Category: Parish News

Our wonderful church, St Michael and All Angels, has stood at the heart of East Coker for nearly a thousand years. It has been a place of worship, a marker of life’s milestones and a quiet witness to lives lived locally.

Project Beacon is now about opening up this remarkable place to everyone whilst protecting its heritage, strengthening its role in the community and ensuring it remains a living church for future generations.

Project Beacon aims to bring practical improvements to the church and its space  in the following ways:

• Offering step-free access so everyone can enter through the same door;
• A warmer, more welcoming interior with sustainable heating;
• Better catering facilities;
• Flexible space for events, talks, exhibitions and gatherings; and 
• Improved interpretation of our history and stories.

Beautiful and historic churches like ours survive because each generation takes responsibility for them.  We are hoping that many of you will feel the same and get behind Project Beacon so that we can:

• Protect our rare and internationally significant heritage;
• Welcome new audiences and younger generations; and
• Reduce environmental impact and runnings costs.

Here are the ways you can support:

• Join the Friends of St Michael’s
• Volunteering time or skills
• Making a donation, large or small
• Spreading the word to others who love heritage, literature, history and community life.
• Attend the many and varied events that the Friends of St Michael’s will be hosting.  (Can be found in the Parish Council Calendar).

Find out more or get involved:  www.ecchurch.co.uk

We are delighted to be able to tell you that we have managed to secure a grant of £1600 from SALC Community Health and Well-being. We will using these funds to create an afternoon of healthy fun for all the family to enjoy whilst also celebrating the opening of our new Pavilion.  There will be an Elton John tribute band playing all his greatest hits, a dog show with many unusual categories, delicious food, a cool bar plus bouncy castle for the younger parishioners.  So please put Sunday 30th August in your diaries, 3 to 7 pm and register your attendance by clicking the link in the banner above.

We always endeavour to secure grants for the benefit of our parish and its’ parishioners where we can.  Grants are very difficult to obtain so we very proud that we have been successful on this occasion and look forward to enjoying an afternoon of entertainment with you all.  Friends welcome too.  

On Saturday, 25th April, the East Coker Action Group held a ‘Woodland Walkabout’ at Pin Cushion Corner.  It was a chance to show off our newly planted woodland, which includes 13 different species, as well as giving local people a chance to come together for a coffee and a chat.

The weather was beautiful, and it was a lovely few hours spent in an idyllic setting, sharing anecdotes and village history with visitors.

Thank you to everyone who supported the event – we look forward to holding another when the wood is more fully established. In the meantime, we would like to ask anyone who would like to support us in our endeavours to develop this beautiful wood for the villagers and generations to come to please email Sandi@yeovil.net.

We are all obviously noticing the worrying amount of pot holes appearing. If you are concerned about any of these and wish to report them to the Somerset Council, please contact them on: https://www.somerset.gov.uk/roads-travel-and-parking/report-a-problem-on-the-road/#potholes-road-damage-and-edge-loss

 Somerset Council are no longer responding to ‘fix my street’ as a way of informing them, so please use the link above or go to the Somerset.gov.uk website and click on Roads/travel & parking and follow that link.