THE latest community news from Aberystywth.

WITH show season nearly upon us, it is timely that the Aberystwyth and Ceredigion County Show will be holding a fundraising dinner on Friday, 24 March, at Llety Parc. The proceeds will be split between Apêl Seren and the Aberystwyth Show. Apêl Seren was set up to support Seren Hughes from Tynohir, Derwenlas, near Machynlleth, who has complex uncontrolled epilepsy, left-sided hemiplegia and hypermobility.

At just seven years old, she has already endured four major brain surgery operations at Great Ormond Street Hospital and, at one point, it was feared she might not walk again. She still has daily seizures, has been left with a permanent left-sided weakness and requires continual visits to Great Ormond Street Hospital for ongoing tests, therapy, rehabilitation and regular monitoring.

Wyn James, show chairman, said: “With the Hughes family being ardent supporters of the show, especially in the Beltex sheep section, we were eager to support the family with their ongoing journeys to Great Ormond Street Hospital.”

Bois y Gilfach will be entertaining during the course of the evening. Established originally for the purpose of a New Year’s Eve celebration in 2010, this male choir from the village of Mydroilyn and surrounding areas is going from strength to strength, and are sure to entertain in their usual jovial style.

There will be a grand auction with the inimitable Iestyn Leyshon as auctioneer, following his TV appearance on S4C series Ar Werth. Some of the items offered for auction include a three-night stay for four people at a Tynrhelyg Holiday Cottage, Talybont; artwork by Ruth Jên Evans; a facial at Beauty Spot, Aberystwyth; a styling session and top/jumper of your choice at Lan Llofft; and a family ticket to Blue Lagoon, Narberth. A comprehensive list is on the show’s website.The show would also like to take this opportunity to thanks its supporters for their generosity.

If you are unable to attend, but would like to support or bid for an item, you can contact the show secretary or send a Facebook message at fb.com/sioeaberystwythshow with your highest bid before noon, 23 March. Tickets are £25 for a two-course meal, and can be obtained by contacting the secretary Meinir Evans on 01974 200814 or [email protected].

Aberystwyth & Ceredigion County Show will be held on Saturday, 10 June. Trade stand applications are open and there are ample sponsorship and advertising opportunities available.

Poetry masterclass

THE inaugural National Poet of Wales Gwyneth Lewis will give a masterclass on writing and mental health at Aberystwyth University on Thursday, 16 March.

The session, which is open to members of the public, has been organised at the request of students at the university’s Department of English and Creative Writing and takes place in the Old College starting at 6.30pm.

Postcard club

DURING their 7 March meeting, members of the Aberystwyth Postcard Club were given a fascinating insight into the work of saving, through restoration, several notable buildings in Wales by Michael Preece of Furnace, Machynlleth.

Michael, a retired civil engineer, had spent his career, often in conjunction with CADW and occasionally with English Heritage, saving many Grade I and II listed buildings such as Laugharne Castle, the Picton Monument in Carmarthen, St Peter’s Church in Machynlleth, Blaenavon Ironworks and St Peter’s Church in Carmarthen. Using detailed drawings, he described the complex modern designs employed to stabilise structures that were many centuries old without detracting from their original appearance. The next meeting will be a bring-and-buy afternoon to be held on Tuesday, 4 April, at 2pm at St David’s Church Hall in Bath Street.

Ceredigion WITHE federation is inviting members and non-members to a Craftathon on Saturday, 18 March, at St Paul’s Methodist Centre.The drop-in craft day will start at 10am, finishing at 3pm.

CFWI is hoping that the series of mini work-shops, lasting between an hour and an hour and a half, will interest a wide range of ages to try some of the skills practised by members from all over the county. These workshops will include: willow weaving, rag rugging, jam making, sugarcraft, quilting, pegloom weaving, making fabric flowers, ‘paint yourself calm’ – quite a variety to choose from!

Entry is free, although the workshops themselves will cost £2 a session, and tea and coffee will be available. With WIs right across Ceredigion, it is a great opportunity to find out more about local branches as well as an opportunity to learn more about a number of skills.

Parkinson’s UK

ABERYSTWYTH Parkinson’s group held their AGM at the rugby club this month. The chairman welcomed Dawn McGuiness and Liz Morgan from the Welsh Parkinson’s; there were a number of apologies.

The chairman reported he’d received an email from Colin Saunders of the Emlyn Tivyside group who have Clare Bale from Parkinson’s UK coming to talk to the group at Newcastle Emlyn on 16 May and they were inviting the Aber group to join them. It was decided that the group collect the names at the next meeting.

The collection at Tesco for Parkinson’s week has not been arranged, but members hope to arrange days in Morrisons and Matalan in the year.

Hefin Jones then vacated the chair for Dawn to take over for the election of officers, which were as follows: chair, Hefin Jones; vice-chair, Judy Southgate; secretary – as there were no official nominations, Barbara Standing agreed to carry on; treasurer, Elizabeth Nicol; membership secretary, June Smith.Sub committee: Pat Davies, Evelyn Jones, Karen Baker, Zena Evans and Maureen Kinnin month.June then collected subs due for annual membership.

Liz Morgan then addressed the group and talked about the local development group for Ceredigion and Powys. She would like volunteers for case studies she suggested members could arrange. Members could meet regularly in a cafe for casual chats, they suggested.

Maureen Kinninmonth won the raffle. The speaker on 27 March will be Geraint Roberts, who will talk about the Vale of Rheidol.

Wildlife Trust

THE March meeting of the North Ceredigion section of the Wildlife Trust South and West Wales, took place on Monday, 6 March, at 7pm in Lecture Theatre C22, Hugh Owen Building on Aberystwyth University’s Penglais campus.Chairman Fiona Corke warmly welcomed a good number of people to the meeting.

This started with the usual report from Em Foot, the Trust’s wildlife officer for Ceredigion, on her work in the Trust’s reserves, after which attendees shared some recent sightings of wildlife in the area.Fiona then went on to welcome Sinead Lynch of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust who gave a fascinating wide-ranging powerpoint presentation on bumblebees, focusing on the problems that they are facing in the 21st century and the work the Bumblebee Conservation Trust is doing to help them. There was a very good discussion following her talk.

Insects are again the subject of the April meeting, which will be held in C22 at 7pm on Monday, 3 April.The topic will be ‘Moth-trapping in Mid Wales’ and the speaker will be Chris Shortall of the Rothamstead Research Station. All are welcome and more information on the section’s programme of meetings and activities in 2017 is available from the secretary, David Purdon, on 01970 871012.

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