Mick Hurd (Father of the Sutton Circle 232, and last remaining founding Brother)

We are thrilled to announce the birthday of Mick Hurd who was 90 Years old on 28th February 2021. He still regularly attends meetings and is a frequent letter writer to Catena. He has wide ranging talents and interest despite having 5 children (James, Sarah, Daniel, Rebecca and a little later on Jessica) with his late wife Cecilia.

Mick trained as a Quantity Surveyor and eventually joined Hart Gilmore Associates which became one of the three leading Quantity Surveyors in Birmingham. He specialised in office developments, schools and churches as well as housing. Some notable projects included – National Building Society Headquarters, an Office Block in Princes Way, Solihull, McClaren House in Birmingham City Centre, and the Citadel, Dale End and Multi storey Car Parks. A major part of Mick’s work was taken up with managing the Chichester office and the partnership housing schemes from Brighton to Cranford Heath

Mick was a founding member of the Sutton Coldfield Circle which was established in 1966 and took on the Circle’s Presidency (first time). Mick started the Circle’s first ‘Song Contest’ at the Town Hall where they had over 200 Brother’s. Many and varied were the performances including Tony Quirke’s notorious fireworks display, which nearly set the fire alarm off with his smoke bomb (He also set the musical accompaniment tape at double speed which upped the key a bit). He went on to serve 6 years as Provincial Councillor, and was instrumental in driving the creation of a Benevolence fund. On one visit to Mansfield and the Dukeries Circle he proudly witnessed benevolence in action when a Brother arrived at a meeting saying his factory had burnt down the night before and he had little money to survive. The Catenians responded effectively and quickly, as when he left the meeting, he carried £10,000 worth of cheques!

Not only was Mick a successful professional business man, an active Catenian, a proud family man but also a keen sportsman – a great Wicket keeper (unflinching behind the stumps), a good hockey player with Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club, a fair squash player, 5 a-side footballer, and a winning golfer and somewhere along the lines a champion conker winner.

Mick has been an inspiration to many, we all wish him well.

NT Wright & Tom Holland

Crucial to the Christian faith is the role of St Paul. He was an incredible man and it is worth knowing a bit more about him. A link below is a very enlightening conversation between Tom Wright and Tom Holland. It focuses on just a few points, but it is a great conversation and well worth investing your time in listening to. Tom Wright has just written a biography of St Paul and Tom Holland has just written a book called Dominium about the rise of Christianity in the Roman world.

NT Wright & Tom Holland • How St Paul Changed The World by Unbelievable?

£20m Regan Plans For ‘Tired’ Sutton Coldfield Property

Catenians are very interested in what is to become of our Town Centre following this Covid crisis. So many shops have closed and it all seems very sad.

Yet plans are currently being formulated to address this. We hope to have a speaker explain all these new developments. One new development next to the centre is being proposed, see the link below:

£20m regen plans for ‘tired’ Sutton Coldfield property – Business Live (business-live.co.uk)

Interesting Scientific Insights Into Covid-19

In the spirit of sharing and promoting discussion, the piece below gives some interesting scientific insights into Covid-19.

Dr. John Campbell is broadcasting daily on YouTube about all matters relating to Covid-19. He is a strong advocate of evidence based decisions. He goes back to the actual scientific papers to check their authenticity and then links them to other developments. They are very enlightening insights. On Tuesday 2.2.21 he was talking to a scientist in Canada who talked about 3 very interesting studies. They cover mouth washing, an anti-inflammatory drug used for gout and vitamin D and their possible relationships to Covid 19.

Please see the video for yourselves (see below):

Lindsay, Canada Update posted by Dr John Campbell.

His broadcasts will give you a good scientific evidence based background into Covid 19 and correct any mis-information about the virus.

In the meantime, keep safe and thank you for being on our website.

Hope and Happiness

Four letter words are fundamental to our everyday communications. Although short in length, they often convey important concepts, meanings or descriptions. Too often we take them for granted or misuse them. Nevertheless, one four letter word that has strongly ‘elbowed’ itself into our consciousness recently is ‘hope’. The deployment of mass vaccinations against Covid-19 has been described as a ‘game changer’ in reversing the effects of this pandemic. More importantly it has brightened the collective mood and spirit. Hope is arguably the most portentous of words, as it surreptitiously provides the building blocks for positive actions and thoughts. For example, the birth of Christ, brought us hope for a better future and ways to achieve that goal. Hope also has the potential to change how we feel about the world and about ourselves. It facilitates a change of state and the expansion of positive feelings, such as happiness. Hope is an opportunity to grasp what makes us happy. However, that happiness opportunity needs nourishment for it to survive and help us to become more resilient. There are some things that we can do which will provide that nourishment by triggering various chemicals such as Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and Endorphin. A list of actions, per are shown below.

Catenians meet every month to eat and share stories. In these Covid-19 times, we have resorted to Zoom meetings. In our last Zoom meeting, we learnt that two of our great friends, Fred Kettell and Peter Blackburn, and stalwarts of Sutton Catenians, were booked in to have their vaccines. We were so pleased and happy for them. We gave them a metaphorical hug and joked about how they would cope with a vaccine pinprick. The chemicals were triggered and we all laughed together. In a direct way they have given us hope for the future and an opportunity to plan for happier times. 

Merry Christmas and a hopeful New Year to you all.

George Wheeler

Our Brother George Wheeler passed away on 30th November in Good Hope Hospital, Sutton Coldfield as a result of Covid 19. He had been a member of the Association for 46 years and was well known within the circle and provincial golfer. He was a friend to all and a pleasure to be in his company. May he rest in peace.

Update On COVID-19

During Covid-19, loneliness and mental issues have certainly increased. Feeling alone, isolated and unsure about the future is extremely common and concerning. Humans need each other to talk, to share and love each other. It may seem obvious, but relationships do matter and they do help people to cope and indeed enjoy life.

Before and after Covid-19, relationships have been under very strong endemic pressures. The internet, television, busy work schedules, family breakdowns etc have all undermined communities coming together. For far too many people, being part of a dynamic community is not a seen as a priority but as an ‘add on’ or when time permits. They are wrong! Like a well-functioning machine that needs oil, we humans need to be part of a community if we are to be healthy in mind, spirit and health. If we do not maintain and lubricate our people connections, we will deteriorate and squander our hope for a better future. Unfortunately, large numbers of people are ‘locked’ into their present way of living and can’t see a way out.

As the reader of this blog, you will have guessed that I am a firm believer in active communities. I am an active member of two very sociable and rewarding community groups; Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club and Sutton Catenians. I meet people of all ages and from various backgrounds on a very regular basis getting to know them and enjoying their company. The one community is based on a sport, whilst the other is based on a shared belief in Christianity and its central tenet of loving one’s neighbours. Sutton Catenians is a fellowship which does try to look after each other. It is also a fun organisation that recognises the need for people to have escapes from the pressures of life. It is a Catholic organisation but it is very inclusive and is very welcoming to people who want to make new friends. We facilitate ways for people to meet, discuss and play.

I urge anyone reading this to meet the friends you never knew you had.