We are delighted to welcome the popular monthly Community Market to the Festival again this year. The market will run from 9.00 to 1.00 on Saturday 13 September with up to 33 stalls running on sites running from Pamoli Square next to Morrisons and into the High Street.
The market is a regular event in Shefford on the second Saturday of every month offering a diverse mix of products including consumables, crafts and local community fundraisers/awareness stalls. See here for details of the market.
The Shefford Community Festival runs from the 12th to 21st of September and on the evening of the twelfth the hall’s Annual General Meeting will take place with refreshments at 7pm and the meeting itself starting at 7.30pm.
Please come along and voice your opinions as the Trustees need your input (and those of your group’s members) as to how the hall is managed and what improvements could be made.
The hall’s management committee needs some new blood to help keep the hall running smoothly, so if you would be interested in joining the committee please contact the Chairman, Richard Ford at [email protected] or just come along to the AGM. Committee meetings are normally once every three months and held where possible at a time of day that accommodates all members.
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On Saturday 13th September from 10am to 3pm the Trustees will be presenting a rolling drop-in film show of “Shefford in the Past”. Entry is free. If any regular hirers wish to advertise their meetings/activities with posters or leaflets (or both) a provision will be made within the hall for their display. Please contact [email protected] if you wish to participate.
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Finally. The Scarecrow Festival runs over the weekend of 13th and 14th September. If your group would like to take part the Trustees would be happy for you to put a scarecrow in front of the hall. You would need to register with the organiser of that event at [email protected] or ring Joanna Wright on 07704 170582. Entry is free but you need to register by 8th August to make sure you are on the trail map. If you are going to take up the Trustees offer please inform the hall secretary at [email protected] .
We have just heard that the start of the Scarecrow Festival will be a little delayed to give participants a bit more time to complete their entries. The Friday start will now take place on Saturday 13 Sept followed by Sunday 14th Sept. So we wish you all an enjoyable tour of Shefford to take in the creativity of all the participants.
Remember to register or for more info E-mail Joanna Wright at [email protected] Participate for free – contact Joanna Wright
07704170582
Tai Chi is well known as a low impact exercise for balance and general health, so the Shefford community is welcome to visit the regular classes held at Shefford Community Hall on Sunday evenings at 6.30 and on Monday afternoons at 2.30pm.
The classes are run as drop-ins with half hour loosening exercise , half hour social tea break and a half hour form practice. Contact [email protected]
Black Ice Academy Cheer have recently advised that they will be running free trials on Tuesday and Wednesday 16 and 17 September at Shefford Lower School as part of the festival so you stunters, tumblers and dancers out there please contact:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.blackicecheer.co.uk
Instagram: blackice_cheer_shefford
Facebook: Black Ice Cheer Shefford
Talking Elephants is open to anyone who has suffered loss, who would appreciate a friendly face, some support, and a chance to engage with people going through something similar, over a cup of coffee.
There are regular meetings at Shefford Methodist Church, Ampthill Road, Shefford, SG17 5BE Meetings are held every fourth Friday* of each month. 12:30pm-2:30pm.
Plus Neville Funerals have scheduled a Community Festival support meeting for September.
We are delighted to welcome the support of Neville Funerals who operate within the town, with a reputation built upon trust and recommendation, based on 150 years of compassionate service.
Nevilles are an independent, privately-owned family company, who aim to offer a high quality, sensitive and dignified service that is good value for money.
Nevilles also play a support role in our community with their Talking Elephants free monthly bereavement support group held in the Methodist church meeting room. It is open to anyone who has suffered loss, who would appreciate a friendly face, some support, and a chance to engage with people going through something similar, over a cup of coffee. This is a Nevilles funerals community outreach project.
Talking Elephants is held every fourth Friday of each month (excluding Bank Holidays) 12:30pm-2:30pm. Contact [email protected]
By now we hope every household in Shefford has received their own copy of our draft program for the Community Festival from 12 to 21 Sept as an insert delivered for us by our sponsor LivingLife magazine – also if you have been in town in the past two weeks you may have noticed our posters on posts and poles along the High Street and the Ampthill Road. Necessarily this is presented in abbreviated form – for full details please see the complete program with details, times and contacts here on our website www.sheffordcommunityfestival.co.uk
As a business or commercial group in Shefford you can support the development of community activities in many ways – one of them is to sponsor the Community Festival. We receive no public funds – although many thanks to Shefford Newsline for publicity assistance – so we are entirely dependent on sponsorships to help cover the cost of organising the Festival. This includes Bedfordshire Schools Trust, John R Ford, Country Properties, Bathroom Vogue and Lemon Plaice.
Now in our eighth year and having seeded many associated activities, while boosting others – we are delighted that the Festival has grown each year and survived even through Covid! However our ability to self-sponsor by pro-bono working through the marketing businesses of myself and my partner is now much reduced and costs are increasing – we are grateful to loyal sponsors already helping us but do need to seek additional support.
The Shefford Community Festival is unusual in being funded privately in this way by proactively linking businesses and social organisations; so if you think your group or company would like to join us in our efforts to make Shefford a better place to live and work, then please contact me to find out how we can do so together. Call, text or email Ian Deavin on 07860 218334 or [email protected]
It was a lovely surprise last night to receive this award from the town council, especially following a number of comments recently from people who expressed that they found Shefford a nice town – somewhere they like to live. So maybe the festival has contributed in some small way to that – I hope so.
I am putting together a personal wish list for our town of Shefford – what facilities could we do with, what needs fixing? Please let me know your thoughts? [email protected]
One of the people who has enthusiastically joined in with the Festival idea is my Partner Lesley Whiteman who also received an award for her efforts in making the Community Market a success – Lesley also runs the Garage Sale Trail and other events as part of the Festival, together with various events through the year. Lesley also runs the Shefford Local news site.
