Community Action for Kinver 34, Bridgnorth Road, Stourton, Kinver. South Staffordshire DY7 6RT
Community Action for Kinver
About Us
COMMUNITY ACTION - a brief history
Forty years ago it was discovered that work carried out on the north side of St Peter's Church in the 19th century, had been very poorly done. It was absolutely necessary that renovations were carried out immediately.
Fortunately, in those days, John Greaves Smith was around and he was commissioned to draw up plans to, virtually, save the church. John's imaginative ideas of a reconstructed North Aisle were submitted to (the then) District Council, Seisdon Rural. To the dismay of church members, its Planning Committee, on which there were members from Kinver, threw them out! They were too modern and didn't fit in with the rest of the building!.
Two things happened: There was an instant appeal against the decision, and secondly, the Vicar, Donald Watson, encouraged his flock to become Councillors themselves. 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!' he said.
Enter Sam Harris! He immediately organised the numerous willing volunteers and they began preparing for the next local elections under the title CHRISTIAN ACTION. These took place in 1974 and for the first time ever the Parish Council included a number of CA members. At the same time St. Peter's became the centre of an Arts Festival, held every year for three years, to raise the money needed for the vital reconstruction work.
During those early days the Minibus for the Elderly was established, as was The Trust for the Elderly: monies were regularly raised for deserving local organisations and for a number of years, during the Easter Holidays, swimming lessons were arranged for pupils from Foley Infants School. It should be appreciated that these activities were by no means performed solely by CA Councillors.
Perhaps the most significant part of all this was the establishment of the 'Newssheet'. Primarily this was a political sheet produced by Sam Harris at his business and distributed throughout the village. Today's Newssheet is a completely different animal, If it is political at all, its trumpeting of CA activities are confined to one edition every four years-this one i.e. the one issued immediately prior to local elections..
But of course CA no longer stands for Christian Action. Now it is Community Action. The decision to change the name was taken in the early 90's when many of its supporters had no connection whatsoever with St Peter's. Some long standing members were unhappy with the change but democracy prevailed.
CA still carries on its activities outside the Parish Council Chamber for the benefit of the village. Primarily this publication gives our local organisations the opportunity to report their activities and it is also a useful tool for villagers to enable them to ring local advertisers who provide domestic services.
Two more strands of its work for the village are reported inside this issue: The Flag-flown outside the White Harte for people to celebrate important events-and the annual award of the Dorothy Round Bursaries to promising sporting teenagers.
Two things happened: There was an instant appeal against the decision, and secondly, the Vicar, Donald Watson, encouraged his flock to become Councillors themselves. 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!' he said.
Enter Sam Harris! He immediately organised the numerous willing volunteers and they began preparing for the next local elections under the title CHRISTIAN ACTION. These took place in 1974 and for the first time ever the Parish Council included a number of CA members. At the same time St. Peter's became the centre of an Arts Festival, held every year for three years, to raise the money needed for the vital reconstruction work.
During those early days the Minibus for the Elderly was established, as was The Trust for the Elderly: monies were regularly raised for deserving local organisations and for a number of years, during the Easter Holidays, swimming lessons were arranged for pupils from Foley Infants School. It should be appreciated that these activities were by no means performed solely by CA Councillors.
Perhaps the most significant part of all this was the establishment of the 'Newssheet'. Primarily this was a political sheet produced by Sam Harris at his business and distributed throughout the village. Today's Newssheet is a completely different animal, If it is political at all, its trumpeting of CA activities are confined to one edition every four years-this one i.e. the one issued immediately prior to local elections..
But of course CA no longer stands for Christian Action. Now it is Community Action. The decision to change the name was taken in the early 90's when many of its supporters had no connection whatsoever with St Peter's. Some long standing members were unhappy with the change but democracy prevailed.
CA still carries on its activities outside the Parish Council Chamber for the benefit of the village. Primarily this publication gives our local organisations the opportunity to report their activities and it is also a useful tool for villagers to enable them to ring local advertisers who provide domestic services.
Two more strands of its work for the village are reported inside this issue: The Flag-flown outside the White Harte for people to celebrate important events-and the annual award of the Dorothy Round Bursaries to promising sporting teenagers.
Essentially CA is an independent group which has no connection with any of the major political parties.