An essential aspect of fulfilling our faith and supporting the Church’s mission is through consistent financial contributions. Regular giving ensures the sustainability of our church and facilitates effective future planning. For this reason, we participate in the Parish Giving Scheme. The Churchwardens and I are committed to preserving our listed buildings for future generations but keeping our churches open costs £125 per day. Our community's support keeps the church active and essential in our area. While asking for donations is difficult, regular giving is crucial for sustaining the church's ministry, especially during challenging financial times. Please consider giving what you can. With this letter, we are launching our new 'Sponsor a Day' which allows everyone to select a day (or days) to sponsor a day in memory of a person or cause by donating, through Parish Giving Scheme, a minimum of £125 per year. £125 is equivalent to approximately £10 per month or £2.40 per week and with Gift Aid we can claim another 25% from your donation! Please contact me to discuss which date(s) you would like to sponsor!For enquiries about making one-off or regular donations, or leaving a legacy, please contact me at: 01763 230178 rev.andrew.birks@hotmail.com With Prayers and Best Wishes Andrew+
Data Protection Breach.A message from the Vicar, Revd Andrew Birks.The Diocese has been notified of a data breach that has occurred involving personal data processed by Access Personal Checking Services Ltd (APCS), acting as the data processor for those using APCS for Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) applications. In addition to many parishes across the Church of England, the breach has also affected a number of separate Dioceses and also the National Church institutions (NCIs), all of whom also use APCS.Please note that the Church of England central systems and Diocesan Information Technology (I.T.) systems have not been hacked, nor has any of the parish systems, and those respective networks are unaffected by this data breach. This breach is only in relation to the use of APCS.APCS has provided some details of the breach, including the nature of the incident and the types of personal data involved. We are expecting further details will be provided as the investigation progresses. If you haven’t received an email from APCS, or the Diocese, or the Parish Safeguarding Officer, then you are unlikely to have been affected, though you should continue to check for emails from them over the coming days.If you are concerned the Diocese have a dedicated website page which is constantly being updated with all of the latest developments, and also offers guidance on what to do if you have been told your details have been ‘hacked’. The website page can be found here…. www.elydiocese.org/parish-support/privacy-and-data-protection/data-protection-and-gdpr/apcs-data-breach.php
As you will know, we are having a new lighting scheme introduced to Holy Trinity in Meldreth.As a result, and for Health & Safety reasons, we will need to close the church for 3 weeks.We will therefore close from Monday 3rd November and reopen with a special Songs of Praise Service, at 6pm on Sunday 23rd November, followed by refreshments.Whilst we are closed, we need to make a few adjustments to the services:On Sunday 9th November - the 8am service will be cancelled.On Sunday 16th November - the 9.45am will be moved from Holy Trinity to All Saints in Melbourn.We recognise the cancellation of services at Meldreth has an impact on you, but we hope you will recognise we have made the changes as minimal as possible, and that once we are open again, you will like the changes we have made.Andrew+
Joe and his Fiancé Michelle are getting married in All Saints’ Melbourn in January 2026. Joe is responsible for the wonderful pictures we are using in our display screen near the door. In September, Jack and Michelle will be doing a wing walk - that’s right! Strapping themselves to the wings of a plane!!!. They are doing this for the charity PAPYRUS which is a charity set up to prevent suicide of young people. Below is Joe’s story about this event, and also you can follow this link to a beautiful tribute to Joe’s brother Jack or watch it from the link at the bottom of this messageThe Man Behind The Lens | SHORT Documentary - YouTube“Hi my name is Joe, and I lost my younger brother to suicide in December 2022. In September 2023 I decided to start my own business named after my younger brother, called JACKsBACK Media, a video production company, as Jack always wanted to become a filmmaker and loved anything film related.Jack was 26 years old when he passed, a young, extremely bright, creative soul, who lost his way in this world early on, Jack loved anything film related, and could recite his favourite films off the top of his head, he was quiet, kind and gentle and loved music. He started off his journey through life on the wrong foot and unfortunately never managed to gain his balance, after many silent years battling his demons and struggling with his mental health, Jack decided to leave this world, without warning, without a goodbye.This year myself and my fiancé Michelle will be taking part in a wing walk where we are strapped to a planes wings and flown through the air at 700ft of speeds up to 110mph on the 9th of August!Last year I took part in a 10km run in the Easter 50 Ultra Challenge on the 06/04/2024 followed by a tandem skydive on the 28/04/2024 in the hope to raise money for Papyrus, so that they can help others like Jack, in their time of need. PAPYRUS is the national Charity for the Prevention of Young Suicide.Suicide is the biggest killer of young people under the age of 35 in the UK, every year over 1800 young people took their own lives. PAPYRUS provides confidential support and advice to young people struggling with thoughts of suicide, and anyone worried about a young person through their helpline, HOPELINE247.” If you would like to support this wonderful cause please follow the link here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/jacksback-media-2025?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL
