 The government has designated Friday 8th May as a bank holiday for VE day 75th anniversary. There will be celebrations in Lenham over the weekend of 8th-10th May, supported by Lenham Family Festival and the Lenham Parish Council. All monies raised will go to the Royal British Legion. FRIDAY 8th MAY  There will be events centred around Lenham Square on the Friday, including a bugler, the town crier, 'the cry for peace' and piper, all performing written pieces for the event. These will be spread through the afternoon and early evening, all timed to coincide with events in other towns and villages across the country. There will also be a period car show of civilian and military vehicles, dance displays, sketch performances by HAMS, music and period costumed helpers, a march past and celebratory salute by 133 Battalion REME from Ashford. Tea and cakes will be readily available. SATURDAY 9th MAY  Saturday events will be based at the community centre, which will be open to all! What is more, the ladies of the WI will be selling cakes and teas and coffees, and we will be encouraging people to bring a picnic and make a day out of it. There will be entertainment from the likes of the Salvation Army, the Ukulele band, the Holigans and Platts Heath School. Come and see what HAMS are doing in the Appleton Room or join in with some wartime games. There will be a special VIP tea provided for those born on or before 1st September 1939. We are also collecting photos and memories to display in the community centre over the weekend.
In the evening, Lenham Film Club will be showing an appropriately themed film, “A Royal Night Out”, to round the day off. SUNDAY 10th MAY There will be a special service at St Mary's on the Sunday, and events at the Market. CONTACT US To register for the tea or provide memories for the display, please contact Jenny Lloyd on 01622 859208 or email ve75lenham@gmail.com To donate vintage crockery and tablecloths please contact Margo McFarlane on 01622 859682 or email hello@lenhamparish.org.uk Regarding pre-1945 vehicles please call 07980 919340 or email andy@lenhamparishcouncil.org.uk
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On Sunday 13 October it was our great pleasure to meet with representatives of the Lenham Meadows Trust and Carers Relief Service at the Apple Pressing Fun Day in the Tithe Barn. Here, we were able to present the cheques for the balance of the £1,100 donation to each charity.
The final presentation to Platts Heath School was made at their Harvest Festival at the St Edmonds Centre, concluding our duties concerning the 2019 Family Festival.
Once again, we would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported the festival in June, even though it was a wet and windy day. And also thank you to everyone who came to the Dancing Queen concert. Both of these events contributed to the grand total of £3,300 that we were able to share between the above charities.
It was an unusually hot August bank holiday and it had been a glorious day. Now the cooler evening air was starting to tempt the Lenham residents to emerge from their houses. The Tithe barn was full of the sounds of talking and laughter as people gathered for Dancing Queen: the Concert. After some necessary housekeeping and introductions, the band appeared, suitably attired in Abba costume amidst much cheering and the night began!  After opening with a couple of classics like Honey, Honey and Waterloo, the night just got better and better. By the second song the floor was full of people dancing, and by the time they got to Dancing Queen it was hard to find a spare inch of space on the floor! From the youngest person aged 12, to the oldest at 87, people of all ages enjoyed a good boogie. It was fantastic to see so many people from across the generations enjoying themselves and having fun. There was a great community atmosphere. The band entertained us with Abba songs for an hour. Then, after an interval, there was a further hour of ‘70s disco music. Their performance was full of life and energy, and it was easy to imagine that they were the originals.  All the proceeds from this event will go to the Lenham Family Festival’s chosen charities for 2019. These are: Platts Heath School, Lenham Meadows Trust, and Carers Relief Service. The total amount raised this year will be confirmed next month. The Lenham Festival committee would like to say thank you to everyone who came along for joining in with such good spirit and for making the event a success. We were also extremely grateful that you all took away your rubbish and helped us clear up. What a privilege to be part of such a great community. Special thanks go to everyone involved in making this event happen, to Valerie for all your suggestions and practical help and for the use of the Tithe Barn, and to all our volunteers. Thank you also to Len Valley News and Lenham Stores for selling tickets, and to everyone who donated raffle prizes and helped in any way. We look forward to seeing what’s in store for 2020! We hope you all enjoyed the 2019 Festival as much as we did. We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who came along and supported all of the events. A particularly HUGE thank you to all the stallholders, performers and visitors who came along on Saturday despite the threat of wind and showers. It did rain at times, but we had some lovely sunny spells too. Here are a few photos to give you a flavour of the day. PHOTOS FROM THE FAMILY FUN DAY 2019 Exciting News! We have added a new date to the Festival. On Sunday 25 August there will be an amazing Abba tribute band performance in the fabulous setting of the Tithe Barn! Dancing Queen: The Concert is a live tribute to the ever popular Abba and is one of the most authentic tribute shows you can see, capturing the essence of Abba with all your favourite hits such as “Dancing Queen”, “Waterloo”, “Name of the Game”, “Mamma Mia”, “Chiquititta” and “Money , Money, Money”. This band has performed at various venues and events across Europe including National Theatre tours for the past decade. It’s August bank holiday weekend so bring your drinks and nibbles and dance the night away to all the songs of Abba that you know and love. This is an opportunity too good to miss! We’ll let you know when the tickets will be going on sale and where to buy them very soon. We are also pleased to announce some of the bands that will be playing at the Family Day on Saturday 8 June:
We still have some spaces left so if you are a local musician or band and would like to play at the Festival, you can contact Dave at dandj@needhamd.plus.com
The other news this month is that we will have a stall and a raffle at the Lenham Market on Sunday 12 May 2019. Come and see us for a chat and to find out more about the Festival and please buy some raffle tickets to swell our funds. Remember our three charities this year are the Lenham Meadows Trust, Carers Relief Service and Platts Heath Primary School, so all funds raised will be going to good causes. There is still time to contact Jill on 07856 204648 if you are interested in having a stall at the Family Day on Saturday 8 June.
We are delighted to introduce you to the third of our three charities, which will be supported by the proceeds from the Lenham Family Festival 2019. Carers Relief Service is a registered charity started in 1983 by a group of parents and professionals to offer a short break to carers of adults with learning disabilities living at home.  The charity employs Personal Support Workers to work in the community with adults who have a learning disability to relieve the main carer from the pressure of caring. The service is designed to meet each carer’s specific needs and provides a person centred approach to delivering an individual care plan to the adult with a learning disability. Over the years the emphasis has changed from staff staying in the client's home to more requests to encourage adults with a learning disability to make choices about the activities they engage in within their community. Duties can include, shopping, swimming, hospital visits, attending parties and clubs, discos and support to attend a college course. Support workers may also stay in the home to provide time for carers to relax, enjoy an outside interest or attend a social event. The charity also provides a service to those wishing to purchase care hours using direct payments or individualised budgets. A number of clubs and activity groups for adults with learning difficulties have also been established by the charity to improve their quality of life. The charity operates in the Medway, Swale and Maidstone areas and is managed by a committee of carers, professionals and volunteers who work closely with the local social services departments in Medway Council and Kent County Council. Carers Relief Service is registered with the Care Quality Commission and has a GOOD rating.
So this week we are introducing the second of our three charities for 2019. We are delighted to be supporting another one of our local primary schools.  Platts Heath Primary School is a small, village school that prides itself on creating a friendly, caring ethos. All those involved with the school are encouraged to strive for high standards in everything that they do in work, behaviour, play and in appearance. s They believe that as a small school they ensure all their children are able to make progress academically, morally and socially.a small school they . The school has let us know that they would love to use any monies raised towards an interactive whiteboard and also a “speech to print” kit that will help the children with creative writing and linguistic development. It is great to have the PTA involved in planning the event this year, and children from the school will be taking part in some of the events during the festival. more details will follow nearer the time.  This is the first of a series of articles, providing a bit of background information about our three charities that we are delighted to be supporting in 2019.  Lenham Meadows Trust was set up as a registered charity in 2017 to promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment of the parish of Lenham. The Trust aims to save and protect the open spaces and wildlife of Lenham for the enjoyment of both our own community and visitors to our village for years to come.
If you want to know more about the fantastic work the Trust is undertaking you can follow them on Facebook @LenhamMeadowsTrust.
The committee met for our first planning meeting in November, and the dates for next year's festival were agreed as 6th to 9th June 2019. We will be updating you over the coming weeks with all the latest news about the festival, and with more details about the three worthy charities which we will be supporting this year. These are: The Lenham Meadows Trust Carers Relief Service Platts Heath school We'd love to hear from any local musicians or bands that could play on the family day on Saturday 8th June. Please contact Dave at dandj@needhamd.plus.com if you are interested. If you would like to have a stall at the Family Day, please contact Jill on 07856 204648 If you want to be part of the event in any way or become a Festival friend offering sponsorship please contact us. We’re always keen to welcome new members to our friendly committee, so if you would like to join us you can contact Tom and Janetta on 01622 859412 We’re looking forward to another fun and successful Festival and hope you will all be there to join in the excitement with us and make this a great community event. 
A larger orchestra returned with three soloists and the very talented Jacob Bride to perform the ‘World Premiere of Jacob Bride's Travel Guide to the Orchestra’ taking us on a trip through different counties. We also had flag-waving favourites such as Land of Hope and Glory, together with other more unusual tunes, such as Britten's Folk Serenaden. Children from Lenham Nursery School and Lenham Primary School produced artwork and a few pupils from Lenham Primary School performed and entertained the audience with their dancing.
We’d like to thank the following individuals and companies for which this event would not have been possible:
The proceeds of £2,800 from this event, raised by tickets sales, the bar and the raffle were given to the Lenham Family Festival committee to add to other monies rose during the festival to produce a fantastic £1,500 each to Lenham Nursery, Lenham Primary School and Prostate Cancer.
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