April 24 Combined - Flipbook - Page 37
Community update Hayling Herald
Locomotive Jack needs your help
to keep delighting passengers
IT is an iconic feature of the Hayling landscape and has transported
generations of Islanders and holidaymakers up and down the seafront.
But now Locomotive Jack, from Hayling Light Railway, is going in for a
refit – which is set to cost the charity in the region of £60,000.
Volunteers are now fundraising hard for the money to pay for it to ensure
Jack will be back on the tracks and delighting even more families.
Cliff Robinson, director of Hayling Light Railway, said: ‘Our iconic engine
has now spent 35 years operating on Hayling Island. Over the years it has
become the children’s – and many others’ – favourite.
‘However, it is in desperate need of a complete overhaul to ensure it can
continue delighting our passengers, residents and others for many years to
come.
‘The problem is that a repair and rebuild process will cost over £60,000
and will need to be done off-site, where it was originally built.
‘Whilst the Railway Charity can meet some of these costs, we need to
start fundraising to ensure we can meet this expense and still maintain the
railway in the long term.’
The good news, to help the volunteers get started, they have been given a
donation of £500 from the local branch of Freightliner.
Cliff added: ‘We would really appreciate the help of Herald readers if they
were able to give a donation, however small, to help raise funds – even if it
Cliff Robinson, left, with Dan Hillebrandt, a volunteer from Freightliner,
handing over the donation
is just a few pounds.’
To make a donation, visit the railway website, haylinglightrailway.wixsite.
com/ehlr. Alternatively, call 07902 446340 or visit the Eastoke Corner
Station on the Seafront on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. You can
boost your donation by 25p for every £1 you donate through Gift Aid.
Remember, you are not alone
By Yvonne Collins
OUR regular monthly bereavement support
group on Hayling Island met at the Hayling
Christian Centre on the corner of St Leonard’s
Avenue last month.
We are a small open group, which means that
anybody can come along whenever they are
available and some of our members have come
regularly, whilst for others it will be their first
visit to us.
Our last meeting was small, but very relaxed
and friendly and two new people came along to
see how this group might help them. They did
not leave disappointed.
Our meetings allow people to talk about their
sadness, to talk about how hard it is to lose
somebody who has meant the world to them, but
also how they have found ways of keeping their
memories alive. We learned of somebody who
has just lost their husband and a granddaughter
who has lost her beloved granddad.
Sometimes people come with reservations
about whether they will be able to share their
story, but as people begin to talk about what has
happened in their lives, there is always an atmosphere of love and comfort.
We learned about how the funeral of the deceased can be that time and place when people
find a way of paying tribute to the departed by
giving somebody the funeral which they deserved.
One lady had specifically requested that her
coffin should be white as well as what songs
should be played at her funeral. Making these
things happen can be a source of comfort to
those left behind.
We have also spoken about memory boxes,
where people will keep a collection of things
which make them feel close to the departed and
each person had their own special way of feeling
that closeness again.
Sometimes people will spray the departed’s
favourite perfume or aftershave, sometimes the
person grieving will keep flowers in the house
which remind them of those who they have lost.
We also share songs or poems which can bring
comfort and joy to the sessions.
What people seem to find most helpful though,
is the space to talk about something which they
don’t want to burden others with for fear of
upsetting them. One member said: ‘We don’t
normally share our pain – but here we have permission to share our pain.’
If you have recently lost somebody dear to
you, please come along to our next meeting on
Saturday, April 6th at 2pm. Entry is via the side
entrance of the church. You are not alone meets
on a monthly basis on the first Saturday of each
month at 2pm.
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