Latest News Items …

Saintfield Heritage Society will have its first talk of the 2017/18 season on Thursday 14th September in the Woodrow Room of Saintfield Parish Church Hall at 8.00 p.m.

The talk is entitled, “The Newry Canal: From the basin to the bar”.  Canal enthusiast Seán Patterson will draw on his unrivalled knowledge to focus on the Newry end of the canal, with particular reference to its maritime history, railway connections and folklore.

Members are invited to bring their friends or family. Non-members are also very welcome to attend.

Membership for the year (seven talks) is only £10, and that includes refreshments!

Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th September

Guided Walk Around Saintfield

Members of Saintfield Heritage Society will give a guided tour of the many listed buildings and the conservation area of Saintfield, sharing their stories and history along the way. Until 1712 Saintfield was known as Tonaghneave – Tamnach naomh, “the field of the saint”.  Neither the origin of the name nor the location of a saintly field are known today.  The town was largely the creation of the Price family.

Meet at the Memorial Garden, Comber Street, Saintfield, BT24 7AA.

Saturday 9th & Sunday 10th: 15:00-16:00.  Walks last 1 hour.

Issue 14 of Saintfield Development Association’s Saintfield News is available for download HERE.

Poppy People campaign needs more volunteers for annual Appeal

The Royal British Legion is urging the public in Saintfield and surrounding areas to dedicate some of their spare time and join its band of volunteers during this year’s Poppy Appeal.

This year, the village of Saintfield is particularly short on volunteer help and so the Legion is calling on those in the local area to dedicate a few hours to make a huge difference to the 6.2 million members of the Armed Forces community that are eligible for help from the Legion.

Each year more than 350,000 poppy volunteers are needed across the UK to raise much-needed funds to support serving and former Armed Forces personnel, and their families. The Legion is looking for enthusiastic people of all ages and backgrounds to help run the Poppy Appeal in local communities across Co. Down.

Lyn Palmer, Community Fundraiser, Northern Ireland East, said: “Saintfield, in particular, is struggling to gather enough Poppy Appeal volunteers this year, and so we need as many helping hands as possible to ensure that we can raise those much-needed funds, and maybe even beat the village’s previous record total of over £6,000. Volunteering can provide great opportunities for those involved, especially for young people. It allows the chance to meet new friends, learn new and transferable skills and be part of a team that helps the Armed Forces community and promotes understanding of Remembrance. We’d love all who want to volunteer with us to get in contact right now.”

Claire Rowcliffe, Director of Fundraising, said: “The Poppy Appeal is The Royal British Legion’s main fundraising event of the year. Our volunteers are very much the lifeblood of the Poppy Appeal and contribute enormously to the charity year-round through a variety of roles.

“The best thing about being a volunteer for the Legion is that we welcome all ages and all backgrounds – people don’t have to be associated with the Armed Forces, they just need to be passionate about the cause.”

If you can volunteer to support this year’s Saintfield Poppy Appeal, please contact Community Fundraiser Lyn Palmer on 07827 367447 / lpalmer@britishlegion.org.uk

For further information on the work of The Royal British Legion visit: www.britishlegion.org.uk

The Taster will be held for an hour from 3.00pm to 4.00pm in Rowallane Community Hub at 35 Main Street, Saintfield.  (Access is via the entry beside Peter Bowles & Co.)

The outlets which will be offering free tastings of samples from their menus are The White Horse Inn, Saints Cafe, Chutney Joe, Fish 2 Fry and Rockmount Golf Club.  Winemark, a new business in Saintfield, will be hosting a wine tasting.

All are welcome to come along and sample what is on offer.  

This is intended as a pilot scheme and if successful it is hoped to expand the event in future years and make it a showcase for what Saintfield and the surrounding area has to offer in the way of food and drink.

Each of the legacy Down District Council DEA Forums has identified skills shortages as a priority in their action plans. In response to this Coordinators of Rowallane, Slieve Croob and Downpatrick Fora, in association with the South Eastern Regional College (SERC), have arranged an information evening to present the options for further education and training.

The information evening will be held at the Ballynahinch Campus, Church Street, Ballynahinch on Thursday 17th August 2017. It will commence with a fork supper at 6.30 for a 7.00 p.m. start.

The evening is aimed at individuals who wish to return to education having left school with no or few qualifications and also community groups who may be in a position to cascade the information to others.

Following supper SERC will make a presentation on The Restart Education Programme and staff will be on hand to answer any questions that may arise and register interest in the course.

The Restart Education Programme allows people to develop skills while also gaining a positive experience of learning in a way that is enjoyable and supportive and there are no formal qualifications required to join the course. The course is very suitable for people who left school without formal qualifications and now wish to return to education. The timetable is flexible and arranged to permit young parents to do the ‘school run’. The course is assignment and portfolio based so there are no formal examinations to sit, as it is understood that the pressures of exams could be daunting for those wishing to return to education.

The Course was initially piloted at the Newcastle campus and proved a resounding success with students progressing to University and undertaking degree courses.

We encourage individuals and groups to attend the information evening and would be grateful if you could circulate the information as widely as possible to as many who would be interested in taking up the opportunity to develop their skills.

To facilitate catering arrangements attendees are required to register by either telephoning 02897564113 or by emailing claire.hamilton-bryce@nmandd.org on or before Friday 11th August, 2017.

There will be a Policing and Community Safety Partnership meeting in the Rowallane Hub, 35 Main Street, Saintfield, on Thursday 29th June at 8:00pm.

The meeting will focus on crime prevention in the village and surrounding areas.

Everyone is invited to attend.

Programme:  Lesser Spotted Journeys (visits Saintfield!)

Date:  Monday 21st August

Time:  8.00 pm

Channel:  UTV

At the AGM of the Saintfield Development Association held on Monday 12th June 2017, the following persons were elected to the various offices for the year 2017/2018.

Chair: Ian Murray.

Vice Chair: Martyn Todd.

Secretary: Peter Gregg

Treasurers: Lawrence Murphy/Priscilla Sunderland

Communications Committee Chair: Brian Gamble

Infrastructure Committee Chair: Barbara Graham

Events Committee Chair: Bob Pollock

Funding & Finance Committee Chair: Pamela Dooley

Green Committee Chair: Lawrence Murphy

Gillian Fitzpatrick, the outgoing Chair of Newry Mourne and Down district council with members of the Saintfield Development Association at one of the two gateway signs leading into the village. The signs were rebuilt by Johnny Gill and developed by volunteers of the SDA Green Saintfield committee with a grant from NMD Council as part of the “Down Your Street” initiative.

In the photo are (L to R) Brian Gamble (Chair of SDA), D J Morgan (NMD Council), Gareth and Oisin McAteer (volunteers), Barbara Graham (SDA), Gillian Fitzpatrick, Muriel Massey (SDA), Lyn Mackender (SDA) and Denis Conn (SDA).