Colne Caring Community / Good Neighbour Scheme

3Cs – Colne Caring Community

 

3Cs – Colne Caring Community is a Good Neighbour Scheme that is run for the benefit of the village of Colne. We aim to provide opportunities for people to socialise, get to know our neighbours and build a better community for all. Our aim is that no-one in the village should feel lonely.

 

3Cs is run by an enthusiastic committee who are always looking for new ideas to enhance the wonderful village we all love and are proud to call home. We are also extremely lucky to be supported by a fantastic group of volunteers who help to run our fortnightly sessions.

 

What happens at our sessions? Our ‘friends’ enjoy a hot drink that is served at their table with a selection of homemade cakes for them to enjoy. At some meetings we have speakers, activities, bingo, exercise, and entertainers. One of our favourites is a visit from Upwood Ukuleles – they’re great fun and they raise lots of money for MAGPAS. We’re looking forward to welcoming them back in November. Someone new on our calendar was the singer and musician John Pilbeam – we thoroughly enjoyed singing along with him. We’re hoping to have a return visit from him this summer. Another repeat event this summer will be a garden party. Last year we moved our meeting into the grassed area behind the Village Hall. We were blessed with sunshine, and some friends even enjoyed exploring the Jubilee Woodland and Community Garden.

Thanks to a wonderful group of volunteers, the Community Garden continues to flourish. We’re so grateful to the ‘Garden Gang’ who ensure that visitors to the garden can enjoy an area surrounded by flowers and some fruit and veg. The food is harvested and sold at 3Cs sessions to add to our funds. It is an extremely peaceful area where wildlife is encouraged. We’ve been lucky in that the wildlife hasn’t done too much damage to what is being grown. The Garden Gang also look after one of the beds on the village green and the beds surrounding St Helens Church.

From time to time, we organise trips out. Last year we enjoyed a lunch at Seasons Garden Centre at Chatteris. Thanks to fundraising, we were able to subsidise the meal. In these times where families can quite often live further away, it’s good to give our friends the opportunity to enjoy a meal with their peers, and in some cases, people they went to school with.

We also had a trip to a local garden in Somersham, that takes part in the National Garden Scheme. Again, we were rewarded on the day with wonderful weather and it’s great to be able to visit places like this. Later this year we’re looking forward to another trip on the Ladybird boat. It’s always a very relaxing journey giving us the opportunity to see where we live from another angle, and the varied wildlife that live on the riverbank.

Our Christmas party saw another first for us. 49 friends sat down together in the Village Hall to appreciate a Christmas dinner cooked and served by The Lounge in Bluntisham. It was delicious and enjoyed by all!

We were fortunate to receive a donation of £500 in the funds raised by the Bluntisham Beer Festival. And were also given financial legacies by families of villagers who’ve passed away. All these donations help us to enhance our meetings and trips out. At our sessions, it’s very easy to see how our friends appreciate the opportunity to get together regularly. We do try to reach out to those who may feel lonely. Obviously though, we respect the wishes of individuals who are happy in their own homes. We have a list of villagers who are unwell and can’t attend our meetings. We deliver boxes of the uneaten cakes to let them know that they’ve got someone looking out for them.

We’re always on the lookout for people to help at different occasions. Could this be you? It’s extremely rewarding! Would you like to spend some time helping in the Community Garden? If you’d like to know more, why not pop in on one of our sessions (dates below), you’d be made very welcome. And where else could you enjoy a hot drink and cake for just £2? If you’d rather, give us a call on the dedicated 3Cs phone 07714 528537, we’d love to hear from you.

Hope that we see you soon?

Cheryl Pomfret

Very Proud Chair of 3Cs – Colne Caring Community

 

Tea/Coffee Sessions, all held at Colne Village Hall between 2 – 4pm

March 15th	April 5th	April 19th	May 3rd
May 17th	May 31st	June 14th	June 28th
July 12th	July 26th	August 9th	August 23rd
September 6th	September 20th	October 4th	October 18th
November 1st	November 15th	November 29th	December 13th

 

 

 

 

 

 

Age UK – community-support-resource-14.10.20