Fairford news with Chris Roberts

THE new Bimble Beans is every Wednesday (except for school holidays) with next session on Wednesday, May 12, at 9.30am in Fairford Community Centre.

Lots of fun, messy play, arts, crafts, love, joy, laughter and togetherness. Tea, biscuit and a chat.

For families with toddlers and pre-schoolers in and around Fairford. £6 per family.

For more info and to book, contact Abi: 07931 970192.

It is possible for parents to book for the whole term if wanted.

CONGRATULATIONS of our local food and drink outlets, that all scored a 5 rating in the food Standards Agency ratings scheme.

In the 5 very good category were Buttercup Baker at RAF Fairford; Caterlink at Kempsford C of E Primary School; Fairford C of E Primary School Breakfast Club; The Health Box in Lechlade and Wayside Farm Shop in Whelford .

The Victoria Inn at Eastleach scored a 4 Good rating.

THIS is the second year the important house-to-house fundraising event for the Friends of Fairford and Lechlade Communities has been cancelled due to Covid-19.

The event normally raises between £17,000 and £20,000 pa.

If you would like to donate, please do so via the website: www.friendsoffairford.org.uk or by sending a cheque made out to ‘Friends of Fairford’ and posting it to Ms Andrena Miles, AMM Bookkeeping and Accountancy, 2nd Floor, 11 High Street, Fairford GL7 4AD.

FOLLOWING on from the news last week that Fairford’s eco-warrior, Heather Kent, had been honoured and supported by the Lechlade & District Lions, Heather has now been recognised by the Sun newspaper’s Green Team to hail Britain’s environmental heroes.

To celebrate Earth Day, the Sun’s Green Team joined up with ethical energy firm Bulb to honour the nation’s leading eco-warriors with personalised green plaques for their vital work.

One of the winners was Fairford’s own Heather Kent, who had collected more than 100 bags of litter over Lent.

The citation in the Sun read: “The youngster from Fairford also does a clean-up of her local town at least once a week.”

Mum Julie told the Sun: “There are days where she doesn’t want to go out, but she always does and it’s second nature now. She is proof that it doesn’t matter how little you do, you can still make a huge difference. As Heather says: “A bag a day keeps the litter away.”

PLEASE would any patients who have now received letters direct from the NHS, either book an appointment at one of the mass sites/pharmacies or please wait until they are contacted by the surgery.

Please do not contact the surgery in the first instance to enquire about appointments at Cirencester Hospital, as these are governed by vaccine availability, and appointments are only released once vaccine supply is confirmed by the Primary Care Network.

For latest Covid-19 vaccination updates for Gloucestershire, visit bit.ly/3vJ3av9.

WORKING for Wellbeing (WfW) is a new organisation that aims to help people get information on the support they need all under one roof – particularly the young, the elderly, the lonely, the disadvantaged and the disabled – from the local and county-wide charities and support groups.

The WfW group would like to encourage people in the community to volunteer to help with this. It covers Fairford, Lechlade and the surrounding villages.

April has been a busy month for the community Working for Wellbeing project.

An application has been made for charitable status and a reply about this is expected shortly – the timing being subject to all the workload problems caused by Covid.

The Working for Wellbeing group is delighted to announce that it has been awarded £20,000 from the Gloucester County Council Covid Relief Fund.

This means that the group has been able to advertise for a Wellbeing Coordinator, who will be responsible for building up a network of contacts with charities, other organisations and individuals, so that all those needing help in Fairford, Lechlade and the surrounding villages can benefit from the support these can give.

As soon as the restrictions are lifted, the Community Café will open in Fairford Community Centre, so that people can come for a chat.

Working for Wellbeing will also be partnering with Lechlade Baptist Church to provide the same opportunity there at their Beans Café.

Meanwhile the group is working on a comprehensive list of support organisations with contact details, so that people can get help more easily.

Later, there will also be a telephone number available for people to make contact.

Nowadays, setting up a charity is not an easy business.

A great deal of work has to be done to make sure that the right policies and procedures are in place – for example, data protection and safeguarding – and that there is a properly constituted board of trustees and secretarial and financial systems.

A number of volunteers from our communities have come forward to help set these up.

Particular thanks must go to Fran Embleton-Smith who has just stepped down from the post of chief executive of the Cirencester Churn project and has given the new Working for Wellbeing group invaluable advice.

If you would like to become part of the team, please get in touch with John Read detailing how you can help: robertjohnread@me.com.