November 2019 Villages Magazine Items for the next edition can be posted to the Vicarage or preferably be emailed to [email protected] by 14th October at the latest please. Copy can also be given to Lynne Heraud, 27 Cappell Lane. The Magazine Editor / Administrator works on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9.15am until 2.15pm and can be contacted on 01920 870115 or at [email protected]. Need Help with a Problem??? Contact the East Herts Citizens Advice Service Council Office, Wallfields, Pegs Lane, Hertford SG13 8EQ Open: Mondays Wednesdays and Thursdays 10am – 2pm Adviceline telephone service is also available Monday – Friday 10am-4pm Tel: 03444 111 444 Also sessions in Ware, Bishops Stortford, Buntingford, Sawbridgeworth . For details of these and online advice, go to www.ehcas.org.uk Hire the Wilshere Hall The hall next to St Andrew’s Church is available for both one-off and regular bookings. The ground floor room seats 40 around tables, and up to 70 if tables are not required. It has a well-equipped kitchen area. There are toilets, including disabled, and some parking. For bookings contact: Maureen Freeman on 01920 870632. Have you just moved in? Or know someone who has? We provide a pack to welcome people into the Villages. It has information about bin days, doctors, children’s activities…. If someone has moved in near you, please ask the Vicarage for a pack for you to give to them, a good way to introduce yourself! They are kept at the Vicarage so we can endeavour to keep them up to date! www. Stanstead -Abbotts -Online .co.uk The best online resource for the village of Stanstead Abbotts, with news and wide-ranging information on the amenities, events, activities and businesses within the village. Regularly updated. Take a look and add it to your favourites! Regular Clubs, Groups and Meetings in the three villages Saturday Coffee: St Margaret’s Church every Saturday, 10.30am - noon st Lunch for Charity of host’s choice: 1pm 1 Thursday every month (see p.2) Stanstead Abbotts Brownies: Mondays 5.45pm-7pm (Wilshere Hall, Cappell Lane Stanstead Abbotts) – for girls aged 7 to 10 years. Guider in charge: Helen Payne 01920 462676 1st Stanstead Abbotts Guides : Monday 7.30-8.45pm (Wilshere Hall also) - for girls aged 10-14. Please contact [email protected] . Beavers: Boys and girls aged 6 to 8 year olds. Cubs: Boys and girls aged 8 to 10 ½ year olds. Scouts: Boys and girls 10 ½ to 14 year olds Great Amwell Scout Group: (Scout HQ, London Road, Ware) www.greatamwellscouts.org.uk . Group Scout Leader – Julie Greaves [email protected] or 0845 6344183 st 1 Stanstead Abbotts & St. Margarets Scout Group: (Scout H.Q., Marsh Lane, Stanstead Abbotts: www.StansteadAbbottsScouts.org.uk ) Group Scout Leader: Paul Stretch 01920 320100 Bingo for the over 60’s : Every Friday 2.30pm – 4.00pm in Folly View Community Centre. New players welcome, just turn up. Evergreen Club: Every Monday afternoon 2-4pm in the Stanstead Abbotts Parish Hall. Transport can be arranged. Contacts: 01920 424140 Carpet Bowls: 7.30pm Tuesdays in the Parish Hall, Great Amwell and every Monday in Stanstead Abbotts Parish Hall (not during the summer months) Great Amwell Women’s Club: Every 1 st & 3 rd Wednesday 7.30pm – 10.00pm in the Parish Hall, Great Amwell. Club Secretary: Dulcie Fordham, Contact number for enquiries: 01920 466689 (Christine) Herts Wheelers (cycling club):- Weekly Sunday club rides for various abilities normally starting in Ware. Contact [email protected] Amwell Society: Quarterly talks in the Parish Hall, Great Amwell, as well as trips, walks and activities locally. For details of membership contact William Brown 01920 872450 (Chairman) Stanstead Abbotts Local History Society : Chairman; Bob Hunt. Regular meetings for both members and non-members. Details on the website: www.salhs.org.uk . For details of membership contact: [email protected] . St Margaretsbury Tennis Club: A friendly club with social sessions on Tuesday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday mornings, plus a juniors section, coaching available, and opportunity to play match tennis in local leagues. Details from [email protected] or come along to a social morning. ‘Armchair Singers’ for those with lung conditions: Held in the Nigel Copping Centre every Monday 2pm-3.30pm. Singing for health and well-being. All ages welcome. Please contact Gabby Hanley 07875 221543 for more details The September lunch raised £135 for Cancer Research If you would like to host a lunch in 2020 the list is now ready to be filled, please either ask for it at an upcoming lunch event or contact 01920 870115 to arrange a slot. Thursday 3rd October for Isabel Hospice If you have a life-limiting illness, Isabel Hospice can care for you and your family. All their care is free and can be provided in your home, at their Living Well community hubs or their In-Patient Unit. They work alongside other healthcare providers and aim to increase the number of people they help over the next five years. Most patients have cancer, however, they are caring for more people with other life-limiting conditions. They rely heavily on donations from our community, as well as income from fundraising events and from their 18 shops. This year the Hospice must raise around £5 million so that they can continue to care for more people, earlier in their journey. Thursday 7th November for The British Legion Poppy Appeal The Poppy Appeal is the Royal British Legion’s biggest fundraising campaign held every year in November, the period of Remembrance. Their main fundraising events during the Poppy Appeal are all about bringing communities together to fundraise and enjoy themselves in the process. They provide support for members of the Royal Navy, British Army, Royal Air Force, veterans and their families. By supporting and donating to The Royal British Legion, you’re helping them to help those in need within the Armed Forces community; service and ex-service personnel and their families. Supporting veterans and their families in debt and emergency situations, the Royal British Legion provides vital support for the Armed Forces community. Join us at our Harvest Lunch Sunday 13th October 2019, 12.30pm in the Parish Hall in Great Amwell. Great Amwell will provide a free Ploughman's lunch. If you wish to attend you will need a free ticket by Monday 7th October (for catering numbers), and then we ask for a donation to go to St John the Baptist church tower fund or the Bishop of St Albans Harvest appeal. Contact Sue Vaughan on 01920 877779 or email, [email protected] for tickets. We have had our Garden Parties for the year. We enjoyed the gardens of Vicky Burt and Jonathon Pilkington in Stanstead Abbotts, and Anne and Peter Troughon in Great Amwell, they were all very successful, and the weather was kind to us. We now hunker down for winter, but first we have Autumn which is a lovely season. Still Spaces: As previously advertised we are going to Southend by coach on 21st October to see a show and have lunch. If you would like to join us ring Ann Hardy 01920 870526. Also, if you would like to come to The Evergreen Club whichs is held every Monday afternoon 2pm – 4pm in The Parish Hall, Roydon Road, Stanstead Abbotts please contact Ann. Transport can be arranged." Food Bank Collection We collect for the local Food Bank in Hertford. They would like dry foods of all sorts, long-life liquids, and tinned foods – they help people who are sent by Social Services, CAB etc, when they cannot afford to feed their family until the next cheque comes in. At the moment they particularly need Marmite, Chocolate spread, cooking sauces, tinned custard, small jars of coffee and toiletries (especially for men) as well as single toothbrushes and toothpaste . Please put your contributions in the box in the Co-op or in the churches, and we will then take the contents to Hertford. Thank you all for your support, people are being really generous. We would like to wish the Vicar a very happy and fulfilling retirement and to thank her for all of the energy, determination and enthusias m she has demonstrated in her work improving life for all in the parish. Anne has been easy to spot as she has cycled around in her clerical garb and we all know we are in for a friendly greeting when she sees us. We shall miss her very much as a friend, but so much also as an advocate and supporter for the many and varied issues which she has so ably helped with. News - some of us have been involved in discussions about speeding, parking and polluting with the officers who need to know the problems so that something can be done. Watch out for some improvements soon - and in particular, watch out for new lamp-posts in October!! Many thanks to County Councillor Eric Buckmaster for his decision to spend so much of his highways allowance on Stanstead Abb otts!! August has been a less busy month than usual but the Steering Group will have met in September after this magazine has gone to print with updates under the various topics covered by the sub-groups - in particular Heritage have been busy producing a report and a draft policy; Ecology have done tremendous research and will be telling us which green sites they propose to protect and the Design Team have been out and about completing their character assessments. We shall be able to include deta ils such as the distance between houses, how many and how high in particular spaces and so on.