A MESSAGE FROM THE NEW VICAR
As your new Vicar I am delighted to have this opportunity to introduce myself here until such time as I can do so in person.
When my husband Leo retired in August we returned to our roots in North East Norfolk where we have a small cottage whilst I looked for a job. We are very much looking forward to living in North Northumberland, knowing the area a little after a 19-year stint in the north east whilst Leo was Chair of the Newcastle District of the Methodist Church and I was Chaplain to Newcastle Airport. I hope to increase my cycling fitness as we shall be living in Branxton initially, so please do call out to me if you see me puffing by!
I grew up near Cromer on the Norfolk coast, and after university in Birmingham and Cambridge, began a career in teaching Latin and Phys Ed. Being married to a Methodist Minister meant we moved every 5 or 7 years, serving churches first in Derbyshire, then Lancashire and Cheshire before arriving in Cullercoats, where I started to work for Tyneside Youth for Christ, setting up ‘Rock Solid Clubs’ across the north east. Finally, we moved to Fenham, and I joined and eventually headed up the airport chaplaincy team. I trained for ordination in Cambridge whilst we were living in Rutland.
So, we return to the north east eager to reconnect, knowing that there are many challenges ahead both in the Church and in the wider society, not least as a result of the pandemic. My appointment is to a half time post and that will take shape over time, but I am looking forward in the immediate to as many casual encounters as possible to start to get to know you and to being part of the community. I enjoy playing squash, hoping that will be possible again soon before I get much older and I love being outdoors and walking by the sea. Leo and I recently completed St Edmund’s Way in Suffolk, and loved St Oswald’s Way too, but little did we know when we walked St Cuthbert’s Way a few years ago that we would be living here in 2021!
Revd Charlotte Osborn
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