CAN WE HELP YOU? OR CAN YOU HELP US?

At United Charities, we offer support to people of all ages living in Blewbury, the Astons and Upton, who may be struggling financially. If you need help with the weekly food shop, clothing, equipment, energy bills or other living costs, we can provide one off payments to help you, or someone you know in need.

There is a short application form to complete which can be picked up from the North Porch at St Michael’s Church, or requested by email to unitedcharities(at)outlook.com. We can help you fill in the form if needed. Please don’t be reluctant to ask for help, all applications are dealt with confidentially.

Last year we received a steady flow of requests for financial help from local people and as we enter 2025 there is, unfortunately, no sign of economic improvement on the horizon. This may mean we will not be able to help as many individuals as we would like, unless we can generate more funds. If anyone out there in the community feels able to help by donating any amount, small or large, we would be extremely grateful. You can do this through our Just Giving page  www.justgiving.com/ucab

Thank you very much in advance, and if you have any questions, please do get in touch with us by email unitedcharities(at)outlook.com.

United Charities of the Ancient Parish of Blewbury Registered Charity No: 203538

Our next session is on Monday 28th April. Please note we are going to start slightly later: 10am – 11.30am

We welcome all bumps! babies & toddlers, along with parents, grandparents or carers. We meet in the Vale Room, Blewbury Village Hall. Here is a warm, friendly and safe place to enjoy the company of others and have some refreshment as the little ones have fun with toys, learning to play together. We finish the session with songs and action rhymes. A donation of £2 is appreciated towards our costs. Mothers’ Union hosts look forward to welcoming you. Any queries, contact Louise 07837 009730

Thank you to everyone who came to Bonfire Night, and particularly to the Amazons for lending us their floodlights, Savages for providing the event banner, Martin Cox for his generator, Pete Baker for the amazing fireworks display, and all the helpers who collected wood, baked and served potatoes, ran the entrance desks, marshalled, organised and served beer, wine and other goodies, and much more: we could not have done it without you! Over 900 people attended, making it a very successful event – so much so that we got through all the supplies of beer and nearly all the mulled wine!

Christmas is coming…

The BVS is delighted to continue running two favourite Christmas events this year: Santa’s Sleigh and Carols on the Playclose on Christmas Eve; and the Boxing Day Walk on 26th December. See page 3 for more details.

• Tuesday 24th December – Santa’s Sleigh and Carols on the Playclose. Santa’s village tour starts at Bohams Road (London Road end) at 5:00 pm and ends in the Playclose at 6:30 pm, where he will give out presents. Please see the Christmas feature on page 3 for details of how to get your child onto Santa’s list!
• Thursday 26th December – Boxing Day Walk. Registration from 10:00 am at the Village Hall, skits at 10:30 am and walk at 11:00 am.

Plus, do join us to blow off the cobwebs/clear the hangover for the convivial Roger Cambray Memorial Walk from Blewbury to The Bell Inn at Aldworth and start the new year on a high note! We meet at The Pound at 10:30 am on Wednesday 1st January 2025.

BVS marquee for hire

The BVS marquee is available for hire by other groups, societies and individuals in the village for a small charge. It measures 12m × 6m and has sides if needed. If you were at the Beer Festival, or have supported the Fireworks Night or Summer Dance, you may have seen it in action. To book it, contact lydia.wanstall@gmail.com.

Quaker Wood Planting Day, Sat 7 December, 10am to 1pm.

If you would like to plant a tree or trees as part of this exciting project please come along to Quaker Wood on 7 December. We will have some bare-root trees 40-60cm high to plant with tree shelters and canes in pre-marked locations within the woodland site. You will be shown how to plant and fix the shelter.

You are welcome to bring children but they must be supervised at all times.

Wear appropriate footwear and clothing, gloves, and bring refreshments and a spade if you have one. Toilets available in the Village Hall. RSVP to anthony@stiff.org.uk or call 07798 876819 by 2 December if you can come because we need to know how many trees to make available. If you have any saplings which you have been keeping for the wood, bring these too and let Anthony know the number.

Nature Reserve. We will be maintaining the hedging on the site on Saturday 14 December between 0930 and noon. Following the enlightening talk on reptiles, James Morgan spotted  a grass snake under one of the reptile mats! Please do not move the mats; they are part of our monitoring programme. Winter bird visitors such as redwing and fieldfare have been arriving so keep your eyes pierced. If you would like to join our list of volunteers, please email the secretary below. Many thanks to everyone who has helped so far.

If you want to know more about Sustainable Blewbury and become a supporter who receives occasional newsletters, email secretary@sustainable-blewbury.org.uk.

THE BLEWBURY BRIDGE CLUB CHRISTMAS PARTY will be held on Sunday 15th December in the Village Hall, starting at 5pm. Military Bridge will be played – as is traditional (!). Participants are requested to bring along an item of food to share – a list has been circulated separately for you to indicate what you plan to bring. Liquid refreshments will be provided.

At the Annual General Meeting on 5th November Michael Allen retired as Chairman and was replaced by Matt Wright. All other Officers and Committee Members continue to serve.

£240 was raised, both on the night and by direct contributions, through the Simultaneous Pairs held in aid of Children in Need on 12th November. Congratulations to Malcolm Cochrane and Michael Allen who, on the provisional results, came 10th out of 1,363 pairs nationally on the Tuesday evening, with a score of 68.03%.

Blewbury will run Realbridge sessions on Thursdays 5th and 19th December, welcoming Wantage members, and, indeed, any visitors from other clubs. Wantage Bridge Club will host Blewbury members on December 12th. There will be no session on December 26th.

It is hoped to run Friday evening Social Bridge sessions at 7.30pm on December 6th and 13th, subject to sufficient participants, then re-start in the New Year.

Any enquiries, etc., to the Chairman, please – Matt Wright at matt.wright.2002@gmail.com

Blewbury WI’s next main meeting is their annual Christmas lunch – members only this time.  This will be held at the Goring and Streatley golf club on Thursday 5 December. But do look out for our 22 January 2025 meeting which will be “The amazing, life-saving medical detection dogs”. Details in the next Bulletin.

If you’d like to come along with someone else or find out more, ring our Secretary, Joy, on 850543 or email blewburywi@gmail.com.  Come as a visitor – you will be made so welcome!

Calendar of events

Prof. Emma Smith in Blewbury for talk on Shakespeare’s ‘Romance Plays’

In a great coup for Blewbury’s newly-formed Shakespeare group (now officially known as The Motley Crew!) Emma Smith, of Hertford College, Oxford, has agreed to give a talk on Shakespeare’s late works Pericles, The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline and The Tempest, often collectively known as the ‘Romance Plays’. Professor Smith is among the best-known names in contemporary Shakespeare scholarship: a world-leading authority on the First Folio, a regular guest on Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time on Radio 4, and the author or co-author of multiple studies of the Poet and his work. She’s well known because she’s not only a great scholar but also a great speaker, so her appearance at 8pm on Monday September 30th in Blewbury Village Hall is a not-to-be-missed opportunity for all local residents who are remotely interested in Shakespeare. Our thanks go to Motley Crew member Sarah Salter for making it happen!

Tickets are a bargain at £7.50, including a glass of refreshment, and are on sale at the Post Office or can be reserved by email at admin@themotleycrew.org.uk. You can also use this address to join the Motley Crew mailing list.

Blewbury Garden Market
The Blewbury Garden Market will be running as usual this year from late April/early May to September.

BVS and Parish Council AGM, Thursday 22nd May, 7 pm
The combined BVS and Parish Council AGM will be held on  Thursday 22nd May in the Village Hall. All are welcome to attend to hear about the astonishing amount of activity that takes place in Blewbury, and contribute to future events.

Save the date for the Summer Dance: Saturday 28th June
The annual Summer Dance will take place on Saturday 28th June at Ashbrook, so put the date in your diary and look out for more information in the April edition of the Bulletin.

BVS marquee for hire – The BVS has purchased a marquee that we would like to make available for other groups, societies and individuals in the village for a small charge. It measures 12m × 6m and has sides if needed. If you were at the Beer Festival, or have supported the Fireworks or Summer Dance you may have seen it in action. To book it, contact lydia.wanstall@gmail.com.

Blewbury WI generally meet on the 4^th Wednesday of the month in the Vale room. An interesting speaker plus a little light refreshment, what’s not to like?

Most of all we are a group of friends and support each other at all times. Just look at our packed calendar below – join in as much or as little as suits you.

Our next meeting will be Wednesday 26 June “Dragons and Rescue Dogs – my inspiration to write books” – intriguing!  Debi Evans will give us an Illustrated talk.  Her books are full of history and loved by children and adults.  Rolo, her real life rescue Jack Russell, makes things happen in history, magical!

There is a fantastic new element to the benefits of being a WI member. At no extra cost to members, National WI offer a range of online courses at the “Learning Hub” which will give you the freedom and control to learn anywhere, empowering women to further their ‘learning journey’. Courses are generally 1 hour long and held on Zoom. At the time of writing there were 50 courses coming up and over 60 on ‘catch up’ – they are available for a week after the live course. Topics range from history, travel, craft and well-being to exercise classes, art and business skills.

If you’d like to come to Blewbury WI with someone else or find out more, ring our Secretary, Joy, on 850543 or email blewburywi@gmail.com.  New members can join at any time and pay a ‘pro-rata’ rate for the rest of the year.

Calendar of events

Do you love tasting new and interesting wines, presented by enthusiastic and entertaining experts? The Blewbury Wine Tasting group usually meets on the 3^rd Friday each month, in the Village Hall and always welcomes new people.

At each event, you can discover new wines, learn more about familiar ones and enjoy sharing the experience with other enthusiasts – no prior knowledge is of wine is necessary.

There is no membership, you can just come to the tastings that are of interest to you. We normally charge £22 per person, and typically taste 7-9 wines over a couple of hours, in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. You are welcome to bring small plates of food to accompany the wines.

Our tastings are run by either someone from Grape Minds, the Wallingford wine shop, or Tim Syrad who runs his own wine tours, tastings and sales business. Why not book a place and come along to give it a try? We would be delighted to see you! To make a booking or to find out more email blewburywine@gmail.com