Firstly, thank you to everyone who has donated to our PaP Nepal appeal so far, we have had a fantastic response and have now raised close to £10,000. This may seem a drop in the ocean but we can guarantee that your donation is having a direct effect on the people who need it the most. Being a smaller organisation our projects are able to work on a 1 to 1 basis with the families most in need, and through that we are able to ensure all donations get to the front line. We have made the first payment to the project and Krishna, working alongside other organisations, has already reached many people with essential basics, including food, medicine and tents. (pictured left Krishna and Sita reach Pokhara with aid)

But we still need to reach more people. As I’m sure you are aware another large earthquake struck this morning with a magnitude of 7.3, we have not heard since from the project, but this new earthquake is sure to have done further damage in the areas that we work, particularly in Kathmandu. The rainy season is approaching, potentially life threatening conditions such as diarrhoea and dysentery are rampant and problems that were present in Nepal pre earthquake are now critical, including the very real threat posed by human traffickers.

It is a race against time to reach people, please donate what you can.
· TEXT GENE09 £(and the amount to wish to donate) to 70070
· Via our website
· Via BACs to 00017199, 40:52:40
· Cheque or cash (please sent to: PaP, Grangeside Business Centre, 129 Devizes Rd, Hilperton, Trowbridge, Wilts BA14 7SZ)

Thank you in advance

Sherston Market- Local crafts and produce which vary each month, cake stalls including Aunt Addie’s Farm Project fresh local vegetables and cheeses from Brinkworth Dairy. Vegetarian curry with naan bread, bacon butties and Welsh organic beef burgers. Every month a free stall in the lobby is made available to local charity or voluntary group to raise funds. see www.sherstonmarket.weebly.com for dates and a contract form should any prospective stallholder wish to get in touch or call 07887 814843 June – stall fund raising for HEALS Mamlmesbury. See www.healsmalmesbury.com for details of this Local Charity. 10am – 2pm Sat 13 June,  Sat 4 Jul, Sat 8 Aug Village Hall. For further details call 07887 814843 or 07769613627 or email info@awkwardsquad.co.uk or visit www.sherstonmarket.co.uk or https://www.facebook.com/pages/sherston-market/19531940064132

Art Exhibition At The Angel- Paintings by Sherston artist Gill Ashley and mosaics by Lou Fitch-Peyton local art on display and some for sale more details for Gill at http://www.tetburyartsociety.org.uk/Gallery_ashley.html and for Lou http://louropnermosaics.com/ The Angel for further details call 840039 or tara@sherstonangel.co.uk or visit www.sherston-angel.co.uk

Luckington Open Gardens- Gardens (large and small) include: – Luckington Court – Which was used for filming of BBC Pride and Prejudice. It was Longbourn – the Bennet residence – Bridges Court – Which was used to be owned by Sir Stewart Menzies who was head of the secret service during the WW2. He is buried in Luckington Churchyard and was reputedly the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s “M”. For the first time there will be a classic car display. Tickets £6 available form Luckington Church, Where teas and served included in the admission. Sun 14 Jun 2pm – 5.30

Easton Grey Whatley Manor – Thursday evening cinema £23 includes a choice of either a glass of wine, a bottled beer or soft drink. A small tub of delicious ice cream ( choice of flavour) and of course popcorn. 18 Jun The Imitation Game. Sunday cinema £8.50 includes your cinema ticket for the screening and popcorn. In addition, on the day, choose one, two or three courses from the a la carte lunch menu in Le Mazor’ brasserie The course must 28 Jun The Imitation Game Films coming soon; Mr Turner – July. for further details call 834026 or visit www.whatleyamanor.com

Malmesbury Film Society- Showing world and classic films every 3rd Sun of the month at 7:30pm. Tickets £5, no booking required. What We Did On Our Holiday 7:30pm Sun 21 Jun. T.Mary’s Hall, Malmesbury. for further details www.malmesburyfilmsociety.org.uk

Malmesbury & District Univerity of the Third Age- U3A is a unique organisation which provides educational, creative and leisure opportunities for retired and semi-retired people to come and learn together, drawing upon the knowledge, experience and skills of their own members to organise and provide interesting talks- now with 350 members. What Happened at Chernobyl – Robert MacLachlan Thurs 25 Jun Meetings 4th Thurs 10 – 11.45am 50p. An introduction to Global Warming in Science and Society – Richard Erskine thurs 23 Jul. No meeting Aug. Lawn Bowls Interest Group Every Mon 2-4pm at Malmesbury Bowls Club. Assembly Rooms at the Town Hall. For further details call Membership Secretary Julia Batty on 01249 720327 or visit www.malmesburyu3a.org.uk

Concert in The Abbey- The village Singers Community Choir from Sutton Benger will be preforming VIVA VIVALDI, a concert of choral classic music including opera choruses and Vivaldi’s Galoria. on Sat 27 Jun in Malmesbury Abbey. The audience is invited to bring a picnic tea to eat in the abbey before and during the two intervals of the concert. Doors open at 6pm, concert at 7:15pm. Chairs will be provided but please bring along a small table, table liners, cutlery and of course your favourite food and drink. Tickets for the Concert are £12.50 from Malmesbury Abbey Book Shop, Sutton bender Post Office or www.ticketsource.co.uk

Grittleton Moviola- The Touring Rural Cinema Scheme. KINGSMEN:The secret service [15] Wed 24 Jun Doors open 7pm for 7:30pm start £6 form lesley or on the door Grittleton Village Hall. for further details call lesley 01249 782157 or email l_palmer@btinternet.com or visit www.moviola.org

Shipton Moyne Open Gardens- open Gardens, Flower festival and Art displays Sun 7 Jun 2pm-6pm. Gardens big and small, a Flower Festival in the Church and Art in the Barn, Bouncy castle, A children’s trail and various stalls. Teas will be served in the village hall and a barbaque can be found at “The Cat And Custard Pot”.  Entrance fee £5 per adult and monies raised is to be split between the Church and the Village Hall.

Calne Bowood- Toby Buckland’s Garden festival and Dog show Sar 5- Sun 6 Jun Bowood Charity Dog Show & Summer Fair Sun 21 Jun 10am-5pm for further details call 01249 812102 or visit www.bowood-house.co.uk

Kington Langley Scarecrow Trail- Sat 20 Sun 21 Jun 10am-5pm This year’s Theme “TV programs” Competitors to guess the names of the scarecrows – Prize £100. Children’s rides, Craft, Live music, cream teas, burgers and the Crow bar selling Pimms and local beer. For further details Call or Visit www.scarcrows.biz

The Thomas Worboy Children’s Charity Fun Run to take place in Sherston on Sunday 19th July from 11am to 1pm.

3km or 1km route.  Just run it, skip it, hop it, walk it, jump it, just do it and raise money in sponsorship for Children’s Cancer Leukaemia Group.

Register at www.thomasworboysfunrun.eventzilla.net

Cash boost for HEALS of Malmesbury

A Malmesbury community group who help vulnerable and disadvantaged people is to benefit from a cash boost gifted by one regional builder.

HEALS of Malmesbury has received £1,000 from Persimmon Homes Wessex to carry on its important work that includes practical help for disabled people, funding learning disability assessments and running the local branch of the credit union.

The donation comes as part of the housebuilder’s Community Champions scheme, which will see a pot of £24,000 given out to local good causes over the next 12 months throughout the region.

Groups will be chosen every month to receive a match-funding donation with local community groups being encouraged to apply by completing an online form at www.persimmonhomes.com/charity.

Gavin Grant, from HEALS of Malmesbury, said: “We are delighted that Persimmon Homes Wessex chose to support us. We are proud of the important, practical work our volunteers do in connecting vulnerable people with the appropriate statutory services they need, and providing the practical help and advice that improves vulnerable people’s lives.

“There is ever increasing demands on us and this donation will really help. We are hugely grateful to Persimmon for their generosity.”

Pauline Fletcher, sales and marketing director for Persimmon Homes Wessex, said the community initiative was a way of supporting people across every city, town and village where the company works.

She said: “We are confident this funding will make a huge difference to HEALS of Malmesbury. The quality of the submissions we received were very high, so choosing the good causes to support was much harder than we expected.

“We now want to hear from more groups and charities as look to allocate more funding over the next month. All we ask is that the group or charity has already worked hard to raise money themselves, and we will then match this effort with funding of up to £1,000.”

To apply for funding, visit www.persimmonhomes.com/charity.

We are not a particularly photogenic family. Once upon a time our four year old son would photo bomb every time he spotted a camera or mobile phone out. Until his little brother’s christening when the entire family laughed at him when he pulled his “cheese” face (which to be fair was not unlike Chandler from ‘Friends’ during his engagement photo). His confidence damaged he now runs a mile or just hides behind his hands at the mention of a photo. Sort of like me really, being short I will happily shuffle to the back of group photos and so am like the Where’s Wally of the family album! To my OH, the thought of going to get a family portait taken was painful. “Rather stick pins in my eyes” I think is what I heard muttered at the suggestion. The only family member fully up for pictures was little Jack (2 and 3/4, going on 16). I don’t know where he learnt to pose? It is certainly not in his genetics! So when my mother suggested last summer that she would love a family portrait of the four of us for Christmas I knew that no amount of “it’s the thought that counts” was going to get us out of it. Still, it didn’t stop me from putting it off, though fortunately not for too long. When I initially contacted Rupert Barker, and relayed our reluctance yet necessity for a family portrait, he immediately put my reservations to rest. I did not have to assemble the whole family, neatly dressed at the same time in his studio (other Mummies will know what a feat this can be). Instead he came to our home or whatever location we chose for the photos. There was no time limit, he was happy to work around us until the desired shot was taken. We did not really even have to pose. Brilliant. So, on the next vaguely sunny day, Rupert arrived with his extremely portable very clever mobile studio, and little Jack immediately launched into action, acting out every scenario for the camera like he was going for an Oscar! Meanwhile Freddie had not suprisingly vanished! “No problem” said Rupert who happily busied himself taking pictures of Jack kicking the ball, on the trampoline, funny face, serious face, smiley face! I was thinking, this is great, perhaps Mum could be placated with a fantastic picture of Jack. My OH bored annonced that he was going back to mowing on the tractor. No sooner was the ‘T’ word out of his mouth than Freddie had miraculously reappeared and Rupert salvaged the situation with his idea of a walk and some photos on a tractor? And so followed Freddie and Jack taking Rupert for a guided tour of the farm machinery, with Rupert snapping away while keeping Freddie on side with his constant barrage of questions and stories of his time on a farm. Cleverly Rupert managed to find several moments when all four of us (and the dogs) had forgotten the existance of the camera, and caught us perfectly just as we are. Not the nightmare I had envisaged at my mother’s request, the experience was happily a memorable one and the photos better than we imagined!

Whether you are starting up, or relocating, the prospect of moving office can be a daunting experience, and working from home is not always practical. Sometimes there is the need to present a more business-like environment. Whatever the reason, the New Year is the ideal opportunity to take the ‘next step’ before the madness of the end of the financial year arises. Brinkworth House is located within easy reach of Swindon, Cirencester, Gloucester and Cheltenham and the motorway network to Bristol and the West, and offers serviced offices accommodating between 1 and 15 people, offering businesses everything you need to present the perfect image and drive your business forward. Perfect for small or growing businesses with a range of ‘ready to use’ high-tech offices Brinkworth House offers high-speed broadband, meeting rooms, hot desks, receptionists to meet and greet your clients, postal services and free on-site parking. Our agreements are designed to take away the complications of setting up a traditional office within a commercial space. We offer simple, flexible and value-for-money spaces on an ‘easy in, easy out’ arrangement thereby eliminating costly solicitor fees and allowing swift access. Hot-desking has become a popular concept for start-ups and people on the move and Brinkworth House provides a cost-effective, totally flexible, professional, environment in which to work. Simply drop in, plug in and work. If you require a more private meeting space, Brinkworth House allows you the flexibility to book rooms by the hour to create the right setting to meet your clients. For those businesses that are not ready to take the next step, Brinkworth House also offer a virtual business centre. Services range from telephone answering and sales order processing services to mail handling and mail order fulfilment. We provide virtual receptionists, who answer your calls with a personalised greeting. Our team can screen and transfer some or all calls directly to you depending on requirements. They can also schedule your appointments, make outbound calls, answer customer service questions, process orders and handle countless administrative tasks. Whether you are looking to outsource customer interactions or just require an out of office service, we can help, leaving you free to focus on what you do best – running your business. Call us today on 01666 511300 or drop in and talk to us about your requirements. We pride ourselves on being able to cater to our client’s requirements. Claire Brewerton, Brinkworth House, Brinkworth, Wiltshire
SN15 5DF
01666 511300
www.brinkworthhouse.co.uk

Malmesbury & District U3A March meeting

The March meeting of Malmesbury & District University of the Third Age (U3A) will be held on Thursday, 26th March at 10am in the Assembly Rooms at the Town Hall, Malmesbury.

The speaker will be Dinah Starkey, a well-known author of children’s and other books, including Ghosts & Bogles, and Witches, Dragons & Buried Treasure. Her subject will be Sevington Victorian School, near Grittleton. More information on www.sevingtonvictorianschool.co.uk

If you are interested in learning more about Malmesbury U3A, then please contact Membership Secretary Julia Batty on 01249-720327 or access our website: www.malmesburyu3a.org.uk

Malmesbury Community Area – Young People’s Needs Survey

The Local Youth Network have created a online survey for young people aged 13-19 and up to 25 with special educational needs and disabilities.
The survey aimed to find out what young people already engage with and what the gaps in provision are. Furthermore, we want to know how accessible activities are and when young people would like them.

The survey responses will directly impact the work of the LYN Management Group, whom will use the information to assure positive change to the lives of young people in the Malmesbury Community Area from this needs led approach.
Please share the link below to anyone, or organisation you know who works with young people!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MalmesburyLYN

Anyone for a French Supper?
Malmesbury’s Whole Hog and the BHF say “Bon Appetit”

The Malmesbury branch of the BHF has partnered up with the Whole Hog to hold a French Supper night.

This special event – on Thursday 26 March, at 7pm – is being organised to help raise vital funds for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) – the nation’s heart charity.
All money raised from the evening will support the BHF in its fight against heart and circulatory disease.
Tickets cost just £16 for the 3-course French theme meal. Make your choice from French Onion Soup or Pate, Boeuf Bourguignon or Coq Au Vin or Ratatouille Au Gratin and Crème Brulee or French cheese and biscuits.
Heart disease touches people of all ages; sadly it is still the nation’s biggest killer.  And despite major advances in heart research, education and care, there is still a lot of work to be done. Events like the French supper evening raise vital funds that help the BHF continue with its life-saving and life-changing work.
Why not volunteer? The Malmesbury BHF team is always looking for new volunteers.  It’s true that the BHF is a huge organization, but it can only continue to help save lives with the help of individual people giving up their time. To join the lively Malmesbury branch, just call the number below or come along on 26 March and have some fun, a great meal, and meet the team.
For more information, and to book your table, call Tony Banks on 01666 860656.