An update on the Village Hall from the Chairman, Neal Courtney.
Well it seems Spring has sprung – finally! And, our daffodil display (round 1) is in full bloom and has been featured in the Newbury Weekly News. This autumn we will be adding to this so we will be looking for bulb planting volunteers again through the Gardening Club – if you want to register your interest now then contact Paul Turner at: chieveleygardening@gmail.com.
With the return of (some) sunshine, and the uncertainty from events in the Middle East, our solar array is becoming even more important so, if you are thinking about joining the “solar generation” generation, don’t forget that for every referral and confirmed sale to JEM ENERGY (the company that we used), they will make a donation to our Vision 2050 Project. Please quote Chieveley Village Hall when contacting them at: info@jem-energy.co.uk; 01252 900052
Depending on when you read this April edition, it may be too late to remind you about the Chieveley Easter Egg Hunt and Easter Market on Saturday 4th April where we have our regular stall holders, and a few new ones, plus we are trying a few new ideas with a little café area in the Clubroom – let’s just hope for fine weather that morning. Do come along if you are staying around at Easter and we still have a need for volunteers if you want to help in any way - contact Rosalind at: bookingsmanager.crc@outlook.com.
Talking of volunteers, what a fantastic response we have had for our “Coffee Stop” trial - so much so that we are going to open three mornings a week! I can’t tell you how exciting this is for everyone involved and, as so many people requested this on our questionnaire, we really hope that people will use it and that it becomes part of our village hall community services. Additionally, if anyone missed the call for volunteers, we can still involve you and you would be most welcome, contact Mark Hutchison at: groundsmanager.crc@outlook.com.
More news on this next month but look out for signs popping up around the village and on-line and, in the meantime, how about all you budding photographers entering our Photo Competition? We want to display some interesting pictures that capture scenes all around the villages in this beautiful North Wessex Downs area. There will be prizes but perhaps best of all your photo will be seen by visitors to the Coffee Stop for the entire trial period.
This month, on the activities front, I want to highlight our resident professional artist – Gail Davies, who has a number of artistic achievements including: exhibiting at The Society of Women Artists 162nd Annual Exhibition in 2023 and, more recently, teaching her very own Masterclass on Sky Arts, taking viewers through the traditional skills of Life Drawing. Gail regularly teaches life drawing classes at the hall and, if you are interested in joining, can be contacted at: artgaildavies@gmail.com; 07704 495521.
Lastly, anyone who visited the hall mid-March will have seen several bags of rubbish, paint pots, car wheels and even a microwave oven stacked in the south entrance awaiting collection. May I say on behalf of our village community, a very big thank you to the organisers Sarah and Mary and the amazing team involved for this litter picking work in Chieveley and the surrounding local area, which included Beavers, Cubs and Scouts and many village residents. I’m sure that you will agree, it is both very sad, and incredible, what people throw from cars and dump at the roadside with the expectation that it is then not their problem! Should you want to be involved with future annual clean-up events then please get in touch with Mary at: jm.leslie-smith@talk21.com.
As always keep an eye out for details of all the new and regular activities and events at your village hall on: our notice board outside the shop; on the banners and flyers around the village; and of course as always at the hall itself and on our website: www.chieveleyvillagehall.org and, if you have any questions, then please get in touch with Rosalind - our Bookings Manager.
Yours sincerely,
Neal Courtney
Chairman