formal commissioning and welcome of our Families Worker Kirsty.
It's time to get drastic about plastic
It’s traditional to give something up for Lent. Some people give up chocolate, others alcohol. But Members of Nailsea Methodist Church have decided this year to try and give up plastic for Lent. Under the banner ‘It’s time to get drastic about plastic’ members of the church have proposed a plastic fast for the six weeks of Lent. Each week there will be a new challenge for church members to look at their plastic footprint and take action to reduce their plastic consumption.
The first week’s challenge concerns plastic water bottles.
Building on the success of Bristol’s ‘City to Sea’ campaign to urge people to refill old bottles, the Church will ask its members to avoid buying water in plastic bottles throughout Lent. Instead they will refill old plastic bottles from the tap, use metal canteens or buy water in glass bottles which can be recycled more efficiently.
Further actions will be added throughout Lent. It is hoped that there will be a cumulative effect to reduce the amount of plastic used. But it is also anticipated that the campaign will be taken out, through friends and family, into the whole community. And it is hoped that retailers will hear the call: we need to reduce the amount of plastic packaging.
‘We have a large number of people in the church with a real concern about the environment. The church has been accredited as an Eco-Friendly Congregation and a lot of steps have been taken to try and put our own house in order. Our solar panels are making a very significant contribution to reducing our carbon footprint. But we are increasingly concerned about the impact of plastic on our environment,’ explained Mark Mallett, one of the organisers of the church campaign.
‘Our plastic fast for Lent will remind us about our responsibility for God’s creation and the inheritance we pass on to future generations. We want our campaign to have a real impact which will continue long after Lent has finished. It’s time to get drastic about plastic!’
Laying of Foundation Stone 1914 Nailsea Methodist Church
Who are methodists?
The Methodist Church is the fourth largest Christian Church in Britain, after the Anglican and Roman Catholic Churches and the Church of Scotland. It has more than six thousand churches and a total membership of approximately 330 000 people. There are Methodist Churches in nearly every country in the world and global membership numbers some 70 million people.
The Methodist Church is traditionally known as non-conformist because it does not conform to the rules and authority of the established Church of England.
Methodism has its roots in eighteenth century Anglicanism. Its founder was a Church of England minister, John Wesley (1703-1791), who sought to challenge the religious assumptions of the day. During a period of time in Oxford, he and others met regularly for Bible study and prayer, to receive communion and do acts of charity. They became known as 'The Holy Club' or 'Methodists' because of the methodical way in which they carried out their Christian faith. John Wesley later used the term Methodist himself to mean the methodical pursuit of biblical holiness.
In 1738 John Wesley had a profound spiritual experience. "I felt," he wrote, "my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins." The experience transformed Wesley, and inspired him to become one of the greatest preachers of all time.
In 2003, the Methodist Church celebrated the tercentennial of the birth of John Wesley.