Community Picnic

The weather in July was awful, and the ground was far too wet for a picnic, so we decided to postpone the event until September. The new date is Sunday, 9th September, from 12 noon to 4.30pm, at the Hayfield Community Garden just up the hill from Hay bridge. We invite everyone to bring a picnic and a blanket, and there will be all sorts of free activities going on during the afternoon. Paul Hartley will be there doing his co-operative games, and there will be live music, face painting, basket making, crafts and nature art. There will also be guided walks around the Community Gardens, and a raffle! There are composting toilets on site, and there is wheelchair access. Here's hoping the weather improves!

A Triumph!

Congratulations to Jo and Noel with their open garden yesterday! 186 people came, and they raised £262 on the teas! This means that the Fairtrade group can put £200 into Shared Interest bonds. And they're doing it all again in September.

Open Garden

As part of the Open Garden scheme, Montpelier Cottage will be opening their garden to the public on 12th August. It's tucked away on the Brilley side of the River Wye, and it really is well worth seeing. There are photos of the garden on http://www.noelkingsbury.com/57/Home.aspx - Noel is a writer about plants, gardens and the environment, and a garden designer. They will be raising money for Fairtrade, and hope to get enough to buy a Shared Interest bond with the proceeds. This is a form of investment that goes straight to Fairtrade producers, and Hay Fairtrade have already put money into the scheme. More information can be found at www.shared-interest.com

Planning for the Picnic

The Fairtrade Fayre in the Buttermarket went quite well over the Festival - we were there on the Tuesday while Jubilee things were happening on the Square. We also had a table at the Africa Day on Sunday, in the Parish Hall. So last night we met to sort out what to do for our next event, which will be the Community Picnic at Hayfield Gardens on Sunday 8th July, from 12 noon to 4.30pm. Paul Hartley will be coming again, with his community games, and Christina will be doing her Nature Art, which was popular last year. Ellie Spencer, of the Beavers, will be doing crafts all afternoon, and the face painter will be there again. There will be games - giant snakes and ladders, a treasure hunt game, and Sticky Sticks construction game - and refreshments - but the idea is to bring a picnic with you! Then on Sunday August 12th and Sunday September 16th, Jo Eliot and Noel Kingsbury will be opening their garden in the National Garden scheme. The charity, of course, will be Fairtrade, so Fairtrade teas and cakes will be available. Noel has a blog, at noels-garden.blogspot.co.uk

There's going to be a lot going on in the middle of Hay over the Jubilee weekend. As well as the Fairtrade Fayre in the Buttermarket, the Fair on the Square is back with a Jubilee theme, and there will be a procession on the Tuesday, which is the extra Bank Holiday. Meanwhile at the Parish Hall on the Saturday, the Africa Fair is back this year, and there will be a Fairtrade presence there too. This is also over the first weekend of the Hay Festival, and the Globe's Where the Light Gets In, so Hay will have a real carnival atmosphere. And no sooner will we have recovered from all that, there's the Community Picnic up at Hayfield Gardens in July!

Summer Fair

Hay Festival is coming up soon, and there's going to be a lot happening around Hay. There's also the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, of course, and it is on that day that the Buttermarket in the middle of Hay has been booked for a Fairtrade Fair. (It'll make a nice change to have a fair at a warm time of year!). On Tuesday 5th June, some of our regular stall holders will be coming along - like LoveZimbabwe, Bagage and Tools for Self Reliance, as well as a few new faces. Out in the square, there will be children's activities for the Jubilee, a parade of school children, and a picnic. Across the square, there will be food stalls in the Castle Gardens from the Abergavenny Food Fair. On the other side of the Castle there will be a sound stage for Hay Festival, and the shuttle buses will be bringing people to and from the Festival site on the edge of town. Meanwhile, on Sunday 3rd June, the African Fair will be happening in the Parish Hall again, and there will be a Fairtrade information table there, too. And some time in July (trying to avoid clashing with the school fete) there will be another Community Picnic at the Hayfield Gardens, hopefully in conjunction with other groups in town. It's going to be a busy summer!

Take a Step up Cusop Dingle

Here we all are, setting off across the fields up one of the loveliest Dingles in the area. There are lots of good footpaths, and this one started off as part of the Offa's Dyke Path. We turned off to cut across the Dingle to Cusop Church, which is now St Mary's, but was originally dedicated to St Cewydd - the Welsh rain saint! We had some pretty heavy rain at the start of the walk, but the sun came out beautifully later.
Twenty one people (and one dog) came on the walk, and a lot of us brought Fairtrade snacks to share.