This article appeared first in the August edition of Itchen Valley News

The church has for some years maintained a Parish Diary.  This currently shows the dates and times of church events, meetings and services.  The diary is available to see on the Itchen Valley Churches website http://itchenvalleychurches.org.uk/calendar/

The Standing Committee of the Parochial Church Council has been approached to see if a wider use of this facility might be possible for the  benefit of all Valley residents.  In particular, it has recently become apparent that use of this diary to register the dates of proposed events will allow the organisers of such functions to avoid a clash of loyalties.  To avoid mistaking  church events for  other valley events, secular functions will appear in red on the calendar.  It’s important to know which is which, as church events are covered by the insurance taken out by the church (and others are not).

It has been agreed that anyone may ask for a function (be it a regular or a one-off event) to be included in the parish diary.  To do this, please email itchenvalleydiary@gmail.com. Alex Pease and I will, between us, endeavour to display your request online as soon as possible.  If this works as well as it should, please try to consult the diary before deciding on a date for a function open to the public.

We hope to display links to the diary on all local websites and intend regularly to remind readers of its existence in the Valley News.

Vernon Tottle

Editor,  Itchen Valley News