Kirton Church Fund

August winning numbers will be printed in the October magazine. The September draw takes place on Sunday 31st September and the winning numbers will be printed in the November magazine.

All winners have won before although July 1st prize winner won previosly with his other number. July 2nd prize winner had a win in February and conincidentally won 2nd prize in July last year too! Congratulations to all the winners.

You will see looking at the prize money above that it has gone down in June. This is because another member has died. The money will go down again next month unless new members can be found as another person is unable to renew and that will give us just 49 numbers in the draw. This is the lowest numbers in the draw since November 2023 and the lowest number of players since the Kirton Church Fund started in June 2012 with just 31 people taking part. Eleven of the members play more than one number (one member has 6 numbers, another 4 numbers and nine have 2 each.) Surely there are more people in Kirton that would like to win some money. Why don’t you come and join us and help us get the prize money up? There really is a very good chance of winning the Kirton Church Fund. We have plenty of room for more members. Anyone over 18 may take part.

You can join at any time during the year at £5 a number per month and therefore £60 annually, £30 for 6 months and £15 for 3 months. You can of course pay the £5 monthly if you wish. You can also have more than one number.

The prize fund each month is 1/4 of the money taken each month. The rest of the money goes to the up - keep of Kirton Church. (Currently the roof appeal.) The more people that join the higher the prize fund and the more money we raise for the church.

Not already a member? Do come and join us!

Registration forms are available from Fay, please email fayngeoff@gmail.com, or call in Kirton Church where forms are available. Paula’s Gifts on Station Road also has registration forms. For more information about Kirton Church Fund please email Fay.

June 2025 Winners

1st PRIZE - £46.87 - TICKET NUMBER:67
2nd PRIZE - £15.63 - TICKET NUMBER:99

July 2025 Winners

1st PRIZE - £46.87 - TICKET NUMBER:113
2nd PRIZE - £15.63 - TICKET NUMBER:82

Data protection. All information (name, address and phone number) of Kirton Church Fund members is held solely for the purpose of managing Kirton Church Fund and is not passed on to any other organisation or used for any other purpose.

Meet The Locals

This month's Meet the Locals feature is brought to you by Maxine Hezzell of Maxine's! A very recognisable and welcome sight in Kirton and beyond!

I have been running the stall outside the Town Hall for just over 18 months. It started out as a cake stall but soon developed into a pop-up cafe selling hot food and drinks as well as cakes! I have rebranded to Maxine’s from Maxine’s Cakes which I have run for over 10 years. I started doing events and found that I really enjoyed working outside and meeting people, so looked into trying to find a permanent site to hold my stall.

I approached Kirton Town Hall about a pitch and after discussions between the Town Hall Management Committee and Kirton Parish Council my request was passed and I was allocated my little pitch! I absolutely love it and have met so many lovely people. I’m there every Wednesday and Friday (weather permitting) and I trade from 6.30/7am until around 3.45pm. I also trade outside the Four Seasons Chinese takeaway every Saturday between 6.30/7am until 2.30pm. I sell my homemade sweet treats as well as hot food (bacon baps, sausage baps and burgers) and hot and cold drinks!

You can contact Maxine via phone, text or WhatsApp on 07903743859, email via maxoscakes@gmail.com or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/maxinescakeskirton

Blue Elephant Yoga

Well, that’s us at the Kirton News back from our summer break, refreshed and raring to go. Still, it would be lovely to do it all again! Mark must have been reading my mind, because he's promised something this month to take me away again and without costing a penny! So, Mark, what have you got?

Hello everyone, hope you had a great break and managed to get away somewhere. If you didn’t, or if you did and find yourself longing to go back - I hear you. There’s something so special about that feeling of switching off, letting go, and breathing a little deeper while on holiday. But what if that sense of calm we associate with being away was actually something we could access anytime?

Because here’s the truth - that peace you felt on holiday wasn’t just in the air, the sunshine, or the view. It was in you. The change of scenery simply helped reveal it.

Here’s a short visualisation I sometimes use in my yoga classes, and you’re welcome to try it now. You don’t need any special equipment, just a few quiet minutes. You can read it slowly to yourself, or better still, have someone read it aloud to you:

Take a moment to settle, to feel the ground beneath you and close the eyes. Let your breath slow and deepen. Begin to imagine the sensation of arriving on holiday - you’ve made it through the stress of booking, paying, packing and the long queue at the airport. But the flight is behind you. The journey is done. You’ve arrived.

The air feels different. It’s warmer of course, you felt that as soon as you exited the airplane. You’re near the sea, or up in the hills. Wherever it is, it’s beautiful. You take that first deep breath of holiday air. You smile. You feel your shoulders drop. You realise there’s nowhere to be, nothing to plan. You’ve arrived. And the feeling of relief having arrived, and now the holiday can truly start.

But after a while, lying still in this beautiful place, something dawns on you; the peace you’re feeling isn’t coming from the place itself. It’s coming from you. It’s rising up from somewhere deep within. The sea helps. The sunshine helps and the location helps. But what you’re really touching... is the calm that’s always been inside you.

So let yourself rest in that calm now. Breathe into it. You don’t need to go on holiday. You can visit this place of stillness any time, anywhere. That same deep peace is here, now, in this breath. It’s your inner holiday - and you carry it with you at all times.

Whether your summer has been eventful or quiet, I hope you can take a little time now to reconnect with that deep, steady calm within. No suitcase required. Just a few moments of stillness, a comfortable seat, and your breath. That’s all it takes. 

The peace we often seek outside ourselves - on distant beaches, in mountain hideaways, or tucked away in cosy cottages - has always been quietly available inside us. We just forget, sometimes. So if life feels busy again, or if you’re longing for another break, close your eyes for a moment and return to that inner landscape. It’s waiting for you. And it’s free. Peace be with you.

Kirton News turns 60 yrs old

Looking back through our archive of notes and committee meetings, we believe Kirton News or ‘The Church in Kirton’ as it was formally known, was started way back in 1965. We’re not sure who the first editor was so if anyone could help us solve this mystery we’d appreciate it.

We do know that from the late 60’s, Aubrey Woods held the post of Editor. Aubrey was originally from Holbeach but after moving to Kirton, he took an active and lively interest in almost every aspect of village life. He worked at the Lincolnshire Standard and Boston Guardian as a local correspondent and this role kept him in touch with every aspect of village life.

When Aubrey took over as Editor in the late 60’s, the content was more church based, the main reason being - it was compiled by church people that were writing about their main interests. Aubrey had wide interests and wanted to give the magazine a much wider outlook, making it more of a village publication, but always maintaining the chief emphasis on church affairs.

After his death in 1978 at the age of 69, Harold Wander, who lived in Dennis Estate took over the post of Editor and reported how much pleasure the magazine gave Aubrey in the closing years of his life, even typing-up all the ‘skins’ for the December edition before passing away on 6th January. The skins were made of a thin wax coated material that acted as a stencil for duplicator machines. Back then, the magazine was produced with a pre-printed cover and advert pages were produced by Ruskins, the printers of Boston. The typed skins were hand copied on a Roneo duplicator before being put together by a loyal band of assemblers on the last Thursday of the month.

Looking at some of the local businesses advertising in the magazine in the 80’s include: Jessops, Lewis & Kime, The Villager Fruit & Veg shop, Richard Upsall stores, Trevor Howsam Antiques, and Deaton’s Gents Hairdressers.

Harold, who also worked on the local paper with Aubrey could tell some amusing tales of his reporting days. Once, he said he’d been to get a report on a wedding. When the door was opened the bride-to-be was sitting in a zinc bath in front of the fire. Needless to say he made a hasty retreat. He was a clerk for a firm of estate agents. Every Wednesday, he would be seen in his little box at the cattle market on Bargate Green (now a car park), recording details of the cattle as they were sold. Harold lived his live with a disability, wearing callipers on both legs, although this did not prevent him from taking part in many activities including the tennis club, although he could not play.

He was always immaculately dressed with his special boots highly polished. He was fond of music and sang in church and village choirs. He did a tremendous amount of work at the Methodist Church, i.e. secretarial, drama, choir and was Sunday School Superintendent for many years. Never at a loss for words, he was the one to ask to make a speech. A car made life easier for him - up to then he cycled everywhere but he never mentioned his disability.

Frank Belcher took over the editorship from Harold in 1991 and made the decision to change the cover image from the church and field landscape that had been used for the last 17 years and opted for a design featuring the Parish & Methodist Church, along with the wording: ‘The Anglican and Methodist Partnership’.

With the advent of Desk Top Publishing in the late 80’s and early 90’s powered by the Apple Mac computer combined with laser printer technology, Betty Pinder came on board as the 4th Editor in 1996 with a vision to modernise the publication. She approached a local graphic designer to produce the magazine using this new technology and mixing adverts and editorial together for the first time and in the format we recognise today. This gave much more flexibility to the content.

Betty and her co-Editor husband Gerald were a very popular couple in the village and together, brought an interesting mix of articles to the magazine including a regular Editor’s letter, Spotlight on local organisations and who can forget their famous dining out feature reviewing the food and drink on offer at local pubs and restaurants! Accompanying Betty & Gerald on the committee in 1999 was - Chairman: Rev E.Horner and Rev J. Kennedy, Vice Chairman: Mr Bill Castle, Magazine Assemblers: Mrs M. Boothby, Mrs M. Hall, Mrs Audrey Forrington, Mrs Nancy Udy, Press Officer: Mrs Ena Hemmington and Secretary: Mrs Gwen Greeter.

Happy that the magazine was fit for the 21st century, it was time to hand it over to another local couple who would work with Kirton News for many years and even save it from extinction in 2010. Continues next month.