Independent research commissioned by the Rural Services Network (RSN) last year shows that rural areas are suffering more acutely from the cost of living crisis than urban areas. To lend more weight to the argument for more funding for rural areas the RSN is calling on as many rural residents as possible to complete a rural cost of living household survey. The online survey is not difficult to complete and you can omit any questions that you do not want to answer. The RSN is part of the Local Government Association and is campaigning for fairer funding for rural areas. It has launched the survey in partnership with the Citizens Advice Rural Issues Group. Please forward this information to anyone you know who lives in a rural area. You can complete the survey by clicking on this link.
Category: national
Information about national matters that affect residents of Carham parish.
Holocaust Memorial Day
St Cuthbert’s church, Carham, is hosting a small display to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. This takes place on 27 January each year and is a time to remember the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust, under Nazi persecution, and in the genocides which have followed in countries including Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Sudan. The exhibition is one of thousands of local activities that take place across the UK and internationally to mark the day. The church is open every day and the display will be there until 3 February. Please sign the visitor list, if you go to see it.
Update: The exhibition has been extended until 14 February, to enable more people to see it.
Her Majesty The Queen
It is with great sadness that Carham Parish Council has learned of the death of our Sovereign, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.
Parishioners may like to know that St Cuthbert’s church in Carham will remain open for private prayer and reflection. The nearest books of condolence are at Coldstream Library Contact Centre and Kelso Library Contact Centre, and there are books of condolence in Berwick-upon-Tweed at Berwick Library and at Berwick Leisure Centre. A national book of condolence is available to sign online. Floral tributes can be laid as a mark of respect at the Parade Ground at Wallace Green in Berwick-upon-Tweed.
In accordance with protocol and out of respect for the Royal Family, the Parish Council will not be holding its meeting on Tuesday 13 September. This meeting will be arranged for a later date.
Rogation Sunday
Our three local churches – St Cuthbert’s in Carham, St Helen’s in Cornhill on Tweed, and St Paul’s in Branxton – are holding a joint service on Sunday 29 May at West Learmouth Farm. The open-air service, marking Rogation Sunday, will include a blessing of the trees that have been planted by Carham Parish Council as a contribution to The Queen’s Green Canopy – a UK-wide tree-planting initiative created to commemorate the jubilee. The trees have been planted where the public footpath meets the byway at the old West Learmouth railway sidings, courtesy of Mrs Moore of West Learmouth Farm. The Rogation Sunday service is at 11.00 am and everyone is welcome to attend. Please wear stout footwear, as it may be muddy underfoot. For more information, call Pat Feerick on 01890 254 794.
The Queen’s Green Canopy
To mark the platinum jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen, Carham Parish Council has planted ten native trees at West Learmouth. The ten trees are the parish’s contribution to The Queen’s Green Canopy – a UK-wide tree-planting initiative created to commemorate the jubilee. The trees were donated by Northumberland County Council as part of its free tree give-away scheme, and were planted by two volunteers. A generous anonymous donation paid for more than half of the cost of stakes and deer guards, while the parish council covered the rest of the cost. A further 12 trees, also donated, were planted close by, bringing the total number of trees planted to 22. Land for the trees, which are where the public footpath meets the byway at the old West Learmouth railway sidings, was generously allocated by Mrs Moore of West Learmouth Farm. A commemorative plaque will be put in place in due course.
Ukraine Response
A collection point has been set up at the Cheviot Centre in Wooler to collect goods for refugee centres in Poland. The collected items (see list) will be sent to a strategic reserves warehouse located in south east Poland, from which they will be distributed to centres of temporary stay for Ukrainian families who are cared for in this area or, as needed, transferred for transport to Ukraine. Donations can be delivered to the Cheviot Centre between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday, until 12 March. Please donate new goods and only bring products from the list, which is based on information from aid providers.
70th British National Ploughing Championships & Country Festival
This national event, which is held in a different part of the country each year, takes place at Mindrum Mill on 9 and 10 October 2021. Featuring heavy horses, vintage tractors and giant steam ploughing engines, this is a rare opportunity to see how farming has changed over the last 300 years. As well as the ploughing competitions, there are trade stands, displays and demonstrations, country crafts, shopping, food stalls and tractor and trailer rides, all of which make it a great day out for all the family. Car parking is free, admission each day is £12 per adult, and children over five years old pay just £1. For more information, including the full programme of events, visit the Society of Ploughmen website. The first event of each day is at 08.45 hrs and the last event starts at 17.00 hrs.
Gigabit Broadband Survey
Northumberland will be one of the first counties in England to benefit from a UK Government project to provide next-generation gigabit broadband to hard-to-reach homes and businesses by 2025. Gigabit broadband is ten times faster than superfast broadband, at 1,000 Mb per second. Northumberland County Council is working with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and telecoms providers to thoroughly research and map the county for its existing and future broadband infrastructure, to help it identify hard-to-reach premises. To ensure that Carham parish’s connectivity needs are included and not overlooked, please complete the DCMS survey, and please encourage others to do so, too – particularly those who live in outlying farms and communities. The survey deadline is 11 June.
Census 2021
The census is carried out by the Office for National Statistics and takes place every ten years. Census day is Sunday 21 March, and census forms need to be completed on that day or as soon as possible afterwards. You must complete the census by law. If you do not, or if you supply false information, you could be fined up to £1,000.
You can complete the census online or you can complete a paper census questionnaire.
To complete the census online, you need a unique access code. This will be sent to you by post. If it does not arrive, or if you mislay it, you can request a new access code by going to https://census.gov.uk and scrolling down the page to If you don’t have an access code. There is other useful information about the census on that page.
You do not have to complete the census online. You can request a paper census questionnaire by phoning the free helpline 0800 141 2021 or by going to https://census.gov.uk and scrolling down to If you want to fill out a paper census. Alternatively, you can ask someone you trust to order a paper questionnaire for you.
It is all right for someone you trust, like a family member or friend, to help you to complete the census, either online or on paper.
Census 2021
The Office for National Statistics is hiring field staff across England and Wales for the 2021 Census. It is looking for individuals who have a good knowledge of their communities, with time to spare in March and April this year, for temporary Census Officer roles. We have not been able to establish whether jobs are available in this particular part of the county, but we have been told that it can be difficult to find suitable candidates to cover the more rural areas, so there may be opportunities that are within reach of those who live in Carham parish. To apply or to register your interest in this or another Census 2021 job, visit the census recruitment website.
Carham Community Website 