THE latest community news from around Aberystwyth.

Lions Club

THE president of Aberystwyth Lions Club was featured on the Lions International website for his work combatting hunger in the Philippines.

Benjamin Manluctao, who is also charter president of the Laoac United Lions Club, helped organise a Centennial Service Challenge project aimed toward combating hunger and engaging youth while in the northern Philippines earlier this year.

Mr Manluctao said: “The main beneficiaries of the school feeding program are the undernourished school children, especially the children in the elementary grades as they are inclined to catch cold, diseases or infections. I believe the youth of today will someday lead their communities and the world. What kind of leaders they be will depend to a large extent on how we, their elders, prepare and educate them today. These children of today are the future.”

To read more about Mr Manluctao’s experience in the Philippines, visit: www.lionsclubs.org/blog/2016/09/16/engaging-youth-a-healthy-mind-in-a-healthy-body.

Cymdeithas yr Aelwyd

NOS Wener, 14 Hydref, croesawyd yr aelodau yn ôl i dymor newydd arall gan Eileen Price Jones.

Ein gwestai cyntaf eleni oedd Megan Lewis o Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn sy’n gweithio i gwmni Golwg yn Llambed.

Trwy gyfrwng ei lluniau aeth Megan â ni i Batagonia lle treuliodd bythefnos fel rhan o weithgareddau mudiad y Ffermwyr Ifanc.

Soniodd Megan am hanes sefydlu’r Wladfa yn 1865 a’r anawsterau wynebodd y Cymry fentrodd i wlad hollol ddieithr 6,800 o filltiroedd i ffwrdd.

Wedi iddynt lanio yn Buenos Aires aeth Megan a’i chyd-deithwyr ymlaen i Chubut, talaith sydd 10 gwaith yn fwy na Chymru, ac fe ymwelwyd â’r llefydd sydd wedi dod yn gyfarwydd inni erbyn hyn – Gaiman, Trelew, Esquel, Trevelin a Chwm Hyfryd.

Roedd bod yn bresennol yn Eisteddfod y Wladfa a gweld Gorsedd y Beirdd yno yn brofiad teimladwy i Megan, ac agoriad llygad iddi oedd mynychu marchnad Liniers yn Buenos Aires, sef marchnad da byw fwya’r byd gyda 10,000 yn cael eu gwerthu’n ddyddiol.

Does na’r un ymweliad â’r Wladfa yn gyflawn heb brofi’r maté a mynychu asado sy’n ddigwyddiad cymdeithasol poblogaidd.

Yn anffodus dim ond paned a bisgedi allai’r Aelwyd gynnig i Megan ar ddiwedd y noson.

Showtime Singers

SHOWTIME Singers, Aberystwyth’s amateur operatic society, which has performed in the area since 1983, has just started rehearsals for its 2017 spring production, Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers, a topsy-turvy tale full of sparkling and tuneful music.

They are delighted to be the first group to use the new music studio in the Old College, on the ground floor at the end nearest the castle, in the dedicated music area created by the redevelopment of the original university building. The curved walls of the room give a resonant acoustic which is delightful to sing in.

Musical director Harry Jepson is looking forward to the very different challenge of the wonderfully witty text and lyrical melodies of GandS after Showtime’s great success with Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd earlier this year.

Anyone interested in joining the Singers, local people and students, are very welcome to come along on Wednesdays at 7.30pm. All members sing in the ensemble, and auditions for principal roles will be held later this term.

NHS Retirement Fellowship

MEMBERS met for their monthly meeting on 10 October at the Waunfawr Community Hall and were very pleased to welcome as their guest police community support officer (PCSO) Michala Quinn.

Michala described the role of the PCSO, whose duties include helping the police in their allotted community on foot patrol, visiting schools to teach first aid and give safety advice, visiting youth clubs, holding surgeries where they are available to give people advice and dealing with vehicle offences.

They do not have powers of arrest but can detain. They undergo an initial eight-week training and are then allocated to a neighbourhood policing team.

Michala explained the uniform she was wearing including a stab vest and members were amazed at the weight of each item. She encouraged questions, of which there were many, and explained how best to avoid scams, rogue traders and how to take precautions to avoid being taken in by criminals.

She also gave out a number of very helpful leaflets on these topics including information on a recently-launched community messaging service, whereby local neighbourhood police teams can share important messages with residents. She was thanked by Gillian Edwards for her very comprehensive account of her role.

The next meeting will be on 14 November, when the speaker will by Jan Young of Homestart.

Rotary Club

THE club welcomed Bethan Benham to last week’s meeting.

Bethan is an A-level student at Ysgol Penweddig. She was given the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) this year to enable her to participate in a course at the Storey Arms Outdoor Centre in the Brecon Beacons.

The aim of the course is to develop leadership, teamwork, organisational and communication skills amongst young people, based largely around physical pursuits in the National Park. For Bethan, these included organising for her team and leading a walk up Pen y Fan, canoeing and kayaking, caving and canyoneering. This was a challenging and very enjoyable experience for Bethan, who came away with vivid memories of the glorious views from the top of the Beacons, struggling through tiny potholes and jumping from great heights into mountain pools.

The RYLA scheme is advertised in local schools each year and is awarded to students who appear most able to benefit from residential course at the Storey Arms Centre. Those who complete the course successfully are given a certificate which can be added to their CV for applications to university or employment anywhere in the world.

Inner Wheel

AT the October meeting of at the Waun Fawr Hall on 10 October, with president Val Deauville in the chair, the speaker was Carrie Canham, curator of Ceredigion Museum.

She gave an illustrated talk en tiled Memories of the Coliseum, which included interviews with some, such as Walford Hughes, who had attended early cinema performances and whose colourful reminiscences brought the times to life.

Using posters, photographs and reviews from the Cambrian News, Carrie described the origins of the Coliseum. Members learned that a variety of events were put on there including plays, music hall, and college reviews, well supported by local people. In 1933 the Coliseum opened as a cinema run by Mr and Mrs Gale (a formidable lady remembered by some members) and an initially successful venture which became less so by the 1960s. There were memories of a ‘fleapit’, gas lighting and out-of-date newsreels from this time, and in 1976 the cinema closed. The building was reopened in 1982 as the museum, the curator finding it ‘a special building which tells stories’.

Plans for the new museum building are well under way, where hopefully memories which keep the past alive will continue to inspire as they did in the Coliseum.

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