Thanks to those of you who came to the pre-Christmas Tasting Morning in the shop on 16 November. We hope that you enjoyed your visit and for those who couldn’t attend, please look out for future tasting mornings. They are a very good way to get to know the shop better.
There are changes in the Post Office in the shop. Elaine Stephens, who came to us from Kingsclere PO and has been with us for almost three years, is moving to the Forest of Dean. She finished working in the PO on 30 November. We thank Elaine for her work and friendship while she has been with us, and wish her good luck in her move. Elaine is being replaced by Leanne Box, who is starting on 11 December. Leanne lives in Baughurst. Initially she will be working alongside Sheila Crawford, our other established PO Assistant. We hope Leanne enjoys working with us.
Each year we have Carols in the Community Room prior to Christmas. This helps us all get into the “festive mood” and is a very popular event. It starts at 6.00pm on Tuesday 17 December. Please come along to join in the singing – everyone is very welcome, whatever age you are. We provide mulled wine or cold drinks, and nibbles which inevitably include mince pies. There is no entry charge. We take a voluntary collection, and this year the proceeds will go to the Kingsclere Riding for the Disabled group.
As you know we are all obliged to make a New Year’s resolution. You may have tried the regular ones in the past: losing weight, drinking less, spending less time playing Candy Crush or on Facebook etc. Assuming you failed on all of these and you are struggling to think of anything for the coming year I have a couple of ideas. Firstly, if you don’t already volunteer locally, what about helping in the shop? Volunteers can undertake a range of roles, from helping to serve customers and stock shelves, helping to deliver newspapers at the weekend, or becoming a member of the committee. If you’re interested email Neil at nrhaynes40@btinternet.com. Secondly, if you don’t have time to volunteer, please consider using the shop more regularly. Happy New Year.
Finally, here is some information on Christmas and New Year paper deliveries for those of you who have paper deliveries from us. There are no papers on Christmas Day, and in addition we will not be delivering papers on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. If you have newspaper coupons which you have already handed over to the shop, you are welcome to come in to collect your coupons for these two days. Newspaper deliveries will be as normal on all other days.