Fundraising latest… Bric-a-Brac and Brunch

There was a fantastic atmosphere at the recent Bric-a-Brac and Brunch fundraising event, held in the Village Hall. Thanks to everyone who donated and joined us for a good old treasure hunt and a wonderful selection of delicious hot breakfasts, tea and cakes…

Some of our brilliant volunteers, with their biggest fan!

The HDCC Village Fundraising Team has also been working very hard  to put together a programme of events for the year ahead.

The Spring Village Market will be held on Saturday March 23rd and the  Christmas Market will be held on Saturday November 23rd in the Village Hall

2024 Fundraising Calendar in aid of HDCC

  • Saturday February 24th – Bric-a -Brac and Brunch (11am -3pm)
  • Saturday March 30th –Coffee Morning 10.30 -12.30 (originally Scavenger Hunt, but this will now be in July so as not to clash with Wilderness Wood’s Egg Hunt)
  • Saturday May 4th Jumble Sale (2pm -3.30 pm)
  • Saturday July 6th Scavenger Hunt on Playing Field or around Village?
  • August 24th Barbecue and Quiz
  • Saturday October 5th Souper Saturday (Soup kitchen in the Village Hall)
  • Saturday December 7th Something Crafty (Salt dough, decorations, wreath etc.)

Many thanks to our fantastic local fund raising team: Glenys Lake, Sarah Allen, Jane Hissey, Dee Hogg, Gill Terry, Janet Tourell, Ann Zenka and all the volunteers who do so much to help us.

Fundraising Expertise

In order to realise our goal of providing a New Community Centre at the Playing Field, we need to raise significant funds. Getting more volunteers and expertise will have a massive impact on our results.
Several residents that responded to our survey offered to help us to write grant applications.

Was that you?

Unfortunately we don’t have your contact details, as the survey was anonymous. If you have any expertise in this area and would like to support us please contact Sarah, sarah@downthelane.uk

For more ways you can support us please visit our fundraising page here
or to make a donation please click on the donate button

Thank You

Our Business Plan

If you joined us for our public meeting in July 2023 you will know that our goal, once we had washed up the results from our village survey, was to to begin updating our Business Plan.

  • The business plan was first written in 2014 and, again in 2017, lots has changed since then
  • We’ve made good progress on writing an updated business plan but, it has taken a bit longer than expected to pull it all together
  • You can download the draft plan here
  • The Plan is currently being peer reviewed and we expect to make further revisions based on their feedback.
  • It brings together all of the different elements of the project, including:
    • The history of how we got here
    • The project proposal – floor plan, planning consent, elevations etc
    • The latest proposal to stage the implementation
    • Key financial assumptions about the ongoing financial viability of the community centre. This crucial element has been presented to the Community Centre Advisory Committee who were supportive of the work done so far
    • The capital project details – building costs, specifications etc from the architects and surveyors
    • How we will organise ourselves to deliver the project and run the hall afterwards
  • There will be a more detailed Capital Plan and Fundraising Strategy which will be shared in due course
  • We have looked at many business plans from other similar villages who have managed to build a new community centre on their playing field and have used both their plans and their cost and expenditure numbers to help guide us in this exercise
  • The Business Plan will be a living document that we will review, update and republish periodically – highlighting any changes. It will be available for anyone to read and will, most importantly, be a key factor in our conversations with funders as we move on to the fundraising stage 
  • If you are interested in a more detailed discussion on the business plan, we would be delighted to organise a meeting where we can answer any questions you may have.
  • your comments and feedback would be most welcome, please contact Mandy or Sarah.
  • We are always open to fresh talent joining our team, if you feel that you would like to support us with the Business Plan or our Fund Raising Strategy please do contact us.

Mandy Chapman mandy.chapman45@gmail.com
Sarah Prall sarah@downthelane.uk

The Spring Market and Lottery Draw

We do hope you can come along and join us for the Spring Market to be held in the Village Hall on

Saturday 23rd March, 10 am -2 pm.

Local Produce, preserves, crafts, plants and lots more available.

Refreshments will be served all morning and HDCC will be drawing the winners of the Spring Lottery.

If anyone would like to buy lottery tickets in aid of HDCC or book a stall please contact
Janet jtourell@btinternet.com
there are still a few stalls left!

Our thanks, as ever, to all our supporters.

Bric-a-Brac and Brunch Bonanza!

We are on the lookout for exquisite bric-a-brac items to feature in our upcoming event. If you have any unwanted gifts, good quality pieces or pre-loved treasures that are in perfect condition, we would love to hear from you.

We are seeking:
China/crockery no chips or cracks please
Costume jewelry, sparkling pieces that deserve a new home
Handbags/scarves/accessories in excellent condition
Toys, unique and well preserved playthings
Collectibles, quirky and interesting things that tell a story

What we don’t need:
Clothing, shoes or electrical items

Your contributions will make our event truly remarkable, and best of all you will be helping us to raise funds towards building our new Village Hall.

Contact Glenys on 830857 to arrange collection of your donations.

Join us on Saturday 24th February – 11am – 3pm in the Village Hall
Browse and Shop, unearth hidden treasures and indulge in brunch, we will be offering a selection of tasty treats and freshly brewed tea and coffee.

Thank you for your support!

Business Plan Update

We start the year at a very exciting point in our project. During our public meeting in June 2023 we committed to completing our updated business plan by Christmas. We have been working hard on delivering this but were a little delayed in finalising the plan by the end of the year, as we were targeting. We are, however, pretty close. We have written most of  the report,  have collected all the necessary income and expenditure numbers from the existing hall and the comparison halls we have been looking at. We will need a couple of weeks to firm up our assumptions on the ongoing income and expenditure for our new hall and we will then circulate the draft plan to a small group for early feedback and comments as promised.

Next we will provide documentation and presentation material for engagement with the Parish Council and then the wider community. Our thanks to all those who have supported our fact finding and information gathering to date.

A very happy New Year to you all! As always, if you would like to offer your expertise and support we would love to hear from you. Please contact Mandy mandy.chapman45@gmail.com

2024 Calendars are now available!

You may have read about our 2024 calendar in the Village Magazine. Thank you to all of you that ordered one at the Christmas Market, we will be contacting you to arrange collection.

HDCC Calendar 2024

A limited edition calendar, featuring photographs and paintings, celebrating life in our village. The calendar is a neat A4 in size and will be sold for £10 per copy, all profits will go to HDCC as part of their ongoing fundraising activities.

A special thank you is owed to John Eliot, who has very generously allowed us to feature several of his paintings, including the lovely cover image, “Cows Grazing on Waghorns Lane, with Castle Hill in the background.”

You can reserve your copy by contacting Sarah, sarahprall@btinternet.com or by calling Glenys on 01825 830857

Join us for a festive Quiz Night

We are looking forward to hosting our fun quiz night on Saturday 9th December in the Village Hall. You are invited to enter in teams of 6 people. We will be serving a bowl of Chili followed by ice cream from a local dairy farm. Tickets are £15 per head. Don’t worry if you can’t put a table of 6 together, we will combine smaller groups on the night. Call Bob for more details and to book tickets 830 857

…And the winners are

Thank you for joining us at the Christmas Market in the Village Hall on Saturday. It was a lovely event as always.

The lottery draw was held and we are delighted to announce the winners were Irene Carr, Gill Terry and The Village Fayre Committee. For all the details on our latest lottery results please see our Lottery Page here.

Please Come and Join us!

In our recent survey many of you said you were keen to support our ongoing fundraising efforts. The good news is there are lots of ways you can get involved in our campaign, meet new people and have fun this Autumn and Winter.

There are still tickets available for our Pop Up Vintage Tea Party in the Village Hall on Saturday 28th October. You can dress up too if you like!

In December we are hosting a fun quiz night, you are invited to enter in teams of 6 people. We will be serving a bowl of Chili followed by ice cream from a local dairy farm. Tickets are £15 per head. Don’t worry if you can’t put a table of 6 together, we will combine smaller groups on the night.

We do hope you can come to one or both of these events but don’t worry if you can’t make it. You can donate as little or as much as you like on our Just Giving Page any time. Every single penny donated makes a difference to the success of our project, thank you for supporting us.