Village news

Village news

Barbara MacKellar 5

Poppy Appeal 2015

5 Thursday Luncheon Club 5 Library 6 Melbourn Open Gardens 2016 6 Melbourn Village Fete &

Music on the Moor 6 Royston Lions club 7 Melbourn and Meldreth Royal

British Legion Women’s Section 9

Library – LAP (Local Access Point)

Library opening times Monday 2.30 to 4.30 pm Tuesday 2.30 to 4.30 pm Wednesday 2.30 to 4.30 pm Thursday 2.30 to 6.30 pm Friday 2.30 to 4.30 pm Saturday 10.00 to 12.00 am

Barbara MacKellar

Revd. Mary Price presenting Barbara MacKellar with a card and gift as she leaves Melbourn to live in Storeys Trust Houses Cambridge. She will be well known in the village for her work on the small garden at 83 High Street.

Poppy Appeal 2015

May we take this opportunity to express our many thanks to the villagers of Melbourn for their wonderful support of the 2015 Poppy Appeal with the total raised in the village being well over £3,500.

Sincere thanks also go to the dedicated band of volunteers who undertook house to house collections and whose support has been invaluable once again.

The Poppy Appeal is testament to the goodwill and generosity of communities throughout the country and last year over £40 million was raised nationally.

Charity appeals rely on volunteers and we are always looking for additional support so if you do feel you would like to assist us in the future we would be pleased to hear from you. Thank you again Melbourn. Mike and Ann Swann, Local Area Organisers.

Thursday Luncheon Club

We are delighted to say that lunch club is going so well. We have a relaxed, informal atmosphere and enjoy being involved with such a lovely group of people.

Financial support is of course vital and we were overwhelmed with a donation of £740 from Kerry and Steve at the Black Horse. Many thanks to them and their customers for taking part in the weekly raffle.

Melbourn Fete Committee and The Bridge Club also kindly gave us donations this year and we are fortunate to be further supported by the Parish Council.

We have so many people to be grateful to, as without their support we would not have undertaken the running of the club initially or been able to continue to run.

Thanks to Jose and Jeannie Hales and Jayne White for their moral support and encouragement as well as all our regular drivers and volunteers. We could not manage without Doreen Guest who keeps us and our kitchen in order!

As a result of the above we were able to put on a great Christmas lunch. The wine flowed and we all sang along to the good old tunes (as someone described them). After lunch the children from Melbourn Playgroup came and delighted our diners with some fabulous singing.

We do have space if anyone else would be interested in coming along. Please call Nikki/Julie on 07599292327 for further details.

Library

As the library in the Hub grows in popularity the turnover continues to rise, in fact it is now just below 12,000 books per year which is almost twice the amount we were lending in the old library. We are getting more older children than used to visit the old building who enjoy the many books we have on offer for them. Reading in Melbourn and the surrounding villages is obviously still a very popular pastime with children of all ages.

We pride ourselves in the speed at which we get new paperbacks onto our shelves, often beating the main libraries. We have a shelf dedicated to new books so come and check it out. We stock many books in large print, again these are kept up to date or should your eyesight makes reading a problem audiotapes and cassettes are available to order. If after all this we don’t have the book you want we offer a reservation system where you can order books at the desk, over the phone or online. Books normally arrive within two weeks.

We have discontinued Monday lunch time from 12.30 to 14.30 pm as the level of usage was very low. So we are open – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 2.30 to 4.30 pm, Thursday 2.30 to 6.30 pm, Saturday 10.00 am to 12.00 noon.

There is a children’s Story Time on Fridays 10 am. Contact reception at the Hub on 01763 263303 ext. 1 for details. We are a friendly organisation run by real people who are pleased to welcome you to the library. As volunteers we are all proud of the service we are able to offer. Jane Stevens

Young People & Volunteering at the Melbourn Hub

As I am sure many readers of the magazine are well aware that the Melbourn Hub could not function without the dedication of numerous volunteers.

But perhaps what isn’t so well known is that some of these wonderful Volunteers are our young people. They live in Melbourn and surrounding villages. Their ages range between 14 and 18yrs. They give up 2hrs fortnightly on a Saturday, usually for three months sometimes for longer.

They become valued members of our team. Initially, their 1st session is all about Health & Safety with our Hub Manager (a legal requirement for all staff). Thereafter they learn the skills of interacting with customers, (not so easy for the more reserved), by taking the ‘order’, waiting, clearing-up and cleaning-up. Checking stock by date (very important), sometimes helping Chef with food presentation. Those over 16 have the opportunity to learn the trade of “Barista” and handling the computerized till.

These young people have started or even added to their C.Vs. The skills to be experienced and achieved with us are manifold. We look forward to hearing from you, just pop-in, or drop us an email at reception@melbournhub.com or telephone 01763 263303.

Melbourn Open Gardens 2016

Melbourn Open Gardens used to be a feature of the village social calendar. Melbourn Village Fete Committee would like to revive the event and we are planning to hold the first Open Gardens on Sunday 11 September from 11am to 4pm.

We would like to invite you to open your garden – people enjoy visiting gardens of every size and style, and it doesn’t matter whether your garden is spick and span or wild and weedy. The interest is in seeing what other people do and taking their ideas for your own garden.

If you are interested, please contact either Julie Norman (01763 263462; julienorman6@gmail.com) or Ian Baker (07709 398723; suebaker@sueandian10.plus. com )

Melbourn Village Fete & Music on the Moor

Saturday 18 June 2016 – 1pm till late

As spring approaches we look forward to longer and warmer days enjoying the company of family and friends outdoors. For those of us on the fete committee we are starting to organize our village fete.

We will be approaching local businesses to help us with sponsorship, which is vital for us to commit to up-front costs. In addition, we hope that our advertising will offer local traders and companies the chance to highlight their services to our community. We will be in touch with our supporters shortly and there soon will be further information on sponsorship and advertising on our website soon.

As always we rely on a small band of committee members and a larger group of volunteers to help run this day. In the last few years we have been able to donate over £20,000 to local activities and charities. This money really makes a difference making our village that little bit better for us all. Without the help of volunteers the

Melbourn Mobile Warden Scheme

Can we help you? Can we help a relative? Can we help a neighbour?

Who does the Scheme help?

The scheme is open to anyone who requests our help including those who live alone or with their families but need the extra support offered by our services. Couples too are most welcome. It is also open to those in sheltered housing, as the scheme offers different, but complementary services. Note: The scheme also offers its services for short periods to cover the temporary absence of relatives who otherwise provide this support.

We offer help with:

•Friendship and support via twice weekly visits and daily phone calls • Ordering and collection of prescriptions • Basic shopping • Collection of pensions • Setting up Lifeline service • Bereavement support • Advice on benefits • Going to the Post Office to pay your bills • Advice on getting repairs done in your home • Arranging transport to the hospital or other appointments • Just coming round for a chat

What will it cost?

We do have to make a small weekly charge for the warden’s services. The fee is only £5 per week (a little more for couples).

Jeannie Seers (Mobile Warden) 07808 735066 email jeanseers1@ntlworld.com

Jane Cage (Deputy) 07592 821976 email jane.e.cage@btinternet.com

Melbourn Warden Scheme is a registered charity fete would be impossible to run and our community would be the poorer for it. It is a fun but hard few days but the satisfaction of being part of the fete is very rewarding. If you would like to volunteer a few hours of your time then please visit our website and click through to the volunteers page, contact numbers are on the website as well if you want to talk to one of us.

We have yet to finalise some of the details for the fete. You can be sure that there will be a variety of high quality, locally sourced food at very reasonable prices cooked by our own team as well as some commercial food stalls offering further variety. Our bar will have a range of beers, lagers, wine and our Perfect Pimms. New this year will be a selection of Prosecco based cocktails. Naturally, there will also be a choice of cold and refreshing non-alcoholic drinks.

The arena will host some of the favourites from previous years and showcase some of our local activities. Sheep racing makes a welcome return. Elsewhere there will be owls that can be held and stroked. If you have any suggestions for our event or have a group that would like to participate then let us know.

We hope to host a Classic Vehicle Rally where any car older than 1980 would be welcome. New this year will be a ‘Bygone’ section where we hope to display old machinery, garden tools, stationery engines and anything else that would interest those of us with a curiosity in engineering.

The field will be filled with a variety of activities for all age groups from bouncy castles for the toddlers and young at heart to trial driving lessons for our teenage visitors. A variety of stall holders will be set up on the field offering a whole host of artisan craft, bric-a-brac and also representing local activities. Additionally, this year there will be a limited number of undercover pitches that will include tables and electrical power. If you would like an undercover or outside pitch then contact us through our website early to avoid disappointment.

Our competition marquee will be the centre of the creative members of our community with baking, decorating, photography and jam making all expected to make a welcome return with categories for all age groups. The Lego category is likely to expand with a space theme this year celebrating British Astronaut Tim Peake and Star Wars. Let your imagination run wild and design your own spaceship or alien but remember no shop bought models please just your own creations.

The Music on the Moor event will follow the fete at 5pm. We have already booked our headline act, Folding Stars. They are a 3-piece band based in our area that plays a range of usual and unusual covers from the fifties to the noughties. There will be more bands and acts announced nearer the date.

The fete will start on The Moor at 1 pm on Saturday 18 June. Keep an eye on our website www.melbournfete.co.uk and follow us on Facebook. Melbourn Fete – fun and fundraising for Melbourn Trevor Purnell, Deputy Chair.

Royston Lions club

is looking for new members

Running for more than 20 years, the club has become an established part of life in Royston and District, holding social events such as Quiz Evenings and Barn Dances and raising money to support good causes, as well as service activities – for Senior Citizens, Young People and the whole community. Its motto is ‘We Serve’.

The 15 current members, men and women from all walks of life, are all keen to serve the local community in their spare time and there are lots of Club and interclub events and activities as well.

The money raised at club level is used primarily in the local community; this year’s main charity is Homestart although other causes will be supported as well throughout the year.

Lions Clubs International is the largest service club organisation in the world

with over 1.4 million members in more than 46,000 clubs in 218 countries. Causes supported by LCIF, the international foundation, include water wells, street children, youth programmes, health projects (especially sight related issues) and disaster relief and LCI is the main community organisation working with the United Nations.

Royston Lions meet at 8:00pm on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays each month at the Old Barn in Upper King Street, Royston and anyone interested in joining – to do something useful to do in their spare time and have fun at the same time – can contact current President Chris Cawdell on 01763 448236 or via the club email roystonlions@gmail.com

A “Come and Meet Us” evening is to be held at The Old Bull, Royston at 8:00pm on Wednesday 23 March.

Cambridgeshire Hearing Help

Melbourn and Meldreth Royal British Legion Women’s Section

We had an outing with lunch at a Garden Centre in July where we were well looked after.

The AGM was held in September with a new Chairman (Una Cleminson) and Vice Chairman (Irene Bloomfield) were elected. This was followed by a light supper. We collected for The Poppy Appeal during the two weeks prior to Remembrance Sunday. This benevolence is still required to provide much needed relief for Servicemen and Women and their families, with over £1m a week being distributed.

The Women’s Section is open to all women over 18, we aim to make our meetings stimulating and most importantly ‘Good Fun.’ You will be assured of a good welcome, we meet at Vicarage Close Community Centre on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 2pm. President Molly Chamberlain 0774623072: Chairman Una Cleminson 01763269544: Secretary Elizabeth Murphy 01763220841.

The local charity that helps those living with hearing loss FREE advice to help you hear

Come and discuss your hearing difficulties with those who understand the problem at Scotsdales Garden Centre

120 Cambridge Rd Great Shelford CB22 SJT

On Friday 11th March 2016 from 10 am to 12 noon

We will demonstrate equipment to help you hear better, whether or not you wear a hearing aid Telephones Television and radio Alarms Door bells Personal listeners More informati on about Cambridgeshire Hearing Help can be found on our website

www. cambridgeshirehearinghelp. org.uk

8A Romsey Terrace Cambridge CB1 3NH Tel 01223 416141

Registered Charity No. 1154071 formerly Cambridge CAMTAD