Sponsored Walk

THE Hospital League of Friends is conducting a sponsored six-mile walk on Sunday, 20 March. Sponsor forms are available from Woosnam & Davies News, or the Hospital. The walk starts from the Gro car park at 10am to help raise money for the new palliative care suite at Llanidloes hospital.

Tennis club

THE AGM of Llanidloes Tennis Club is on 6.30pm Monday, 7 March, at the Tennis Clubhouse. All welcome.

Churches Together

LENT Lunches are being held on Fridays in Lent in Llanidloes Church Hall, noon till 1.30pm. This year’s theme is The Things Jesus Carried - 12 February, the Cross; 19 February, the Crown of Thorns; 26 February, the Seamless Robe; 4 March, The Disciples’ Disappointment; 11 March, God’s Hopes; 18 March, Our Sorrows.

CYTUN, Churches Together, held a coffee morning for the Llanidloes Refugee Fund at Chatwood, Longbridge Street, on 16 January from 10am to 12.30pm. There was crumpets and toast and cakes for sale. A total of £341.77 was raised.

Easter egg competition

MILWYN Jenkins & Jenkins solicitors at Great Oak Street is holding an Easter Egg competition. Entrants must colour or make an Easter egg. Entries must be handed in to the offices by 11 March, and chocolate prizes will be presented on 15 March.

Day centre

IN EARLY February Maesywennol day centre staff and service users arranged a raffle along the theme of the colour red, and raised £66 for the British Heart Foundation.

Textile day

THERE is free admission to an exhibition of stitched, printed, em-broidered and woven textiles, costumes and artefacts from around the world at Minerva Arts Centre. Meet world textile experts, traders and collectors. Plus at 11am and 2pm there will be special talks by experts. It takes place on Saturday, 19 March, 10am to 5pm.

Refugees

FOR February and March, the support group is collecting wind-up torches and hot water bottles to be sent to refugees. The collection points in Llanidloes are Natural Foods, Great Oak Street and the Old Mill. Any donations of these items will be extremely welcome.

Family history

THE Williams family of Llanidloes will be the subject of a talk at 2pm at the URC Schoolroom, New Church Street, Newtown, on Saturday, 27 February. The talk is by the Powys Family History Society, Montgomeryshire Group. Interested non-members are welcome.

Book talk

EMILY Chappell, an ex-Llanidloes High School pupil, will be at the Great Oak Bookshop on Friday, 19 February, at 7.30pm, to introduce and talk about her new book, What Goes Around- a London Cycle Courier’s Story. Since getting her Master’s Degree Emily has cycled round the world solo.

Gardening club

LLANIDLOES and District Gardening Club welcomed three new members to their meeting on 26 January at the Elephant Inn.Members enjoyed a 50-ques-tion quiz on horticulture, and the winners with 43 points were Tom Rowlands and Emma Maxwell.The next meeting will be held in the same place at 7.30pm on 23 February, featuring a talk from Stan Mahon, Kerrimeg Nursery Carno, on spring and summer vegetables.The 22 March meeting will feature a talk from Helen Porter on Growing and Using Medicinal Herbs.The club will be holding a Spring Flower Show at 9.30am on Easter Saturday, 26 March, at the Elephant Inn. As well as an array of beautiful spring flowers, there will be a plant stall, cake/provision stall and children’s painted egg competition.The children’s competition is open for the public to enter and will include the age groups: two to five years; six to eight years; and nine to 11 years.There is a first prize of £10 vouchers in each age group.Entries to be brought along by 9.30am on Easter Saturday with prize-winners announced at noon.Contact secretary Jane Griffiths on 01686 412210 for more information.

Rotary club

LLANIDLOES Rotary Club is still looking for one young leader for this year’s Rotary Youth Leadership Award. Volunteers should be aged between 15 and 17 and be free to attend the course over the period of 21 - 26 August. The aim of RYLA is to encourage the development of teamwork and leadership skills in young people who have the potential to be future community professionals and business leaders. This is achieved by the use of residential experience and outward bound activities and is a fantastic opportunity for any local students. If you are interested or know someone who would benefit from RYLA, contact Llanidloes Rotary Club for more information.Llanidloes Rotary Club has also announced that for the first time, all participants in this year’s Rotary Across Wales Walk will receive a free event T-Shirt on completion of the walk.

Twinning

HOSTS are being sought to welcome French visitors from Llanidloes’ twin town into their homes this summer.Fifty people from Derval in France will be visiting Llanidloes from 23 to 28 July as part of the Town Twinning programme.The organisers are looking for more hosts willing to look after a family or couple in their home. Hosts will need to provide bed and breakfast, some evening meals, packed lunch and transport to the centre of town each day to take part in visits and activities - which they can join in if they wish..There will be a drop-in evening on Thursday, 17 March, 7pm to 9.30pm for anyone who wants to find out more about Town Twinning and hosting the French visitors. This will take place in the Bailey Room, Llanidloes Community Centre.The Llanidloes – Derval twinning started in 1995. Last year the 20th anniversary was celebrated in Derval and Llanidloes, and some of the original organisers were able to attend.There have been many visits between the two towns over the years; the last was a party of about 30 people who travelled from Llanidloes to Derval in 2014.John Shercliff, secretary of the Town Twinning Association said: “We were very well looked after and entertained on our last visit to France with trips to Chateaubriand and Rennes as well as activities like canoeing and walks in the countryside. “This year we will repay our French friends’ hospitality during their visit to Llanidloes. There will be another visit to Derval in 2018, when any new hosts will be able to travel to France. “There is no payment for providing hospitality, but transport to and from France must be paid by those taking part.”Planning is already under way for the visit in July, with visits to places of interest in mid Wales and other activities in Llanidloes.For further information contact John Shercliff. Email [email protected] or phone 01686 430780.

Idloes Seniors

THE monthly meeting of Idloes Seniors takes place on Thursday, 18 February, at 2pm in St Idloes Church Hall. New members are welcome.