Pilots

TRINITY HALE PILOTS

The Pilots at Hale continue to meet on Tuesdays in term-time. We are affiliated to the national Pilots organisation. Our official name is “S.S. Enterprise,” although we have never seen it used!

We have over 30 children at present aged between 7 and 12, divided into four watches which are named after lighthouses: Beachy Head, Eddystone, The Needles and South Stack.

We have a number of regular activities, including our annual coach trip to the beach and the nature reserves at Freshfield, Formby. The children put their dramatic talents to good use before Christmas when they presented King Arthur and raised over £900 for Self-Help Africa, and again in March when they offered The Call at morning service in Trinity Hale church.

Our next planned activity is fund-raising, this year for the Dar Al Kalima School in Bethlehem. The Pilots hope to have stalls selling knick-knacks and delicious goodies—and to offer a car washing service!

We have lots of children, including younger siblings waiting to be old enough to come and join Pilots. What we do NOT have is enough LEADERS.

We have been very glad to have Linda Meredith join us as Assistant Leader this year, and we are grateful to all the Mums and Dads who have helped out in all sorts of capacities. If we are to continue there is an urgent need for one or more adults to come forward as committed leaders to take the work forward.
So if anybody is interested in helping, in any way at all, please let us know.

Q.: Can you point to all the lighthouses on the map ???

Susan Stratton, 12th June 2010

TRINITY HALE PILOTS

Fundraising Event –Tuesday, 22nd June 2010
This year we are hoping to raise funds for the Dar Al Kalima School, which is an Evangelical Lutheran School located in Jordan and the Holy Land.
For further details please take a look at http://www.dar-alkalima.sch.ps/
Please come and join us at our Pilots fundraising evening from 18.00 until 19.15 on Tuesday 22nd June in the Trinity Hale Church car park.
• There will be a motivated team of Pilots and Dads armed and ready to wash your car.
Also there will be stalls selling
• delicious homemade cakes
• knick-knacks
• and a selection of quality second-hand books.
This will be the first time the Pilots have held this type of fund raising event, so please come and support us!
Any donations for the cake, book and knick-knack stall would be very welcome.
Looking forward to seeing you all then!

HALE PILOTS’ VISIT TO FORMBY

On Sunday 13th September the Pilots went to Formby.
The sun shone all the time and the beach was beautiful. Mrs Stratton told us the rules and we were free.
Mrs Stratton made an amazing sand dinosaur again.
Lucy and Nat made a Tickle Sand Castle with feathers on it. Sam and I made a sand mermaid with seaweed hair. Harriet, Ursula and Emma made a tomb by covering Ursula in sand and leaving her head exposed. They called this “The Dead One.”
Mrs Stratton judged these and the others, and took pictures of them all.
The tide was coming in quickly and lots of people went in the sea. At the end of our play on the beach Mrs Stratton judged the sand castle and sea collection competitions. Then we walked along the beach and came out of the other entrance. When we were out we bought ice creams at the ice-cream van. Some people got double cones.
When we had finished we went to the red squirrel reserve. A virus had been going round so there were barely any squirrels.
We went home on the coach then and Mrs Stratton gave out prizes on the way home.
Ellen (aged 8)

"All Things Bright and Beautiful"

Pilots made these 10 beautiful banners to decorate the pillars in the Church.
They represent the lines of the hymn.


The normal Pilots’ work consists of working for badges in the following subjects:

SUSAN STRATTON

I was born in Dunham Massey, the youngest of three in an Anglican family. My mother ran Sunday School and Cubs. After I married David in 1970, we ran the Youth Fellowship at St Mary’s Bowdon, for seventeen years. We also helped with Junior Church at Hale (where David was a member) at this time. Later I transferred my membership to the URC.
Our two sons went to Bowdon Church Primary School, and I have taught there on a supply basis for some years.
One day in 1987 the Revd Jeff Yates asked Ann Ash and me if we’d start a Pilot Company at Hale. “Just an hour a week” were his immortal words—yes, and the rest!
Pilots are supposedly limited to 24 children, but the enthusiasm has always been enormous and we soon outgrew that. The secret is to have plenty of adult helpers and to involve the parents. “Draw through the child / The parents nearer Thee…”
I ran Junior Church as well for a number of years, until I had to spend more time looking after my mother.
I also enjoy bell-ringing, bird-watching and gardening.

Sue Stratton - "Captain"