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See the HCF Video & Presentation

WRITTEN BY KATHERINE EVANS

Last week, the HCF were asked to be guest speakers at the annual Parish Council meeting and we had the pleasure of rounding the evening off with a presentation and video update about our progress and latest news.

Hats off and many thanks to the talented Llewelyn family who put the whole thing together. James Llewelyn took time out from his busy A-level study schedule, to film local stars and numerous Hambledon sites. He then produced a superb Hambledon montage for all to enjoy!  His equally talented sister, Tash Llewelyn, helped create a wonderfully informative presentation for proud Mum, Julie Llewelyn to deliver to the audience.

To see the presentation and watch the wonderful video footage, please follow the following link – it may take a few minutes to download because it contains some large graphics and video clips (the video footage comes at the end of the presentation slides), but it’s well worth the wait!

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June 8th – 'A Night at the Opera'

Night at the Opera Poster‘A Night at the Opera’ , an HCF fund-raising event, will be held on the evening of June 8th and promises to be a really special night!

Gather your friends and family and come and enjoy some of the most famous Opera arias and West End musical hits, sung live in beautiful Hambledon gardens on Feathercombe Lane.

Tickets are on sale now in the village shop and selling fast – don’t miss out!

 

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Philip Underwood's Butterfly Supper – a wonderfully informative event!

HCF Butterflies - PU with audience - size adjustedWe wish to thank Philip profusely for treating us to such a splendid evening.

The proceedings got off to a super start with Philip’s generous supply of local sparkling cider, flowing freely with the pre-talk nibbles! Philip then shared his in-depth knowledge with an audience of nearly 50 people – delivering his light-hearted, yet extremely informative speech with alacrity, being the seasoned and expert speaker that he is. We learned of butterflies both near and far, of the history of butterfly collection, and of works in the Chiddingfold Forest to conserve local woodland species.

We all certainly now know how to recognise our Skippers from our Swallowtails, and left the village hall feeling not only more knowledgeable, but well sated, after a hearty meal of Julie’s delicious lamb shank shepherd’s pie!

With ticket sales and donations, the evening raised £750 for the Hambledon Community Fund. When matched by 50% under the government’s current charity scheme, this means that £1125 was put
into the HCF account, ready to be fed back into the community where it is needed.

Congratulations and thanks again to Philip for such a special evening. Our thanks must also go to Jon Tidmarsh for beavering away with chairs and trestle tables as we set-up and dismantled the hall after the event. The jovial audience who gave us their support also deserve a special mention – may you all have a wonderful spring, spotting (and identifying!) beautiful butterflies, with your newly learned skills as amature lepidopterists!HCF Butterflies - PU - size adjusted

 

 

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HCF reaches £100,000 target!

Generous Hambledonians help us reach our initial target of £100,000!

Hambledonians were certainly in good spirits over the festive season and responded generously to our fund-raising pleas by raising over £35,000 in one month!

A huge thank you to those who helped us raise such large amounts – donations of all sizes were made by many, and together you made it possible for us to reach this first target.  Hambledon now has a sizeable nest egg and permanent, sustainable supply of dividends for grant-making.  This should go a long way to help us continue to support its many groups and residents, both now and in the future.

How you did it!

You may remember that in our last magazine article, we announced the start of an exciting new government scheme called the Community First Programme. This programme allows any donation to local, permanent funds like the HCF, to be government matched with a further 50% of funding.  In addition, we had an offer from an extremely generous, anonymous donor, to match (like-for-like), the first £8,000 worth of any donations received whilst the Community First matching programme was in effect – for us, this is until the end of June 2013.  On top of all that, the usual Gift Aid would give us a further 25% of any pre-matched amount.

It was therefore an extremely good time to donate. Locals responded rapidly with donations of around £12,000 and this grew quickly (when matched, and matched again), in to the £30k+ we needed to reach our first target.

Thank you to everyone for all your support. For your donations, your purchase of second-hand books and HCF merchandise, and your attendance at HCF fund-raising events. It all helps. Together we will work to keep Hambledon and its community strong and in good shape!  

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Fibre Broadband… not here yet

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The Surrey Superfast Broadband Team have a website.  It has a Postcode Checker so you can see if your line is going to be upgraded.  Beware, the system is a little clunky, and it seems to me that the Wormley Exchange (01428) is part of the Surrey CC Project BUT I can’t find any information that indicates that those village residents on the Godalming Exchange (01483) are part of the project.     My deduction is that 01483 lines will have to wait for the BT commercial roll-out of fibre. The cabinet at Milford Station, for example, that serves Salt Lane is not due to be upgraded until March 2014.

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Surviving Winter Campaign

Following a successful appeal last year, the nation-wide Surviving Winter 2012 Scheme, of which HCF was a part, has now launched again to support older and more vulnerable people through the winter months.

Thanks to your kind donations last year, and this, we now have funds ring-fenced within the HCF to support the elderly and more vulnerable people within our community.  Indeed an individual grant to help with the purchase of fuel has recently been made.

If you receive your winter fuel cheque from the government this year and are fortunate enough to be able to offer it to the Surviving Winter scheme, please follow directions on our  ways to donate page.

Equally, if your group supports older or vulnerable people within the village and you require funding, or you know of any individual in need of support, please contact us.  We act in confidence and grants of this kind are not publicised.

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Hamblerock III

February 2nd 2013 – HambleRock III – a resounding success!

Screen Shot 2015-05-28 at 13.39.43Roger Matthews and his band, One Night Stand, raised the roof for the HCF last night in Hambledon Village Hall!

Roger and his team kindly offered to raise funds for the Hambledon Community Fund * by organising a rock and roll night in aid of the local charity. The incredible band played hit after hit and had rockers and rollers from near and far, grooving the night away on the dance floor!

Julie and Kath from the HCF would like to say a huge thank you to Roger, his band and their helpers for treating us to such a special night. Thanks must also go to the fun-loving crowd who bought tickets and helped  to make it such a success. All proceeds from ticket and bar sales are being donated to the fund and we can assure everyone that money raised will be put to good use within the community.

A special mention must also be made to Alison Martin, the Blackmans, Millers and Vickerys for all of their help with the organisation of HambleRock III. They beavered away tirelessly in the background; planning, setting up, feeding the masses and then tidying away at midnight after a hard night on the dance floor! They have amazing energy and wonderful community spirit!

We are now looking forward to two other HCF fund-raising events which are being organised by other fellow  Hambledonians, generous with their time. Details of the Conservation Supper in March and the Garden Party in June are to follow – keep an eye out in the Parish Mag, on the website, and in the shop for details!

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Football Club Grant Presentation

Hambledon Football Club has received a cheque for £99,999 from the Football Foundation at a presentation attended by officials, villagers and local MP Jeremy Hunt.

The presentation was made to Matt Kiley, club secretary, who also gratefully received another cheque of £1,000 from the Hambledon Community Fund.

The two grants have helped Hambledon FC take a significant step forward in realising its dream of replacing its delapidated “hut” with a modern club house. Both recognise the efforts the club has made in its own fund raising over the last few years. Planning permission has already been granted for the new facilities and it is hoped work can start in the New Year.

The Football Foundation grant was made under its “Grow The Game” scheme. The limited facilities at Hambledon’s Badger Park ground restricted the club’s development, with some younger players prefering to play elsewhere and the club having no prospect of promotion to higher leagues until improvements were made. It is hoped that the new clubhouse will be ready for the 2013-14 season.

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Winter Weather Arrangements For Hambledon

The current cold spell and today’s light dusting of snow provide a timely reminder of the arrangments in place in the event of severe weather.

Hambledon has an agreed emergency plan, prepared by the parish council, and linked to arrangements at both Waverley Borough and Surrey County Councils.

The parish has been assured that if snow is forecast Hambledon Road, from Lane End to Hydestile and beyond, will be gritted by Surrey County Council. This same stretch of road is also listed as a priority route for snow clearance.

Once again Peter Knight of Burgate Farm has agreed to use a plough blade provided by the county council, fitted to one of his tractors, to clear roads that will not be swept by SCC. These include Salt Lane, Vann Lane, Roundals Lane and Cricket Green.

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Village Shop Celebrates 20 Years as a Community-run Venture

Hambledon Village Shop and Post Office has reached the significant milestone of 20 years since it was reopened as a community-run business.

A celebratory party was held in the village hall on Friday (Nov 16) attended by many of those involved in setting up the shop two decades ago together with the current management team and volunteers.

Virginia Bottomley, who as local MP was asked to reopen the shop in 1992, returned to the village to toast its continued success, paying particular tribute to the villagers whose vision, hard work and generosity got got the shop reopened and the many volunteers who have kept it going since.

“If Britain is a nation of shop keepers then Hambledon is a village of shopkeepers,” she said.

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Hambledon has had a village shop since at least 1850. It closed in March 1991 as, like so many other small shops, it lost out to supermarkets. It was a grievous loss to a rural community like Hambledon and older people in particular missed the convenience of a general provisions store and Post Office.

Two things happened that were to galvanise a team of villagers to take matters into their own hands. The Rev Christopher Blissard-Barnes, then vicar of St Peter’s Church, preached a sermon on the value of community spirit, saying that it would be wonderful if the shop could be reopened.

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£99,999 Grant For Hambledon FC Clubhouse

A grant of £99,999 from the Football Foundation means that Hambledon Football Club will be able to start work on its much-needed new pavilion and changing rooms at its Badger Park ground in the New Year.

The award of the grant has been greeted with delight by The Dons as it makes the long-awaited new facilities a reality rather than an aspiration. Planning permission has already been obtained but work could not start until significant funding was obtained on top of that already raised.

The grant, made by the Foundation under its “Grow The Game” fund, means that the club has a good chance of having the new club house ready for the 2013-14 season.

Matt Kiley, club secretary and first team player, said: “This money, along with grants already awarded from Waverley Borough Council, Surrey Community Fund and the Surrey Playing Fields Association, together with the club’s own fund raising efforts, enables us to put our building plans into place. Exciting times area ahead for the club.”

However, fund raising will continue as another £10,000 is still needed.

Paul Thorogood, chief executive of the Football Foundation, said: “I commend Hambledon FC and the Surrey FA for working tirelessly to secure this funding and I look forward to seeing the end result in the near future.

Hambledon FC will be presented with its grant cheque at a ceremony attended by club members, the Football Foundation, Waverley Borough and Hambledon Parish councillors and local MP Jeremy Hunt.

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Repaint for Village Shop Phone Box

The red phone box outside Hambledon Post Office and stores has been given a repaint by BT, with the Crown picked out in gold in this Queen’s Jubilee and London Olympic year.

The kiosk, which is of the iconic K6 design, was given listed status by English Heritage in October 2010. Recently the paint had peeled and faded and the parish council requested a repaint, which was carried out two weeks ago. The interior has also been repainted.

BT had proposed removing the kiosk three years ago because the number of calls made from it had declined with the widespread use of mobile phones, but this was resisted by the council and others. The parish council asked English Heritage if would consider listing it and an inspection was carried out.

The kiosk is of the classic design by Giles Gilbert Scott and was first introduced in 1935 on the occasion of King George V’s Silver Jubilee. English Heritage concluded that the Hambledon box, situated in a picturesque landscape next to a pond and post office, within a conservation area and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, “contributes to the exceptional rural setting in which it stands”. It was given Grade II listed status.

It now looks splendid with its fresh coat of paint.  Although the box cannot now be removed, BT may remove the phone apparatus, subject to further consultation, sometime in the future. So please pop in and use it. It makes a pleasant change from a mobile phone. But remember: you will have to buy a phone card from the village Post Office as the kiosk no longer accepts coins.alt

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Hambledon Jubilee Activities Raise £8,747

dogshow

The Hambledon Fete and other events held on the Diamond Jubilee weekend in June, raised a remarkable £8,747.08 for villages causes.

The Parish Council has sent congratulations to the many people who helped organise and run activities for making them such a success. To raise such a large sum in a small village of just 750 people is a great achievement.

The fete itself raised £5,167.08, and this has been evenly split between Hambledon Football Club, Hambledon Cricket Club, St Peter’s Church and the village Almshouses.

The Jubilee Ball, run by Sue Blackman, raised £3,580 after expenses, and from this £1,000 was donated to the Hambledon Community Fund and the remainder split between the above organisations.

The Parish Council, which provided £1,000 towards the cost of the marquee and other expenses, has acknowledged the success of the events and has sent its thanks on behalf of the village to all those who organised, promoted, helped run and took part in the weekend of activities.