NEWS
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BOOK CLUB - JUNE!
The Book Club books for June are: Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
AGM
The AGM relating to y/e 31/12/20 was held on Wednesday 16th June in the Village Hall.
The Chairman, Lewis Trevithick was unable to attend so Vice-Chairman Matt Hull chaired the meeting.
Councillor Thomas Beckett attended as did Victoria Jackson, Community Development Officer with Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council, members of the committee and the public.
The AGM paperwork from 2019, relating to y/e 2018 was completed and adopted. There had been no AGM in 2020 relating to y/e 2019, due to the Covid pandemic but all paperwork from those years has now been lodged with the Charity Commission NI. Tonight’s AGM related to activities during 2020.
This year we are hiring in some support for the committee and Sally Crawford is starting in June for a trial basis to provide administrative and secretarial support.
A special word of thanks was said about Ken Greer who is retiring this year. Ken has been a much loved and valuable member of the Committee since 1995, which makes it a total of 25 years up to the end of 2020. Initially he represented Junior Badminton club and then later as a Public Representative. He has also been part of the Maintenance Committee and has kept the weeds around the hall in check for many years. We would like to publicly thank him and acknowledge his commitment to the hall, along with all the work he has carried out over the years and we hope he enjoys his retirement.
Councillor Beckett wished the incoming Committee well for the incoming year. He noted the admirable work that had been carried on by the committee and other volunteers throughout 2020 and acknowledged the excellent use of the Village Hall across all the local areas and Food-bank during the COVID pandemic.
The new committee was elected and is as follows for 2021
Public Representatives – Chris Buller, Fernando Gutierrez, Andrea Huff, Matt Hull, David Twigg & Walter Robertson.
Club Representatives
- Aghalee Taekwondo Class Representatives: Susan McCavigan and Michael Beacham
- Art Class Representatives: Lewis Trevithick
- Ballet Class Representatives: Pauline Buller
- Ballinderry Badminton Club Representatives: Derek Blakely and Bobbie Hamill
- Book Club Representatives: Fiona Maree and Kerry Quinn
- Needlework Club Representatives: Pat McAdams and Lynn O’Rourke
- Upholstery Class Representatives: Alison Gawith and Anne Miskelly
- Wag & Bone Class Representatives: Suzanne Cochrane and Margaret Agnew
Those who don’t sit on the committee but give of their time to help are – Karol Biolawas – Maintenance,
Ruth Macauley – Booking Secretary & Caroline Redpath – Safeguarding Officer
Please feel free to contact us by email to Aghalee.vhall@btinternet.com
Zoom Cook-a-long Postponed to September
The Zoom cookalongs with Kindergarden Cooks have been postponed until September.
AVH Car Park Repairs
Works on the Village Hall car park drainage and fence are now complete! And looking well. Many thanks to The Foyle Foundation and Co-op Community Fund for funding the car park drainage. The fence was paid for by AVH. 
Marie Curie Appeal
Each year, at the Village Hall, we support a cancer charity by holding a Coffee Morning. This year, of course, is different.
Moira Marie Curie Fundraising Group has launched an online appeal instead of their usual street collection and we are delighted to be able to help out by sharing the link.
Please help, if you can, by clicking on the link and donating. It would be great if you could share the link, too. Thank you.
Car Park Drainage
Well finally the car park drainage problem has been sorted out - and it’s only taken since 2010 to do this! It has taken this long to save up the funds and to obtain supporting funding from The Foyle Foundation and from The Co-Op Community Fund. This week South West Antrim Construction laid new pipe-work to drain into the approved DfI/Rivers Agency systems.
We had hoped to carry out this work during the Village Renewal works which have temporarily been put on hold due to the pandemic, but decided to go ahead with it while the hall was closed.
In another month, once everything has settled, the tracks will be tarred over and then we will see about making other essential repairs to the surface, so if you are in the car park area before this additional work is carried out, please take care as the surface is uneven in places.
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in the Aghalee Village Hall Newsletter!
Produced twice a year, Summer and Winter editions, 1,000 copies of the Aghalee Village News are distributed to homes in the village and surrounding area. Contact: aghalee.vhall@btinternet.com or phone 028 9265 2571.
COVID VACCINATIONS
If you are aged between 25-29 years old, you can now book for your COVID-19 Vaccine.
The Department for Health has advised that vaccine supplies are limited & there will be approximately 20,000 slots available weekly. Additional slots for the following weeks will be released every Thursday.
Read more at health-ni.gov.uk
Book online: covid-19.hscni.net/get-vaccinated
COVID UPDATE
AMAZING GIVEAWAYS
In April we started the 'Giveaway Programme' under Covid Arts & Volunteer Thank You Grant from Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council. The Council offered us £5,234 of a grant being 80% of the costs of parts of the programme. Aghalee Village Hall made up the 20% and provided some aspects of the Giveaway in their entirety. Council staff have been very helpful to us as application time was extremely short.
We are planning to host a range of virtual, on-line arts based programmes to engage those people from the community who have been and are unable to take part in the activities in person. It is hoped that these will promote a sense of well being among those who take part as things have been very difficult for many during the Covid emergency.
The courses:-
Wellbeing – a programme of 8 (1hr) classes, managed by an experienced and well known tutor. During this worrying and challenging pandemic crisis, people will have some quiet space to relax and explore new ideas and skills to help keep them and their families well. The course will look at overall health & wellbeing, including physical strength, boosting immunity through diet and gentle movement; emotional balance to manage mood and relationships and manage these changes; and mental stability to help build resilience and create coping mechanisms. The cost includes all classes and preparation required.
Art – a course programme of 8 classes for adults who will work on-line with an experienced tutor. The tutor will provide the outline drawing and materials, to be collected from the hall and the students who register will be invited to take part in a live introduction followed by a series of classes to help them complete the image. There will be access to the tutor for guidance throughout the programme and cost includes all preparation and guides.
Cookery for Children – we will host 3 on-line workshops, managed by an experienced tutor. They will manage the workshops from instructions relating to fetching ingredients through to eating the final product. This tutor already works on-line and has the workshops down to a fine art.
Yoga – we will have a tutor run a course of 8 classes of Yoga for beginners. This tutor is already experienced in carrying out this type of class and the cost includes all preparation work.
Giveaway Packs
Gardening (i) – we will provide packs for everything to sow vegetable seeds. The project will start with collection of the pack plus full, printed instructions and completed with a follow up video link. This activity is geared towards children.
Gardening (ii) we will provide packs including everything to sow and grow some sweet-peas up canes. The project will start with collection of the pack plus full, printed instructions. This activity is geared towards adults and will be funded by AVH.
Craft for Adults – Door Wreath kits. We plan to purchase a number of complete kits for creating stylish door wreaths. All materials and instructions will be included in the packs.
As an addition to these programmes, we will be supplementing the Connecting Communities Grant Programme by creating arts and crafts packs for 100 local children. Aghalee Village Hall will buy the items and make up the kits, which will be given out on a first come, first served arrangement through our social media pages. This activity will be funded by AVH.
Again as an addition to these programmes we will create packs for 100 local ‘Seniors’. These packs will include some art and craft materials, along with other items to help the seniors feel they are still part of the wider community and not isolated. This activity will be funded mostly by AVH with some grant aid from the Council.
We will also purchase some equipment to enhance the Connecting Communities Grant Programme, which may enable some classes and programmes to be carried on outdoors in the better weather. These items include pop up gazebos and outdoor heaters.
GET IT IN THE RIGHT BIN
Please DO NOT put PPE into your recycling bin – Council will not collect the bin!
Warning About Scams – You Do Not Have to Pay for a Covid Vaccine!
Lisburn Advice Centre for anyone needing help and advice.
The Executive has confirmed significant relaxations to the Covid-19 restrictions came into effect from Monday 24 May. http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/news/executive-confirms-relaxations-restrictions