Hi, this is the first of what I hope will be a regular monthly blog. It is intended that other committee members will also take a turn at this, but there again you may be lumbered with me. The idea behind this being, to keep you all up to date on what is going on in your village hall, from entertainment, regular activity, and ongoing work. The aim is also to raise awareness of the importance of village halls throughout rural communities, at the heart of Wales.
This week we have taken a breather from our refurbishment at the hall to prepare for the two performances of Pontypridd Theatre Company’s ‘Westenders’, a review of all things musical. (Thursday 11th and Friday 12th April) With tables set out in cabaret style, both nights were sold out. This local company have been with us since the flood caused by Storm Dennis and regular hall users will be aware of the high standard of their performances.
There was no other way to describe it, both performances were absolutely brilliant, there was a mixture of solo, duets and group performances, and some of the harmonies were top notch. The first set finished with Bui Doi from Miss Saigon and James Randell was excellent as the lead. It was also great to the return of Ieuan Mathews, who always excels. My personal favourite was Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, again sang by James Rendell. To be honest this small theatre group always punch above their weight, and it was another strong performance from this dedicated local group. The whole cast sang the final song of Fame, and the audience gave it a standing ovation. Leonita Walters can be very proud of this excellent show. Keep an eye out for their next performance.
Following on from this, on Sunday we hosted South Wales Ferret Club for their Spring show. These are not your run of the mill smelly rabbiting ferrets; on the contrary these are the pampered pets of the catwalk. What is more surprising is that the club seems to be run by 90% women, as always there was a great turnout.
Hopefully the weather will improve so we can continue with our gardening work. Our intention this year is to encourage people to adopt one of our flower planters at the front of the building and create a bit of, light-hearted, competition within the community. If you are interested just pop in to see me, I am at the hall most days from 8.00 am.
Best Wishes
Mike Phillips (Chair)
Latest Update from Mike Phillips – Chairman 21 November 2022
Hi, this is the first of what I hope will be a regular monthly blog. It is intended that other committee members will also take a turn at this, but there again you may be lumbered with me. The idea behind this being, to keep you all up to date on what is going on in your village hall, from entertainment, regular activity, and ongoing work. The aim is also to raise awareness of the importance of village halls throughout rural communities, at the heart of Wales.
This week we have taken a breather from our refurbishment at the hall to prepare for the two performances of Pontypridd Theatre Company’s ‘Westenders’, a review of all things musical. (Thursday 11th and Friday 12th April) With tables set out in cabaret style, both nights were sold out. This local company have been with us since the flood caused by Storm Dennis and regular hall users will be aware of the high standard of their performances.
There was no other way to describe it, both performances were absolutely brilliant, there was a mixture of solo, duets and group performances, and some of the harmonies were top notch. The first set finished with Bui Doi from Miss Saigon and James Randell was excellent as the lead. It was also great to the return of Ieuan Mathews, who always excels. My personal favourite was Bring Him Home from Les Miserables, again sang by James Rendell. To be honest this small theatre group always punch above their weight, and it was another strong performance from this dedicated local group. The whole cast sang the final song of Fame, and the audience gave it a standing ovation. Leonita Walters can be very proud of this excellent show. Keep an eye out for their next performance.
Following on from this, on Sunday we hosted South Wales Ferret Club for their Spring show. These are not your run of the mill smelly rabbiting ferrets; on the contrary these are the pampered pets of the catwalk. What is more surprising is that the club seems to be run by 90% women, as always there was a great turnout.
Hopefully the weather will improve so we can continue with our gardening work. Our intention this year is to encourage people to adopt one of our flower planters at the front of the building and create a bit of, light-hearted, competition within the community. If you are interested just pop in to see me, I am at the hall most days from 8.00 am.
Best Wishes
Mike Phillips (Chair)
Update from Mike Phillips – Chairman
Well we have just had another very busy week, Phase 2 of the Biodiversity Project the committee have been working on, in conjunction with Transport for Wales has just reached its completion. You may have noticed all the planters on the fence outside the village hall. It has been an absolute pleasure to have worked with TfW from day one. My genuine thanks goes to Louis Mertens for his help during the final stages, given the tight time scale, we would not have done it without you.
This weekend we held our annual Christmas Fayre and what a success it was. A big thanks to all the committee members that turned out, to what proved to be an exhausting day. Also thank you to Steve from the choir, who stepped in as Santa. He was so good he has been booked in for next year. My gratitude is extended to our affiliated members who ran the kitchen, I take my hat off to you for all the hard work you put in, on what turned out to be a very busy day. The bar churned out mulled wine, which seemed to go down a treat and our local choir were excellent. To be honest a lot of hard work was put in by everyone to make the day a great success.
Time seems to fly and it only seems like yesterday that I became the Chairman and Trustee of the village hall. The transformation to the hall during this time has been unbelievable, and this has only been achieved by sheer hard work of the committee which I am proud to chair.
Evidently this work has not gone unnoticed and I take great satisfaction in being able to print below the full message that we received a few days ago from our Community Councillor, Sarah Konduur.
As a Community Councillor for Taff’s Well and Nantgarw, I am entitled to a £150 taxable allowance. I have chosen to donate mine to a local charity and I can’t think of anyone more deserving than you guys at the Village Hall!!!
I will always be so very grateful for the way you opened your doors to not only my family but to those of us that were affected by Storm Dennis and then of course the subsequent pandemic and everything that brought with it. Your dedication to the community it to be admired.
So if its okay could I have the name of your treasurer and account details so I can get Adrian the Community Council
clerk to get my donation directly to you guys. It will be the full amount of £150. Its not taxed if I donate it.
It is this kind of gesture that makes all the hard work worthwhile. I have never met this person before, but I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude for this very generous offer.
Thank you for all your continued support
Best wishes everyone
Mike Phillips