THE latest community news from Aberystwyth

Royal wedding fundraiser

THE owner of Home Café has helped two Ceredigion charities raise vital funding with a special royal wedding fundraiser.

Ahmet Ackimel, who runs the Pier Street business, joined forces with Mencap Ceredigion and Love Life Projects by hosting the event on Saturday, 19 May.

The two charities, which are both run by volunteers and support people with learning disabilities across Ceredigion, set up stalls, raffles, face painting and even held a competition to win a wedding cake made by Ami Forbes of Ami’s Bakers.

Mr Ackimel said he had been delighted to be able to help local charities who offer support to residents across Ceredigion.

He said: “I think it is so important to support people who might need help in the community.

“I have seen the good work these two charities do in Ceredigion and feel the least I could do was to open my doors to them on this special day.”

Jane Dodgeon, the founder of LLP, said: “We are most grateful to Mr Ackimel for his generosity and support.

“The work Mencap Ceredigion and we do in the area is done by volunteers and the costs are met by kind donations and support by people like Mr Ackimel.”

Paul Manning, the vice-chair of Mencap Ceredigion, said: “We appreciate the support small businesses in the county give to charities across Ceredigion. Mr Ackimel’s support is no exception.

“He has promised us further collaboration and we look forward to working with him in the future.”

Max Taylor, one of the volunteers with both organisations who worked on a stall at the fundraising event, said: “We worked hard all day and even had a chance to see some of the wedding.”

Cambrian Floral Society

TAKE Two was the theme for the meeting on Wednesday, 2 May, at Bethel Chapel vestry.

There were two demonstrators, John James and Marian Weston, arranging two designs each – hence the theme title.

After a short introduction by the chairman, Marian commenced with her first design which was a rural scene. Following this was a modern design from John.

After a short break for refreshments prepared by Pat Edwards and Mai Leeding, Marian chose a large ‘martini’ glass for a contemporary design.

For John’s second and final arr­angement a figurine was chosen as a container which lent itself to the beautiful design of a Hogarth curve.

Sylvia Greenleaf gave the vote of thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable evening which was well attended.

The next meeting will be held on Wednesday, 6 June, at 7pm at Bethel Chapel vestry.

The title of the demonstration is Take Another Two.

During the evening names will be taken for the garden visit in July and refreshments for this evening will have a surprise element.

Aberystwyth and District Floral Society

THE guest demonstrator for May was Sionedd Hughes, a farmer’s wife from Oswestry.

Her title was Turning Over a New Leaf and what a tonic she was with a great demonstration filled with tales of her life.

Her humour certainly shone through and kept members entertained all night.

The vote of thanks was given by Jane Walton. Members hope that it won’t be long before Sionedd will be back with them again.

The winners of the 200 Club were Pat Edwards, Aberystwyth, and Jacqueline Edwards and Delyth Humphreys, both of Bronant.

The next meeting, on 19 June at Llanfarian Village Hall starting at 7.30pm, will be called The Living is Easy by Pat Llewellyn.

Plascrug Bridge Club

RESULTS from 8 May: 1, Betty Brookes and Mike Jones; 2, Alison Edwards and Peter Thomas; 3, Jacqui Roberts and Joyce Blair.

15 May: 1, John Holmes and Alan Stein; 2, Alison Edwards and Peter Thomas; 3, Margaret James.

22 May: 1, Doreen Anthony and Dylan Raw-Rees; 2, Jacqui Roberts and Sue Sherman; 3, John Holmes and Alan Stein; 4, Pamela Woodhouse and Margaret James.

Aberystwyth Bridge Club

THE clear winners at the 18 May meeting were Dai Hayes and John Valentine. Pamela Woodhouse and Sue Sherman were joint second with Magda Corser and Martin Page.

Sixteen Aberystwyth players took part in the Mid-Wales AGM and Teams Event in the community hall in Pant-y-Dwr.

The club’s international players, Mike Tedd and John Salisbury, playing with a pair from Aberaeron, were first, with the team of Keith Bellamy, Mike Jones, Dai Hayes and John Valentine third.

Due to a misunderstanding, Dai and John reached seven spades though missing the ace and queen of hearts, but luckily made all 13 tricks when a heart was not led and the losing hearts and a club were disposed of on the long diamonds!

Aberystwyth Bridge Club normally plays twice a week in Waunfawr Community Hall, starting at 6.45pm, with Friday being the main evening.

The club plays in the Worldwide Simultaneous Pairs on 1 June.

Museum lights

CEREDIGION Museum has had a full refurbishment of its lighting thanks to £116,558 in grants from the Welsh Government’s Museums Archives and Libraries Division and the Rural Community Development Fund.

Museum curator Carrie Canham said: “Lighting has been a problem for us for some time; the system was so old that we couldn’t get new bulbs for some of the fittings.

“Also, we love to put on theatrical and musical performances at the museum but we couldn’t create an atmosphere with just strip lights and footlights.

“We’ve now got great stage and display lighting and it’s transformed the whole experience for our audiences.

“The new lighting system is all LED, so not only does it look much better it is also more suitable for the more delicate exhibits and it saves us money on our lighting bill.”

The lighting was designed and installed by DBNAudile, who specialise in museum lighting.

The team managed to install the system with minimal disruption.

Castle to Castle

ABERYSTWYTH is to be the centre of a number of sporting events promoted by Extreme Sports Wales, a newly formed events company.

The first of these is to be a two-day cycling event from Caernarfon Castle to Pembroke Castle that will be launched on 16 September with a one-day taster from Aberystwyth to Pembroke Castle to get the event established on the cycling calendar and trial the route before the full event in 2019.

The full Castle to Castle cycle event will start at Caernarfon Castle and run down to Pembroke Castle via Harlech, Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Carew and finishing at Pembroke Castle.

As well as non-competitive “sportive”, it is the promoters’ intention to add a competitive road race to the event aimed at attracting competitors from all over the UK.

As with events of this kind, participants have the opportunity not only to enjoy the event but to raise funds for a charity or good cause of their choice.

Updates can be found at www.­extremesportswales.com or via email from s.vince@­trackattackraceclub.com

If you’re a member of a club, society or group, send your news to [email protected]