I dropped in to chat with Valery Stepney and Ruth Armstrong, the stalwarts who administer and coordinate this volunteer service. The Luncheon Club is partially self-sustaining, from weekly contributions (£5.50 for the hot meal) by the luncheon guests, and partly…
Month: January 2019
Neighbourly half-Wednesdays at the Chemist
Back in early August of last year, a sign suddenly appeared at the chemist: This Business is Under New Management, as of 1st August. And yet Claire Jackson, pharmacist over at least the past decade and so well-respected for her…
‘A hive of activity’ at the Dale Salon
Lindsey Weatherson greeted me cheerfully at the door as I stomped inside from the flurry of wet snowflakes drifting down, and we sat quietly beside the hair dryer to chat about the Dale Salon, a business she took over some…
Care award at Thornley Leazes . . . apprentice sought
It’s just down the Peth and up from Bridge End, but as Linda Charlton, manager of Residential Care, says, sometimes it feels like Thornley Leazes is a million miles away from the buzz and activity of the village centre. I’m…
Burns Night Supper . . .
A couple of months in the preparation, last night, Saturday the 26th, was the night for the Allendale Lions Club special Burns Night Supper, which is usually an annual fund-raising affair. Burns Suppers come in a vast variety of shapes…
Monthly Coffee Mornings
Shirley Brown drops me a note to chat about the monthly coffee mornings at St. Cuthbert’s Church Hall, like the one this morning: Jennifer Simpson with husband Charles co-ordinate the monthly coffee mornings held in aid of church funds on…
Dale Manor, crown of a 5 year project
About five years ago a group of local folks made a short-term cash investment (but a long-term tangible investment) in the community by helping Linda and Tony Beck purchase the crumbling Dale Hotel, with a view to increasing the number…
Eviction Notice for Dalek & Shed
The shed housing the Dalek stands inconspicuously enough beside the basement Museum of Classic Sci-Fi. Could you, could you really make it up? I wonder. The idea of a Museum of Classic Science Fiction, in the heart of Allendale, when…
Ponderings of a Youth Worker . . .
Julie Humes, Youth Project Coordinator in Allendale, writes: Someone asked me the other day: “How long have you been doing youth club and why do you do it?” … I had to stop and think about it. I’ve done this…
Allen Valleys Get Together
Ros Ronaldson drops a line about this friendly group . . . Our group is called Allen Valleys Get Together and we’ve been established since May 2017. It all came about because I was finding it a little difficult when…