A busy time is approaching, and Hambledon and its parish council needs volunteer help for a range of activities including celebrations around the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and assisting at our community shop.
In the past, many villagers have stepped up to keep village life going, reopening the shop and turning the former junior school into a thriving nursery school. The church, the cricket and football clubs, the fete and festival committee, village hall, alms houses, community fund, parish magazine, heritage society, community speed-watch and this village website have all benefited from village-led initiatives and volunteer help.
Much of our common land is cared for by a single village landowner.
The seven parish councillors are unpaid and, like many others, give up their time to attend meetings and represent the village and act in its best interests.
Sadly, many of the generation who were faced with closures and cuts to the detriment of village life, and who responded by seizing the initiative to ensure Hambledon remained a vibrant and caring community, are passing on or are elderly and infirm.
Increasingly organisations such as the shop are having to rely on a dwindling number of volunteers. Hambledon needs a new generation of helpers. Could it be you? In all cases hours can be flexible and could suit those who may have busy jobs, but can still find a little spare time to volunteer.
It is often remarked upon that Hambledon is a lovely place to live with a palpable community spirit. So much of this is down to people giving up their time to make it so.
Currently the Hambledon Community Fund is in need of a new coordinator, the shop and speed-watch require more volunteers, the parish council needs a new Clerk and the Heritage Society needs some new blood.
And, as the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee approaches, the parish council is looking for a small band of people to promote and organise a village celebration over the extended Bank Holiday weekend of June 2nd to 5th. Ideas include participating in the nation-wide Big Jubilee Lunch on Sunday June 5th, an open-air gathering where everyone brings their own picnic. Street parties, a beacon and maybe a commemorative bench or a telescope for the Hambledon Viewpoint are other ideas that have been put forward.
More information can be found here: https://platinumjubilee.gov.uk/get-involved-with-the-platinum-jubilee/ and in the March parish magazine.
The Festival Committee will be busy at this time arranging the Midsummer Festival just two weeks later, hence the need for a separate band of helpers.
If you can help, or have ideas on how we should celebrate, please contact Mary Grove, deputy chair of the parish council by phone on 01483 415815 or email at grovemum@aol.com. Please also speak to Mary if you are interested in joining the speed-watch team.
If you would like to volunteer at the shop, please pop in and have a chat with Gill Darbyshire or a member of her team.
If you are interested in becoming the Community Fund co-ordinator, please contact Mary Burrows at maryburrows95@gmail.com or Jane Woolley at j.woolley881@btinternet.com This would not be a time consuming position but an interesting one, co-ordinating the distribution of donated funds to worthwhile enterprises around the village.
More details here: http://www.hambledonsurrey.co.uk/?page_id=30
The job of Parish Clerk is a responsible but rewarding position, salaried but part-time, currently ten-hours a week. Full training can be provided. The council has interim measures in place but is keen to appoint a Clerk as soon as possible. A deadline for applications has been extended beyond the original February 28th, so please give it some thought. The Clerk is a crucial role in active and effective village administration.
More details can be found here: http://www.hambledonsurrey.co.uk/?p=15666
If you are interested, or require more information, please contact Stewart Payne, council chairman, on 07831 393561 or by email at spayne444@btinternet.com
Finally, the council said farewell to its last Clerk, Julie Flenley, who left at the end of the February meeting. She was thanked for her service to Hambledon, given best wishes for her new job at Chiddingfold Parish Council and presented with flowers by the chairman.
The council’s next meeting is next Tuesday, March 1st, at 8pm at Hambledon Village Hall. Each meeting begins with an allocated 15 minutes at the start so that villagers can raise or discuss issues and the whole meeting is open to the public. If you want to discover more about your parish council, please come along.
Thank you for articulating these concerns so well Stewart. Speaking for myself, volunteering in our community has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. The sense of belonging I feel in being part of such a dynamic, energetic, committed group of people with a shared sense of purpose and desire to do good in the world is not something I expected to experience when we first moved to this small village in the English countryside. I was going to say ‘sleepy village’ but Hambledon is anything but sleepy – you only have to attend the annual parish… Read more »
This is a lovely reply Gill. And it brings to mind how Mary and I got involved as well. Asked to volunteer in the shop in the early days, Mary agreed. On a Saturday morning she would get off the red-eye flight at Heathrow after her regular business trips to the US, and drive straight to the shop for her weekend shift. I was still regularly working abroad when Derek Miller and Ron Vickery sidled over to me in the Harriers one Friday evening and “volunteered” me for co-option on to the parish council. These, and other activities, have brought… Read more »