Link Project Update

A Waiting Game

Readers may be aware of the challenges facing planning departments across the UK and not least here in Waverley which seems to be in some difficulty with the threat of ‘Special Measures’ hanging over it.

We had hoped to hear the result of our application by the end of June but as I write in mid-July our Planning Case Officer is unable to indicate quite when we may hear - although of course by the time you read this we may well have done!

In the meantime the team remains busy, not least working through the 16 things we need to produce to progress to Stage 3 of our £1M, YourFundSurrey application. This is the really important stage which will determine if we receive funding.

We have been out and about in the community gathering real evidence of the need for the Link Community Hub, meeting young people at The Den and The Place to Be, parents and carers at First Steps and at St Bartholomew’s School and the users of our Thursday Coffee Club and Hearing Clinic. That there is a very real need for affordable space to support people from the very youngest to the oldest is without doubt. Now our challenge is to articulate that in a convincing manner.

As we wait (and work!) please keep all those involved in the project in your prayers, not least those in Waverley BC, who are clearly under considerable stress, and pray for a successful outcome to our application.

Andrew, Cathy, Debbie, Gareth and Stephen

Parish Magazine travels beyond the arctic circle!

At 80 degrees N, Svalbard is actually nearer the North Pole than the Arctic Circle (66.6 degrees N). We were on a small boat, formerly a survey ship, with just nine other passengers, meandering around the coast of this Norwegian archipelago. As we squeezed through pack ice and seas of floating icebergs we were met with stunning glacial landscapes. June midnight sun meant that it was as light at night as it was during the day. The amazing wildlife included whales, sea lions, lion seals, reindeer, walruses, arctic foxes, various arctic birds and of course polar bears! We were particularly fortunate to be able to spend an hour watching a mother bear and cub playing on the ice edge. On our final day both of us felt compelled to take the ‘polar plunge’ which was of course freezing! We felt privileged to have been able to see such a unique part of God’s wonderful creation.

Peter and Claire Gratton