Village Café News Archive 2010-2013
Coffee Morning To Support Macmillan Cancer Care - posted 30 August 2013
The Cafe is holding its annual coffee morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer support as part of the World's Biggest Coffee Morning. It will take place on Tuesday 10th September from 10.00 - 12.30 in the Reading Rooms to include a raffle. All takings will be donated to Macmillan.
This event has always been amazingly supported by the village and we look forward to another successful event in 2013.
Meeting For Tinnitus Sufferers At The Cafe on 11 June - posted 18 May 2013
Following talks in the Village Cafe, there is a feeling that sufferers of Tinnitus would like a meeting to share experiences. We hope that Tuesday 11th June at 11.00, in the Committee Room will suit people. Hoping this may help.
Conrad Woolley
Bring & Buy At The Cafe - posted 30 April 2013
During last Tuesday's Café there was a Bring and Buy table and raffle on behalf of Northampton Women's Aid (NWA). The response was warm and generous. In all we made nearly £270, which was made up to £300 by a further generous donation.
NWA is Helmdon Church's Link Charity. It gives support to women and children who are victims of violent crimes in the home; but work with these families is no longer supported by the County Council. Through group discussion experienced workers help women learn to form relationships which do not end in violence and help children to recover from what they have seen and suffered. Room hire and transport are required for this work and funds are now needed to help with these expenses.
We will continue to raise funds to help with this work and all contributions will be most welcome. Please contact Jean Spendlove for further information.
Successful Easter Raffle - posted 31 March 2013
We would like to thank the volunteers and customers of the Village Café for their generous support of the Easter Raffle. £161 was raised, which is being donated towards a memorial bench in remembrance of Judy Butler.
The Village Cafe Says Thank You - posted 09 March 2013
Last Tuesday saw an even busier cafe as volunteers and cake makers enjoyed free coffee and cake. This was a small acknowledgment of their continuing support and dedication in keeping the cafe running smoothly to support the maintenance of the Reading Room.
Excellent Profit For Village Cafe: Post Office & Cafe Open Again On 8 January - posted 03 January 2013
As well as being a flourishing venue, with a crowded Reading Room participating in coffee and cake whilst having the opportunity to visit the village Post Office, the Village Café has raised an excellent profit for Reading Room funds.
In 2011 it raised £1,000 but 2012 saw this amount rise to an excellent £1,600.
Thank you to the committee, the servers and to all those who bake delicious cakes week by week.
The village café and post office open after the Christmas break on 8 January Come and see what is on offer!
Happy New Year
Lynn Walmsley
The Post Office And Village Cafe Opening Times - posted 12 December 2012
Post Office Tuesday - 18 December - open – 10.00 till 12.00am Thursday - 20 December - open – 2.00 till 4.00pm Friday – 21 December – open 10.00am till 12.00am Tuesday - 25th December - closed Thursday - 27th December - closed Tuesday - 1st January - closed Thursday - 3rd January - closed Back to normal Tuesday 8th January 2013 | Cafe Tuesday 18th December - closed (sorry but Luncheon Club Christmas Lunch is on this day) Tuesday 25th December - closed Tuesday 1st January 2013 — closed Closed until Tuesday January 8th 2013 Thank you for all your support in 2012 |
Olympic Silver Medallist Drops Into The Village Cafe - posted 07 November 2012
(Back row from left) Celia Terrey holding the prized silver medal,
Rob Williams, Margaret Reardon, Margaret Moore, Ann Harman and
Jean Spendlove. (In front from left) Rob's mother and Keith Moore.
There was a flurry of excitement at the village café on Tuesday 30 October when Rob Williams, a silver medallist rower from London Olympics 2012 (coxless fours), visited with his grandparents and mother.
Rob raced in the lightweight men's four with crewmates Peter Chambers, Richard Chambers and Chris Bartley. In an extremely close final, the British crew took silver, less than a second behind the winners.
Rob's grandparents are Keith and Margaret Moore who have recently moved to Wappenham Road and they are without doubt very proud of their brilliant grandson. Needless to say cafe-goers were very pleased to meet Rob and some joined him for a photo of the occasion.
Excellent Result At Macmillan Coffee Morning - posted 10 October 2012
Thank you to everybody who came to have coffee and buy cakes and raffle tickets and thank you to the Village Cafe volunteers who worked hard to make this year's Macmillan Cancer Support Coffee morning a success. We raised a magnificent £420
Post Office and Cafe Opening For Jubilee Week - posted 19 May 2012
POST OFFICE and CAFÉ Opening for Jubilee Week
5th June is a Bank Holiday so there will be NO POST OFFICE.
The VILLAGE CAFÉ will be CLOSED on that day.
Thanks everybody for your support – we shall be back to normal the following week.
Village Cafe Reopens On 10 January - posted 04 January 2012
The Village Cafe reopens on the 10th January 2012 after a very successful 2011. Please come and join us for coffee/tea and cake between 10.00am and 12.00 noon every Tuesday morning. You will be sure of a warm welcome and be able to use the Post Office at the same time.
An Invitation To The World's Biggest Coffee Morning - posted 09 September 2011 click for poster
Cafe Asks For Your Green Tokens At Towcester Waitrose - posted 26 August 2011
The Village Café applied to Waitrose for a green token box back in November last year. We have just heard the good news that we will have our own box in the Towcester Waitrose at the beginning of September.
If you aren't familiar with the process, here's what happens: for any purchase in Waitrose, Towcester, you will be given a green plastic disc. On the way out you will see three boxes – each belonging to a different charity. You put your green disc in the box that appeals to you the most. Waitrose give away £1000 each month and this is divided up between the three charities: the box with the most tokens getting the larger share of the money.
So if you are shopping in Waitrose in Towcester in September, perhaps you'd be kind enough to bear The Village Café's box in mind. The money we get from Waitrose will be used to buy better equipment and hopefully this will enable us to give you even better service.
Many thanks,
The Village Café Committee
£700 Raised By Village Cafe - posted 17 August 2011
The Village Cafe opened for the first time on Tuesday 22nd of February. It was created to generate money to donate to the Reading Room to help with maintenance and refurbishment, so we are pleased to say that to date we have raised £700. We have also had two donations, one from Ernie Kline and one from the PCC, thank you to them.
Just to remind you that the Village Cafe is open every Tuesday between 10.00 am and 12.00 noon. (The Post Office is also open at these times). We have over 20 volunteers who work in teams of three every 6 weeks, so the duties are not too onerous. It is hard work but we do have fun, so thank you to everybody who helps, cake makers and "table putter uppers" included.
Please contact me if you would like to volunteer you would be very welcome to join us, if time is a problem could you make a cake?
Thanks
Lynn Gartside, Secretary
Have Your Cake - And Eat It - posted 13 June 2011
Helmdon's 'Village Cafe' is proving to be not only a very popular Tuesday morning venue, but a valuable support to the Reading Room with its regular donations of money.
In just three months the Cafe has contributed approximately £400 to the Reading Room, so it looks as though the Reading Room will receive in excess of £1,200 a year from the Village Cafe.
Our grateful thanks go to Chairman Lynn Walmsley, the Cafe Committee, the cake-makers and the 23 fantastic volunteers who work so hard every Tuesday and provide us with not only a wonderful meeting place, but this permanent fund-raiser for the Reading Room.
Caroline King - Secretary to The Reading Room Fund Raising Committee
Report to Annual Parish Meeting - posted 13 June 2011
The Village Café was conceived as a village community for several reasons :
- to be a hub for socialising
- to replace the former Drop in
- to raise revenue for the Reading Room, to offset the loss of revenue from the Acorns once they had moved to their new premises. All profits from the Café go to the Reading Room funds (to date approx. £400).
We held a trial coffee morning last November which was well supported and thus gave us the impetus to set up as a regular venue. The Café opened in February to coincide with the return of the new Post Office, and I am pleased to say has been very well supported each week since.
A team of volunteers has worked very hard to get the Café off the ground, and I am very grateful for all their hard work and support. The ambience created by the team is really enhanced by the newly refurbished interior of the Reading Room. The Café, totally run by volunteers, is open every Tuesday morning from 10 to 12, serving fresh coffee , individual pots of tea, and cakes including coffee and walnut, Victoria sponge, banoffee cake, fruit cake, chocolate cake , lemon drizzle cake, Caribbean cake, Humming Bird Cake. I could go on, it's all delicious!
If you haven't yet tried the Café, do come along !
Lynn Walmsley
Chair, Helmdon Village Café
Success Means More Help Is Needed - posted 31 March 2011
The Village Cafe, held every Tuesday morning in The Reading Room from 10 - 12 am has proved to be an outstanding success! We are welcoming more customers every week than we thought possible (from two months old to ... well, shall we say over eighty years old!). With this in mind, it might be nice to have a few more volunteers to man the kettles in the kitchen!
If you haven't been to the Cafe, you won't appreciate how much fun it is to be part of this exciting venture. The smell of ground coffee, the music, the flowers, the delicious cakes, the general buzz of conversation completely transforms the Reading Room every week. All of the volunteers have thoroughly enjoyed their time working in the Cafe.
You would be asked to do no more than one session every five or six weeks and I'm sure would find it a really worthwhile and fun morning. You would, of course, be helping the village in a vital way by providing this much needed amenity. The revenue generated by The Cafe goes to help the Reading Room with its day to day running costs so your efforts would be doubly valuable.
If you would like to volunteer, then please call one of the following: Lynn Walmsley, Lynn Gartside or Caroline King
GO ON ... IT WILL BE FUN!
The Village Cafe Committee
Cafe Closed 22 March - posted 18 March 2011
The Village Cafe will not be opening this coming Tuesday, March 22nd, as the Reading Room is being redecorated, although the Post Office is open as normal.
The Cafe will be open again on the following Tuesday, 29th March, from 10 to 12, in a newly decorated and cheerful Reading Room with great cakes as usual.
Resounding Success for the Village Cafe - posted 02 March 2011
The opening day of the cafe - photos by Chris Thorpe
The Village cafe opened for the first time on Tuesday 22 February 2011 and will be open every Tuesday from now on between 10.00 am and 12.00 noon. (The Post Office is also open at these times).
It was a resounding success, we had a wonderful response from lots of village people, including children and toddlers as it was half term and even a couple of builders working nearby. They all enjoyed a good cup of tea or coffee with a delicious slice of homemade cake and a chance to catch up on news with friends.
If you are new to the village it would be a great opportunity to get to know your neighbours. The cafe is open to everyone and we hope to tempt passersby with a pavement sign. All the profit from the cafe will go to the Reading Room to help with ongoing running costs and refurbishment.
Thank you to all those who have volunteered to help run the cafe and also a big thank you to all those volunteers who for years have manned the "Drop in".
If you would like to join us please contact Lynn Gartside, Secretary
Village Cafe All Set To Open On Tuesday Mornings! - posted 17 February 2011
The Village Cafe will open for the first time on Tuesday 22nd February. Everybody is very welcome so please come and join us between 10.00 am and 12.00 noon next Tuesday and every Tuesday thereafter. click for poster
Latest News On The Village Cafe and Post Office - posted 27 January 2011
After the successful trial run of the Village Cafe on 2nd of November we are hoping that the Village Cafe will be open every Tuesday morning along with the return of the Post Office.
So watch this space, we intend to open soon and everybody is welcome. We would love young mums with their children to join us and enjoy a cup of tea and coffee with a slice of homemade cake.
A Sad Day For Helmdon - posted 1 December 2010
Evelyn Rist, postmistress in Helmdon for so many years
It was a sad day for Helmdon on Tuesday 30th November when we lost the services of both our Postmistress, Evelyn Rist, and The Drop In Centre.
The Reading Room was packed with people who not only came to the W.I. table top sale, but who came to bid Evelyn a fond farewell.
Evelyn Rist has been the visiting Postmistress for many years; she has come through all sorts of weather, has seemingly never had a holiday and was always there with a kind word or thoughtful advice for her many customers.
Evelyn was obviously touched by her vote of thanks and by the gifts the Drop In Centre customers had bought for her. Typically of her though, she has volunteered her services when the new Village Cafe starts next year. We thanked Evelyn for her unfailing support and help – she has been, and we hope will continue to be, a great friend to Helmdon.
Mary Nash (one of the Drop In Centre organisers),Caroline King
who gave thanks to Evelyn on behalf of all Helmdon residents,
and Evelyn herself, visibly moved by the occasion.
The Drop In Centre organisers, Mary Nash, Rosemary Gulliver and Janet Heady, were also thanked for their years of dedication in keeping the Drop In Centre going. It has been a vital source of contact for many of our senior citizens and many a cup of tea has been drunk, gossip exchanged and comfort given. Those endless cups of tea and coffee have been served over the years by many a willing volunteer and they too were thanked for their time.
The good news on the horizon is that Helmdon will have a new visiting Post Mistress who will keep the same Post Office hours (Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons); she will start some time in January or February. We will keep you posted about her start date. The other good news is that the new weekly village cafe will also start in the New Year; the day of the week is yet to be determined.
Caroline King
