Welcome to our latest update on news from St Andrew’s, Tangmere

We held our APCM on 11 May 2025, where Emma Jackson and Helen Thompson were (re)elected churchwardens. By the time you read this, Helen and Emma will have attended the Archdeacon’s Visitation and Swearing-In of Churchwardens events. We are also pleased that all of our PCC members have agreed to continue.

Our thanks to Alice, Alison, Jackie, Jan, Margaret, Paul, Penny and Ros for their ongoing support to the Church.

We also could not deliver what we are doing without the help of others who sit on the various informal committees, so thanks also to Bob, Jayne, Matt, Penny, Richard and Simon who give up their time to sit in the occasional meeting.

The APCM was a great opportunity to reflect on what we have achieved in our first year of Vacancy and to thank everyone who gets involved in the many rotas and unsung roles in the Church.

We held two events in June:

On June 13th, it was lucky for one team who won the quiz, although there were only around 5 points separating four of the teams. There were some fiendishly difficult questions about Tangmere which generated some discussion, and the Noughties music section posed some challenges for many of us ! We raised over £650 after costs, so it was both a fun, and a successful, evening. Congratulations also to the winners of the raffle prizes, and our thanks to Matt Jackson for pulling the questions together.

The following week we came together on Sunday 22nd June to sing the top 10 hymns chosen from hymns put forward by the congregation. It turns out we have a wide range of favourite hymns, with initially 10 hymns all receiving 4 votes each. After a bit of further analysis ‘Lord of the Dance’ topped the poll, followed by ‘Be Still, for the Presence of the Lord’.

Looking ahead, we have a relatively quiet period before it all gets busy again in September. So please look at the Upcoming Events page of our Website !

Management of the churchyard

You may have noticed that we manage an area of un-mown grass in the churchyard for wildlife. It has been three years since we started this project and it is, at last, showing signs that wildflowers are colonising the area and reducing the vigour of the grass. So far, there is bird's-foot trefoil, speedwell, yarrow, oxeye daisy, cornflower, corn marigold, self-heal, clover, ajuga, hedge bedstraw and many more. These may be common flowers but all excellent for pollinators. And the tussocky grass makes a great habitat for wildlife. The rest of the churchyard has been planted with many flowers and plants to attract wildlife and, of course, they are beautiful for us to look at.

Tangmere Scout Group has been helping to create habitats for wildlife around the church. Last year the Cubs came and created a log pile for stag beetles and this year the Squirrels created a bug hotel. Great fun was had on both occasions. We love visits from children's groups and the energetic enthusiasm they bring.

Various birdboxes have been installed with blue tit and robin boxes and swift boxes have been erected on the church.

We have a Sixty Club with places available, the proceeds of which supports the churchyard costs. There is a quarterly draw with three prizes of £120, £60 And £30 It costs £5 per month and you have a 1 in 60 chance of winning each quarter. Further details from info@standrewstangmere.co.uk