New Greener Gaddesden Page on Website

Little Gaddesden Parish Council are keen to try to reduce our village’s carbon footprint, including the use of plastic etc.  The VPA are ahead of the game – for once! – and we have had a gardening sustainability policy for some time.  It influences our store purchasing and our future programme of workshops, so we thought it was time to publish on our website some practical hints and tips that are the heart of our policy.  We’ve put it all on the new Greener Gaddesden page, which is now live.  You can find it in the menu on any page under About, or you can click here to go straight to it:

Take Me to the VPA Greener Gaddesden Page

I hope you’ll have the chance to have a look, and more importantly that you find some useful pointers in what we’ve said.

Alison Townsend

Winter Show Deadline Approaching!

The deadline for entering the VPA Winter Show 2020 is coming up fast. Don’t forget that entries have to be in by:

Wednesday 5 February 2020, 8:00pm

There are three ways you can enter the show:

  1. Fill in a paper copy of the entry form that’s in the middle of your printed show programme (or as downloaded and printed from the Show Entry Form Download section on the Winter Show 2020 page on our website) and deliver it, with your entry fee, by the deadline to
    • Janet Stinton, 5 Ringshall, Little Gaddesden or
    • June Abraham, Peel House, Church Road, Little Gaddesden
  2. Email a scan or legible photo of a filled in paper copy of the entry form to the VPA Show Team at VPA-show@LGVPA.org. Please pay the entry fee on the day of the show.
  3. Submit your entry online directly from this page, using the Online Entry Form on the Winter Show 2020 page on our website. Again, please pay the entry fee on the day of the show.

The show itself will be on Saturday 8 February 2020 at 2:30pm, with the deadline for staging exhibits being 11:00am on the day.

We’re hoping for a good crop of entries to make a great show. Keep them coming in!

June Abraham
for the VPA Committee and Winter Show Team

Help needed please!

Hi All

Just wanted to let you know that with a full list of events again in 2020 we are keen to find additional help to boost our friendly Committee. You don’t need to be gardeners or arboriculturalists, just enthusiastic and enjoy supporting the events that the VPA put on.

The areas we need help are:-
1. In the shop on an occasional Sunday morning, 10-12am, please speak to Lin Underwood, 07974 074483

2. Distribution of the Show programmes ahead of the shows in February and August, please speak to Alastair Greene, 01442 843667, we have a few roads without a distributor at the moment.

3. General support for the events, please speak to June Abraham, 07760 144057

4. Stasia who looks after our facebook and Instagram accounts is always on the look out for photos that members have taken of their own garden plants and veg/fruit etc and would be happy to receive them on email on stasia_tereszczuk@hotmail.com

Many thanks in anticipation, look forward to seeing you at the Winter Show on 8th Feb

Winter Show 2020 Coming Up!

Happy New Year, everyone, from your VPA Committee! Hope you had a great Christmas and that 2020 will be a good year. And what better way to start it than to get ready for our first event of the year? The VPA Winter Show 2020 is coming up, on Saturday 8 February 2020.

The show programmes have been printed and distributed, so you should have your printed copy by now. But if you can’t put your hands on yours, no matter: you can download your own copy, and the entry form, from the Winter Show page of our website. The Winter Show page has a lot of useful information about the show, including an online entry form that you can use multiple times for different family members. The deadline for entries is 8:00pm on Wednesday 5 February 2020.

The classes in this year’s Winter Show as usual reflect the season and give you the chance to showcase your horticultural, culinary, floral, artistic and handicraft talents. And there are plenty of classes for children and young people, including the ever popular classes for household and garden pets.

Please help to make this show a great start to the gardening year. We look forward to receiving your entries, and to seeing you at the Winter Show 2020 in Little Gaddesden Village Hall on the day!

June Abraham
for the VPA Committee and Winter Show Team

Thanks for your Charity nominations

We asked for your input and were pleased to receive a number of replies with a variety of suggestions being put forward which the committee were pleased to consider at our recent meeting. All suggestions received will be retained and investigated for consideration at a future time. 
To clarify, following our various activities during the year we have been able to evaluate the bank balance and take decisions regarding the amount to be made available for good causes.

To date this year we have made donations to St Frances Hospice (£200); Rennie Grove Hospice (£100); and the Alzheimer Society (£100).  

We took the decision to make the following additional donations:

Sunnyside Rural Trust (£250)- social enterprise offering training and work experience for vulnerable people. Training for people with learning disabilities to acquire skills in a number of rural activities. These include beekeeping, looking after chickens, growing a wide range of plants and produce, landscaping and garden maintenance.
Signpost Counselling (£250)
– local charity which provides counselling, coaching and other support to help young people aged 10-25 manage mental health issues. 
Gaddesden Place Riding for the Disabled (£250)
– therapeutic riding for children and adults with special needs and disabilities. 
Dacorum Mencap (£250)
– Recreational Opportunities Allowing Respite. Social scheme aiming to support adults who have learning disabilities and their families. 
In reaching these decisions we considered our local surrounding area and how the VPA and it’s members resonate with a variety of good causes. We are delighted to be able to contribute, albeit in a small way, but every pound helps. 
A big thank you to everyone who supports the VPA and in turn enables these donations to be made.

Christmas Wreath Workshop

“Thank you to all those of you who joined us for “Bubbles and Bulbs” and for the Harvest Supper and Quiz.  We hope you enjoyed both events and hope to see you again next year.”

CHRISTMAS WREATH WORKSHOPS
The VPA are hosting three workshops to help you create a contemporary Christmas wreath for your front door.  Each workshop aims to show you how to create your own unique wreath and will cost £20.00.  The workshops will include all the materials you may need to make your wreath.  We hope that you will also enjoy some light refreshments to help you through the evening.


TUESDAY 26TH NOVEMBER 2019  7.30 p.m.
THURSDAY 28TH NOVEMBER 2019 7.30 p.m.
SATURDAY  30TH NOVEMBER 2019  2.30 p.m.

The workshops are being held in the VPA store so places are limited and booking is essential.  Please either ring 01442 842421 to speak to Alison Townsend or you can email on  ali.townsend@yahoo.co.uk to book your place or for further details.

Which charity to choose?

You may be aware that every year your Gaddesden District Village Produce Association makes donations to charities. The amount depends on how successful the VPA has been over the year with the store sales and with the events that we run.

In the past we have donated to, for example, The Hospice of St Francis and the Ian Rennie Hospice, which are great charities and supported Village projects like the new Gym Equipment in Church Road, Village planters, and the Church Vestry Appeal but the Committee felt that they would like to hear from members about their preferred Charities, especially local ones. So please, if you have a view let us know by sending an email to info@lgvpa.org. Many thanks.

Bubbles and Bulbs Event

Join us at our annual Autumn Bubbles and Bulbs Event in October. Flowering bulbs, planted in autumn, will flower in spring and early summer. Our collection of bulbs are top quality and provide excellent value.

The date of this event is yet to be finalised and is subject to the arrival of the bulbs. (This can be a bit unpredictable!)  This event was well attended last year. We hope to see lots of our members popping along to the store for this year’s Bubbles and Bulbs when the date has been advised.

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