What's On

Every care is taken in compiling this list of What's On and all details given below are believed to be correct, but dates, times, etc can change. Details can be checked by ringing the numbers given.

DECEMBER IN BETHLEHEM HALL

The Llwynmendy Farm visit will take place tomorrow, Sunday December 1st. Rachel and Rheinallt, who recently won the prestigious Dairy Farmers Of The Year award, will be showing local people around the farm, and explaining their farming system and innovations. It promises to be a very interesting event, so they would be delighted if you could come along. Tea and cake served! If you'd like to go, let me know and I can pass numbers on to them. If anyone is unsure of it's location, Llwynmendy is on the right hand side, just after leaving Bethlehem on the road to Ffairfach.

We are almost ready to open up the hall for the annual Christmas Card stamping, starting this coming Monday the 2nd.

The hall will be open every day up to and including Wednesday the 18th, 11am until 3pm. There has been a very positive response to our request for volunteers to man the hall during this time, with only two slots now left to fill - Tuesday 3rd 1-3pm, and Tuesday 17th 11-1pm. If anyone thinks they might be able to help out, please get in touch.

Given that the hall is open to everyone throughout most of December, we have decided to set up a village collection point for the local food bank, so all donations will be very welcome. There will be a large box inside the hall, so even if you don't want any cards stamped (only 10p per envelope!), do call by with a small donation for the food bank, and maybe stay for a cuppa and a chat, there will be a very warm welcome.

This year, Linda Court is collecting used postage stamps in aid of the RNIB, so you can either leave them with us at the hall, or drop them off with Linda at Ty Ni in the village.

The walkers from St. Teilo's church, accompanied by the donkeys once again, will be coming to Bethlehem on Saturday the 7th, so it would be wonderful to see some local support for them when they arrive at around midday. They will be having lunch at the hall, and as happened last year, the donkeys will dine on the green! If anyone would like to contribute some homemade cake for the event, we would be very grateful, so please contact us. We will, of course, reimburse you for the cost.

Similarly, the following Saturday, the 14th, we are also in need of cakes for the Caerphilly Adventure Group who are visiting us for lunch after their annual walk in the area.

There has been a slight change to the dates, the carol singing will now be held on Sunday 15th, in order to avoid clashing with the Carol Service at the chapel.

More updates next week, including the Christmas Supper menu (only three places left now so you are welcome to pre-book). Did anyone mention sticky toffee pudding?

Diolch yn fawr,
Nia

01550 777254
niaclement@aol.com

BETHLEHEM CURRY and QUIZ NIGHT 2024

FUNDRAISING FOR MACMILLAN

The Curry and Quiz night at the Old School in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support was a great success.

Thanks to the generosity and support of many of you, we raised a total of £430, which exceeds last year's sum of £412. For a small event in a tiny rural community, this is a brilliant achievement.

Thanks go firstly to Andy and Alan for a very entertaining quiz, they always do a great job but last night's really was a lot of fun, they also took charge of the raffle which helped enormously, diolch i chi'ch dau!

The raffle prize table was crammed with offerings, which drew a lot of attention, and Mel's Guess The Money In The Jar game proved very popular, so thanks to Mel and to everyone who donated a prize or three, every table went home with a bag of goodies,

Quite a few takeaways were collected on the evening, and donations dropped off, as well as bills being "rounded up" in order to donate the change, so thank you to everyone who bought meals and contributed in those ways.

And of course a big thank you to everyone who spent a few hours eating curry and participating in the quiz.  All of this made for a very impressive final total, which we will be passing on to Macmillan shortly.

Hazel was, as always, a huge help in the kitchen, and Rose pitched in to help serve and clear up afterwards. Barman Wyn kept the drinks flowing, and Andy sorted out all the tables and chairs - a team effort, diolch!

The result of the quiz is almost irrelevant, but the winning team was Too Hot To Trot (Julie, John, Mel and Wyn) so they divided the spoils of the hamper between them.

The success of the evening is even more impressive given that up until a week ago, we were within a fraction of cancelling the whole thing, as there seemed to be much less support for a Bethlehem Macmillan fundraiser this year. It's heartening therefore that it all came good in the end, and that our small community continues the tradition of raising money for such a good cause. And we are already planning next year's fundraiser!

Diolch o galon unwaith eto - A heartfelt thank you once again.

Nia.

Hiring Bethlehem Hall

If you want to book the hall for events, then get in touch with Nia who is managing the bookings.
You can contact her on niaclement0@gmail.com or by phone 01550 777254 or mobile 07747021462.