Date: Sunday 16th January 2011
Venue: Stowmarket Town Centre followed by St Peter and St Mary’s Church, Stowmarket
Contact: Lisa Harris on 01449 612229 or lisa.harris@eastanglianlife.org.uk
On Sunday 16th January 2011 ARC-Addington Fund and The Museum of East Anglian Life will come together to arrange a Plough Sunday Service in Stowmarket. The Event will commence with a procession of modern and vintage agricultural machinery, including the celebrated plough which will be brought in to St Peter and St Mary’s Church for the service.
Plough Sunday, coming on the first Sunday after the Epiphany was traditionally the Sunday set-aside especially to bless the plough before ploughing got off in earnest in preparation for the sowing of spring crops. Today it is a service of prayer, dedication and blessing for those involved in and concerned for Agriculture.
The procession will commence at 9.30am, meeting at the museum car park (opposite Asda), and following a route through the town culminating at the Church ready for the service at 10.45am.
The Service also aims to raise awareness of farming charity ARC-Addington Fund, which was established in the crisis of Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001. At that time it distributed over £10.5 million to over 22,000 applicants. Celebrating its 10th Anniversary in 2011, the charity continues to support viable farming families experiencing financial difficulty in times of unforeseen circumstances. The Funds’ core strength however, remains its Strategic Rural Housing Scheme; creating opportunities for those needing to exit or retire from the industry with dignity. Since 2002 it has housed a farming family every 60 days. In turn, by creating an opportunity for a family who would otherwise struggle to find a way out, the Scheme often creates an opening for a new entrant or aspiring young farmer.
To find out more about the ARC-Addington Fund, please check out our website at www.arc-addingtonfund.org.uk.
Meanwhile, the Museum of East Anglian Life will be open for the 2011 season from the 20th March to 31st October 2011, Mon-Sat 10-5pm, Sun 11-5pm. Further details can be found at www.eastanglianlife.org.uk.
