Sutton news 2023 /2024
5th October 2024 - Jazz night with Pete Horsfall
An intimate evening played to a packed Village Hall made this one of the best nights in Sutton for Pete Horsfall and his fellow musicians. The relaxed atmosphere created a closeness with the audience which heightened emotions and delight in the music.
For a number of members of the audience the music stirred up vivid memories of places of the past.
A fantastic evening which has secured Pete and his band mates a place in the Village Hall calendar for future years!
10th August 2024 - Sutton competition winners
The theme for this year's Sutton competitions was "the weather" and the quality of the entries was impressive!
Entries were displayed in Sutton Village Hall at the coffee morning on Saturday 10th August and trophies were awarded to the winners. by Councillor Adam Zerny.
Art (adult) winner - Penny Morgan
Art (junior) winner - Kiera Carolan
Poetry (adult) winner - Barbara McCormick
Poetry (junior) winner - Olivia Carolan
Photography winner - Gabi Rinck
Photography runner-up - Peter Shawley
Please take a look at the winning entries in the Gallery.
Watch this space for details of next year's competitions!
This competition has been organised by Sutton Village Hall and the trophies funded by the Central Bedfordshire Ward Councillor Covid-19 Grant Scheme, Councillor Wye's allocation.
8th June 2024 - Opening of new storage area
Saturday's coffee morning saw the opening of Sutton Village Hall's container which will provide secure storage for the many groups using the hall. The container is in the grounds adjacent to the hall. It is watertight and has been fitted with shelving along one side to maximise the space available and to allocate sections to each group.
Our huge thanks to the National Lottery for awarding us the sum of £3362 to purchase the container, and to Barbara McCormick, John McKenzie and John Ream for all their hard work in making this happen.
19th May 2024 - Sutton annual duck race
Sutton's annual duck race for 2024 took place at 3pm on Sunday 19th May at Sutton Ford in lovely weather. Many thanks to the large crowd who turned out to watch and to all who bought and sold tickets. The prize winning tickets are follows:
1st - £150 - 524
2nd - £75 - 1283
3rd - £50 - 1315
4th - £25 - 984
The last duck to cross the line was 1322 who has gone to a new home!
Proceeds from the sale of tickets are divided equally between All Saints Church and the Sutton Village Hall charity
13th April 2024 - Councillor Wye presents the new dishwasher
The hall now has its very own dishwasher thanks to funding from the Central Beds Ward Councillor Grant Scheme, Councillor Wye's allocation. Tracy Wye (in the photo) presented the dishwasher at the April coffee morning.
This industrial dishwasher takes only two minutes for each wash cycle. While one tray is being washed, another can be loaded in preparation. That will make clearing up after coffee mornings, BBQs, parties, etc. so much faster and easier!
A huge thankyou from Sutton Village Hall Committee as this will be a very welcome addition for all hall users.
18th November 2023: whisky tasting
Our hosts led us through a tasting of five very varied single malt whiskies, including one from the Cotswolds. It was a great opportunity to compare different flavours side by side. The tasting wheel placemats proved to be very helpful in identifying hints of cream soda, toffee, drambuie, smoked cheese, even bonfires to name a few!
Our warmest thanks to everyone for making it such a successful and enjoyable evening! View Gallery.
Here's what our guests had to say about the evening:
"The whisky tasting evening was a great idea and perfectly executed."
"There was a lot more thought and preparation put into the event than I was expecting which made the evening all the more interesting and enjoyable. The selection of whiskies was very good, with a fine variety all of which were new to me."
"I think the hosts did a great job leading us through the tastings in a systematic way and encouraging some discussion at each stage. The further presentations/discussions on regions, distilleries and process were all fascinating and added to the enjoyment." Russell, Potton.
9th November 2023: Sutton Village Hall AGM
Events this year included:
-
advent windows throughout the village
-
whisky tasting
-
Pete Horsfall and friends jazz evening
-
Coronation celebration
-
the duck race
-
the Birmingham Conservatoire
-
Mark Carey theatre "Into the Breach"
-
pizza / BBQ evenings
-
our popular coffee mornings.
The number of bookings has increased from 329 to 440 in the past 12 months. Regular groups contribute 60% of income and include:
-
D-Railed Dance
-
life-drawing class
-
Sutton Lower School
-
Vibrance
-
TJ's line dancing
-
Sutton WI
-
microdrone-flying
-
Sutton Parish Council
-
FOSC
-
Sutton Wildlife Group
-
Sit and Stay dog training
While much of our income is from non-resident bookings for parties, weddings, etc., we have also been very successful in winning grants thanks to the persistence of our chairman Barbara McCormick!
If you would like to join the committee, or even just help out occasionally, please Contact us.
More details can be found in the following documents:
Examiner's Summary of Treasurer's Report (audited)
30th June 2023: Sutton annual competitions
The theme of this year's Sutton Annual Competitions was "nature". There were 3 categories:
-
art: adult, junior (under 13 years)
-
poetry: adult, junior (under 13 years)
-
photography: all ages
Entries were displayed at the coffee morning on 12th August and trophies awarded to the winners.
Art |(adult): 1st Penny Morgan 2nd Charlie Couchman 3rd John McKenzie. Judged by Tess Daintith.
Art (junior): 1st Keira Carolan 2nd Hayden Stuart 3rd Seren Stuart. Judged by Tess Daintith.
Poetry (adult): 1st Phil Lane 2nd Barbara McCormick. Judged by Annie Gilpin.
Poetry (junior): 1st Hayden Stuart 2nd Seren Stuart. Judged by Annie Gilpin.
Photography: 1st Peter Shawley 2nd Hayden Stuart 3rd Gabi Rinck. Judged by Stacey Purkiss.
See Gallery
This competition has been organised by Sutton Village Hall and the cups funded by the Central Bedfordshire Ward Councillor COVID-19 Grant Scheme, Councillor Wye’s allocation.
21st May 2023: Sutton duck race
A huge crowd gathered to watch the duck race at the Packhorse Bridge on Sunday 21st May at 3pm and cheered on a record number of 1250 ducks to the finishing line under the bridge!
Thank you to everyone for your great support with this event.
The winning ticket numbers are:
1st prize: £150 - 1119
2nd prize: £50 - 607
3rd prize: £25 - 842
All proceeds to Sutton All Saints Church and Sutton Village Hall.
26th March 2023: "Into the breach"
This one-man theatre production set in a Devon village hall towards the end of WWII was
captivatingly acted by Mark Carey from start to finish, playing more than half a dozen characters. The early pantomime audition scene afforded the only minor costume change behind the minimalist
scenery. It provided the audience with an opportunity for good natured pantomime heckling and participation in the obligatory pantomime song.
However, despite the protestations of the lead character, a light-hearted entertaining pantomime was replaced by a more serious and challenging production of Shakespeare’s "Henry V". Gradually and imperceptibly his fear and resistance to the play gave way to acceptance and appreciation of Shakespeare’s work and his promotion to the part of King Henry. Each character was clearly identifiable and their interactions, although portrayed by a single person, flowed effortlessly. Overall, this was an entertaining, moving and humorous evening enjoyed by all the audience.
Feb 2023: work completed at the hall
Work has now been completed on linking the kitchen at the hall to mains drainage. It previously went into a soakaway, resulting in issues with blockages, so this should help to address this in the future.
Major work has also been carried out in the garden as the hedge at the back of the hall has been reduced from approximately 7 metres to 4 metres in height and its width reduced also. This allows far more light into the garden area and will help us to maintain it more easily in the coming years.
Jan 2023: follow us on Facebook
Sutton Village Hall now has its own Facebook page where we will post events and news on what's happening at the hall.
Just select the three dots icon at the top right of the page and then "Follow" to receive notifications on new posts.
You are invited to give feedback on events using the Comments field and to contact us using the Message option at the top of the page.
Please note that we will still continue to send emails on what's happening to those who already receive them.
If you aren't already signed up for emails, please use our Contact Form to ask to be added to our email distribution list.
Jan 2023: are you concerned about traffic speeding through Sutton?
Sutton Parish Council is looking for four parishioners who would like to join Speedwatch and for a co-ordinator to liaise between the police and volunteers.
You would have to attend a police-organised training session and the co-ordinator would have to undertake the police vetting process.
If you are interested and would like to find out more, please get in touch using our Contact us form.
