Category: Wenvoe Community Hub
Welcome To Autumn
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
WELCOME TO AUTUMN
I am sure that many visitors to the hub over the past month have seen the entrance hall basking in shades of orange and gold, embracing the start of the Autumn season.
Conkers and acorns were in abundance along with a super-size pumpkin donated by Anwar from the village store. Inside the hub Halloween was supported by a suitably spooky display.
But let’s not forget what the primary function of the Hub is and that is books! Both displays include a selection of Halloween & Autumn related books available for loan once the displays are taken down.
Can we look forward to more displays in the Hub entrance? The answer to that is a resounding YES. Following on from the Autumn/ Halloween displays, November will see the entrance hall decorated to represent Fireworks & Remembrance and of course Christmas will be the theme for December.
Watch this space for news about the 2024 monthly themes.
Bernie Bird
Here are some new books recommended for you
Fiction:
Hunting the Falcon -Henry V111, Anne, Boleyn, and the marriage that shook Europe by John Guy and Julia Fox.
Nonfiction:
The Palace. From Tudors to the Windsors, 500 Years of History at Hampton Court by Gareth Russell.
Crime:
Shadow Stock by Andy McNab.
Lying Beside You by Michael Robson.
Romance:
The High Notes by Daniel Steele. Her new novel of stardom and ambition.
Dates for your Diary
Wellbeing Group Friday 17th November 2 -3 p.m. We continue with our monthly group meetings and welcome new members to join us.
Talks at the Hub Friday 24th November 7 p.m. To commemorate Remembrance month, Andy Kellett will return for another popular talk, entitled Shot at Dawn: military executions WW1
Christmas themed Whist Drive Thursday December 14th, at 2pm in the Hub. Call in
for further details
Christmas Raffle. Look out for our wonderful prizes. The draw will take place on Saturday 16th December at 12 noon.
Test your literary knowledge
- Name all four March sisters in Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.
- Who is the current Poet Laureate?
- What is the name of Harper Lee’s second novel published 2015?
- Which two authors won the Booker prize in 2019?
- Which Emily Brontë novel is the inspiration for a Kate Bush song?
- What is the fourth book in the Harry Potter series?
COMMUNITY HUB NEWS SEPT 2023
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Congratulations Amy Bainbridge
We turned out in force to congratulate Amy for gaining a first-class BA Honours degree in Illustration. Amy was presented with a book token by Claire Ellis who along with Amy has been volunteering with us since Wenvoe Community Library opened in 2016.
Talks at the Hub
Our monthly talks will recommence on Friday the 22nd of September at 7p.m. with Robert (Bob) Bird’s talk entitled A Short History and Measurement of Time. Bob is a fellow of the British Horological Institute and will give an entertaining historical perspective on time and reflect on his 38 years’ experience in restoring mechanical time pieces including a surprising link to Wenvoe.
Tickets are available now at £3 from the Hub.
Here are some new books recommended for you
Nonfiction. – Close to where the Heart is by Malcolm Alexander. Set in the wild and remote landscape of Eday, Part of the Orkney archipelago, this book is an honest tale of rural life from the only doctor on the island.
Crime.–Triple Cross by James Patterson. A killer smites undercover of darkness, triggers no alarms, and leaves no evidence behind. Alex Cross faces his toughest case yet.
Romance. – One Time Love by Taylor Jenkins Reid. From the New York Times Best Selling author, an epic love story
Cuppa with a Coppa
Our next meeting with our Community Police Officer is at 2.30p.m. on Wednesday 27th September.
Wellbeing
We continue with our monthly group meetings and welcome new members to join us on Friday 8th September at 2p.m.
Stitches Monday 1-3
Bring your hand stitching or knitting/crochet’ quilting, embroidery project and chat with like-minded crafters over a cuppa..
Group feedback – We have several weekly meetings at the Hub. Here a few words to sum up what the Stitches group feel about meeting up with fellow crafters:
‘Companionship, sharing skills, meeting friends, we’ll have you in stitches’.
COMMUNITY HUB NEWS AUG 2023
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Summer Reading Challenge 2023
How to take part through the Hub:
- Tell us that your child would like to take part in the Summer Reading Challenge.
- We will get you signed up and give you a special reading record, which also has instructions on how to access fun reading activities online.
- The challenge is for your child to read six books over the holidays.
- Your child can borrow and read books, e-Books, and audiobooks of their choice. They can read anything they like: fiction, fact books, poetry, joke books, picture books and graphic novels all count towards completing the Challenge!
- We will provide special incentives along the way.
- Your child will receive a certificate for reaching their Challenge goal.
- There will be a special prize for each child who has read more than six books over the holidays.
Additional Summer Opening Hours
The Library will be open on Thursdays over the summer break for adults and children who wish to continue with their Sumer Reading Challenge or wish to sign up for it if they have not already done so.
The Hub will also be open. Don’t forget that as well as hot drinks we also have ice-creams, lollies etc. on sale.
We also have lots of new children’s books, plus toys, jigsaws, puzzles and games to amuse adults as well as little ones.
The opening days are 27th July, 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st August from 11.00am – 1.00pm
BFI Replay – 60 years of screen stories digitised and preserved just for you.
Exclusively available to UK Public lending libraries, BFIReplay is a FREE resource for users to browse and enjoy for leisure or study. There are thousands of digitised videos and television programmes from the collections of the BFI National Archive and UK regions and nations film archives, alongside contributions from other significant archives such as BBC and ITV.
The videos span six decades, from the 1960s to the 2010s, offering a glimpse into Britain’s past, its people, and places; recording and revealing an era of rapid social, industrial, political, and technological change. You can be sure of lots of nostalgic Welsh content too. To access the platform just click on the BFIReplay icon on the Library Hub PC desktop.
Date for your diary
Cuppa with a Coppa: 2:30pm Wednesday 30th August.
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
Birthday celebrations
The library volunteers got together to celebrate Sylvia’s 80th birthday with her.
Sylvia Harvey, one of the founding Directors of Wenvoe Community Library way before it became a Hub, was instrumental in ensuring that the village retained a library service.
New Patio
The patio to the side of Hub is now available to users to sit and enjoy a drink in the fine weather. We look forward to seeing you there. Don’t forget that we also do take-way drinks, ice creams and lollies.
Summer Reading Challenge – Ready, Set, Read.
Just to remind you that this year’s Reading Challenge is aimed to keep children’s minds and bodies active over the summer break.
Children will be challenged to get reading over the summer holidays. From July to September, young readers will be able to join a superstar team of athletes and their marvellous mascots as they navigate a fictional obstacle course. The Youth Sport Trust has developed fun activity cards, which, alongside the 2023 Summer Reading Challenge Book Collection will aim to keep young imaginations active over the summer holidays. By participating in the challenge children will have the opportunity to explore new reading material, develop skills and discover new interests. Alina Trigger
Amelia Farm Trust Visit
What a lovely morning we had with the Mother & Toddler group on Wednesday at the Amelia Farm Trust. It was a beautiful day with, thankfully, a bit of a breeze, so it wasn’t quite so hot.
We started off with a play in the playground and Ellis looked really cool driving the tractor. Then we set off to explore. The little ones were enthralled by the animals, although they were a bit surprised by how loud the donkeys were! It’s a great learning environment for the children to expand their vocabulary while having a great time. They loved seeing the alpacas and the sheep, who had recently been shorn.
A walk under the tree canopy was a bit of very welcome shade, especially when we came across the Gnome Village. Then a sit, a drink, and a snack by the lake, where we saw loads of beautiful blue dragonflies.
There were some very tired tots (and grownups) by the end of the morning, but it was great fun!
Anne Leslie
Coming Soon at the Hub
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Coming Soon at the Hub
Wellbeing Group:
2 pm Friday 3rd March
The Hub is more than a depositary for books, it’s about making connections in the community and maintaining people’s wellbeing. This is a self-directed, peer support group for carers and those they support who are living with dementia, and other memory loss conditions or mild cognitive impairment. Further details at the Hub.
Noson Lawen,
Friday 10th March in the Village Hall
Join us for a bilingual evening of mirth and merriment performed by local talent for your amusement and entertainment. Tickets £8 to include refreshments. Bring your own bottle and glasses (or a straw).
Cuppa with a Coppa:
2:30pm Wednesday 5th April
This is an increasingly popular event with the community where Stephen Davies, our Police Community Support Officer, talks about the latest scams and incidents that have occurred in the village over the last six weeks. Stephen will be on hand to listen to your concerns and to offer crime prevention advice. This is your chance to discuss any policing issues that may be affecting you as an individual or as a community.
Talks at the Hub
You will need to book early to get a seat at these popular events. Tickets are £3 and are available at the Hub.
March 7pm., Friday 24th-March
Russ Kielty, 217 (Dambusters) Squadron, Making the Difference
Russ will talk about one of the most famous squadrons in the RAF, formed during the Second World War to carry out a single special and dangerous task.
7pm., Friday 21st April
Gardeners’ Question Time with Mike Tucker, Joyce Hoy, and Gordon Jones. Bring your questions and specimens to our specialists who will be pleased to answer your horticultural questions.
Information at the Hub- NewsBank
If you are a library member, then why not access your newspapers online? All you need is your library ID number and your PIN and you have a wealth of material at hand. We have these details if you have lost them. If you go to the VOG Library site, you will find NewsBank under the heading of Electronic Resources. NewsBank is a free searchable platform that consolidates current and archived information from thousands of newspaper titles. Beyond the library, professionals of all kinds can use NewsBank resources to access useful information of value to their organisations.
Noson Lawen
Our New Shelves Have Arrived
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Coming Soon
Cuppa with a Coppa
2:30pm Wednesday 8th February
Wellbeing Group
2.00 pm Friday 10th February
Talks at the Hub
7.00pm Friday, 24th February. Anne Jones, Romance in Wales. Tickets £3 on sale now.
Advance Notice
Noson Lawen
Friday 10th March in the Village Hall
This is a bilingual evening of merriment and mirth where talented members of the community perform, and others make fools of themselves for your entertainment. Further information and tickets will soon be available at the Hub.
Our new shelves have arrived
We have been busy sorting our new shelving and we hope that you will call in and see how smart the library is now. The old shelves, apart from being heavy to manoeuvre, were not equitably accessible to our borrowers. A grateful thanks to the Vale of Glamorgan who supported our bid for funding the project.
To make space for the new shelves, we needed to reduce the existing stock by withdrawing many of the older books. Don’t worry, we left plenty of space to accommodate newer stock.
Most of our members now borrow books from the online catalogue where there is a huge selection of books from which to choose. If you haven’t yet viewed the catalogue, you will find it at the Vale of Glamorgan website. Scroll down to Libraries and click onto On-line Catalogue on the left of the screen. You will be asked for your library card number and your PIN number (the 4-digit number you were given on registration). Just let us know if you have lost these. Remember to ask for your chosen books to be sent to Wenvoe. Many borrowers have also downloaded PORI, the new app from Welsh Libraries which will allow you to access Welsh public libraries catalogues from your mobile device.
If you don’t feel comfortable ordering your books online, our volunteers are always happy to sit with you and search the catalogue for books you might enjoy
Some new titles this month
We have a selection of new craft and children’s books this month as well as your favourite crime and fiction titles. Here are a few to whet your appetite:
Adult Crime, Thrillers and Fiction
James Patterson – The Horse Woman
David Steele – Invisible
David S. Ross – Dashboard Elvis is Dead
Sheila Norton – Secret of Angel Cove
Simon Booker – Three’s a Crowd
Local History
Glyn M Jones – Sully – a Village
First Year’s Progress
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Annual Report
We opened the new Hub in May 2022, and we thought you should know how we are progressing in our first year.
Our strategic plan is a Hub which is: innovative, central to the Village, a focal point for leisure, information, and activities and inspires a love of books. It should be highly regarded by our community, supported, and respected by our Community Council and fund raising.
Since we reopened, we have increased our registrations by 113 new members. More people are borrowing books, meeting up with their friends, attending groups and events with the latest figure of 1,064 visitors in the month of November. We are now officially counted as the busiest Community Library per capita in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The Hub directors and workers are all volunteers, without whom the Hub would not function. Although we have attracted several new members to the team, we are always looking for new volunteers to keep abreast of our growing services and provision.
As well as our increase in borrowers, we have developed several groups. Clwb Clonc, our group for those wishing to practise their Welsh language skills, has so increased in membership that we have to hold it in two separate sessions on Mondays. Building on this format, we have developed a French and an Italian group. The Stitches group are busy with their sewing and wools crafts churning out wonderful projects, many of which they have donated to the Hub. The notorious Silver Foxes continue with their antics on Fridays.
Reading helps improve children’s vocabulary, communication, writing and grammar skills. We hope to make a difference to their development by encouraging children to read. Starting with our Babies and Toddlers group when Bernie and Jill lead the little ones in Storytime, songs, and rhymes and where we see tiny tots begin to appreciate the value of books. The playgroup also visits us regularly as borrowers and we are delighted to make Thursdays available to Wenvoe school when every child in the school regularly visits and borrows books from the library. Alina, our Schools Liaison Volunteer organises this as well as the Summer Reading Challenge.
Our Police Community Support Officer joins us every six weeks when we have a Cuppa with a Coppa. This provides us with a chance to discuss any policing issues that may be affecting us as individuals or as a community. Monthly talks at the Hub are always a sell-out and we have an interesting variety of topics to which you can look forward in 2023. Our most recent initiative is the Wellbeing group for carers and those, they support who are living with dementia or mild cognitive impairment.
The Hub is helping to support its community through the cost-of-living crisis by offering a free warm welcome. We have a supply of board games and activities in readiness for those of you who don’t want to heat your homes when you can visit a warm and friendly environment and meet up with your friends.
Our strategic view for 2023 is to continue to re-structure our book content to be more what our readers want. To seek more volunteers through personal contact and promotion. To continue to work with Wenvoe Primary School and Wenvoe Playgroup. To manage our finances wisely – keep costs down and raise income. Also, to organise another Village Show
Coming up in the New Year:
Wellbeing Group: 2pm Friday 6th January
Talks at the Hub-Steve Jones – Brunel in south Wales. 7pm on Friday January 27th. Tickets are £3 and on sale now
Cuppa with a Coppa: TBA
A Busy Year At The Hub
WENVOE COMMUNITY HUB
Tel: 02920 594176 – during opening hours or wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
Like and follow us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/WenvoeCommunityLibrary
For general enquiries you can email us at wenvoelibrary@outlook.com
It’s been a busy year at the Hub, welcoming the community as they emerged from Lockdown. We have started several new initiatives and built on previous successes. Clwb Clonc, Silver Foxes and Babies and Toddlers have grown in numbers and enabled members to meet new people that they can now call friends. We look forward to our next Wellbeing group and Cuppa with a Coppa meetings in the new year.
Each of our Talks at the Hub has been a sell-out, the Village Show demonstrated how much talent we have in our community, and our new language conversation groups are successful.
Our events and activities couldn’t have been achieved without the hard work of our committed volunteers who are always happy to help and welcome visitors to the Hub.
Volunteer quotes of the month
I enjoy being part of a group in giving back to the community that which I have received.
The success of the Silver Foxes brings a diverse range of elderly guys together to chat about anything that has been common in their lives.
It’s a joy seeing so many children bringing their grown-ups in.
Pre-loved books
Thanks to all who have, over the year, donated us their pre-loved books. We are still accepting small quantities of books that are in excellent condition.
Christmas Raffle
Our Christmas raffle tickets are for sale at the Hub for two lovely M&S hampers full of Christmas goodies. The draw will take place on Saturday 17 December at 12 noon.
Talks at the Hub
Brunel in South Wales – Steve Jones
Friday 27th January at 7.00pm
Tickets are £3.00 and will be for sale from the Hub in the New Year
Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s work in South Wales has been largely overlooked. Yet South Wales provided the landscape in which many of his innovative works were pioneered and Brunel the engineer is represented there at virtually every stage of his career. Many of these engineering landmarks survive and are still in use to this day.
Born in Cardiff, Stephen K. Jones writes and lectures on local and industrial history, photography and Brunel and his works. Steve will be examining the achievements and legacy of Brunel in South Wales. He will look at railways, docks, piers, and other connections, including Brunel’s great ships which had strong links with South Wales, despite not having been built there.
Christmas Opening Hours
The Hub will be closed to the public for Christmas from Wednesday 21st December and will open again on Tuesday 3rd January.
Hub directors and volunteers wish you a joyful holiday and a happy and healthy New Year.