Village Voice June/July 2012 | Page 11

ARLE VALLEY BENEFICE EDUCATIONAL FUND When the Old Alresford village school was closed in the late 1980s, part of the proceeds of sale of the school buildings and site was put into a trust fund for the Parish. It was established as the Old Alresford Parish Educational Fund, for the provision of religious education, according to the tenets of the Church of England, in the Parish. For the past 20 years the Trustees have sought to make use of the Fund for the benefit of the Parish, but gradually the number of calls on the Fund has dwindled and the Trustees consider that the time has come to widen the area of coverage of the Fund. When approached the Charity Commission would not countenance the use of the money for any purpose outside the original objects of the Fund. The Trustees have therefore resolved, - and the Charity Commissioners have said they have no objection, - that the benefit of the Fund for the provision of religious education shall be extended to all four Parishes in the Arle Valley Benefice of which Old Alresford Parish is part. The name of the Fund has been changed to the title at the top of this article and the appointment of trustees has been changed so that the Rector of the Benefice is the Chairman and each of the four Parochial Church Councils will annually nominate one trustee. So from May this year the Fund will be open to all within the four Parishes of the Benefice and when the new Trustees meet for the first time they will announce how they will receive applications for financial assistance from the Fund. JACKIE’S COUNTY COLUMN June The County Council has put forward a proposal for a new primary school to open 2014, following extensive pressure from Councillors. The Consultation for a ‘New School for Winchester’, is currently underway, and closes on June 15th. If you would like to respond, please go to www.hants.gov.uk and click on “have your say”. Wherever you live in the Division, your community is bound to be having one or more Diamond Jubilee Celebrations. I hope that you enjoy the weekend, and thanks to ALL the volunteers who have worked so hard to ensure that the wide range of ‘Right Royal’ Events goes well. There’s an unusual website to record problems: it’s called Glum Councillors! I haven’t added anything yet because a number of items on the local waiting list are being done this month, particularly sections of road resurfacing. If you think that your path is poor or road needs resurfacing, please go to www.fixmystreet.com and let me know too. Parish Plans are underway across the whole division now. These plans are written by Parishioners. The final document is owned by the Parish, but used to inform all those who might need to know what your community sees as priorities. These priorities can be as diverse as setting up more whole village events, to traffic calming, from more 9