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.

We are delighted to be able to publish a provisional program at this early stage,  so people can see what to expect and maybe to encourage others to put on their own event or activity. If you would like to plan something it is likely you will need a low cost venue – may I suggest the newly refurbished Community Hall.  Otherwise there are a number of supportive venues for indoor events and various free public spaces for activities like exercises, walking, running, playing games etc. With this in mind we have brought the festival forward a week in the hope of better weather.

In particular may we invite people to join us in the High Street at 5.00pm on Friday 12th Sept for our “Grand  Opening Ceremony”.

Please see the full draft here – but the following shows a brief overview of what we are aware of so far – it is by no means complete nor can we guarantee that they will all happen. We do know from experience that many events are organised later – so if this is the case for you then please let us know as soon as possible so we can be sure to include you.

Friday 12th: Town Centre Friday Market, Scarecrow Festival, Community Festival Opening Ceremony

Saturday 13th: Saints Football Club at the STMA, Community Market, Flower Festival at the Methodist Church, Teddy Tombola and Zip Wire, Scarecrow Festival, Pirouettes & Pullbacks STMA, Shefford in the Past – film show, Community Hall

Sunday 14th: Saints Football Club at the STMA, Flower Festival at the Methodist Church, Scarecrow Festival, Taekwondo at the Community Hall, Garage Sale Trail, Beginners Tai Chi at the Community Hall

Monday 15^th Shared Space at the Baptist Church, Campton Dance at Shefford Methodist Hall, Beginners Tai Chi – Community Hall, Karate at the Methodist Hall, Thai Kick Boxing for Adults at the Community Hall, Players at the STMA, Karaoke at the Methodist Hall, Shefford Runners at the STMA

Tuesday 16th:  Parents and Toddlers at the Methodist Hall, Ramble – from the Lemon Plaice Bellcote Meadow – Shefford Conservation Group work party, Shefford Art Society at the Community Hall, Clinical Pilates at the Methodist Hall, Shefford Majorettes Free taster evening at the STMA, Shefford WI at the Community Hal, Darts League at the STMA

Wednesday 17th: Need Project at the Methodist Church, Warm space at the Methodist Church Hall, Pilates at the Methodist Hall, Children’s Yoga at the STMA, Line Dancing at the Community Hall, The Methodist Church Hall Community Choir, Full Bottle Fitness at the STMA,

Thursday 18th: Line Dancing at the Community Hall, Well Being Walk from Shefford Library, Jo Jingles at the STMA, Mini Hatters at the Methodist Hall, Sanctuary Prayer/Meditation space at the Baptist Church, Brownies & Guides at the Methodist Hall, Shefford Runners at the STMA, Full Bottle Fitness at the STMA, Wing Chun at the Methodist Hall, Shefford & District Amateur Radio Club at the Community Hall, Crib League at the STMA

Friday 19th: Town Centre Friday Market, Pilates at the Methodist Hall, Discover Mindfulness at BEST House, 10am Self-help Art Group at the STMA, Mad Hatters at the Methodist Hall, Sloop Groggy Dog. Sea Shanty Group at the STMA

Saturday 20th: Shefford Saints Football Club at the STMA, Art Exhibition at the Community Hall, Pirouettes & Pullbacks at the STMA, Afternoon at the Baptist Church Hall an exploration of nature/the environment, Tiny Tails at the Methodist Hall, Rainbows at the Methodist Hall

Sunday 21st: Shefford Saints Football Club at the STMA, Art Exhibition at the Community Hall, Messy Harvest service at the Baptist Church, Community Lunch at the Baptist Church following the Messy Harvest service, Beginners Tai Chi at the Community Hall

Friday 27th (delayed event): East Feast Street Food, High Street Shefford

I was alerted recently to the popularity of our skate park at the far end of the Campton Fields – “Electrical” (?)  estate so I went for a look – the park was certainly popular with lots of young people and one dad, on skateboards and scooters, having fun and learning tricks.  It looked a really good way to get together – people joined in and chatted in a relaxed outdoor environment.