Wednesday July 23 is the date of a very special musical event which will take place in St John’s Church, Keynsham.

A singing workshop in the afternoon, followed by an evening concert is being organised by Keynsham’s popular Good Afternoon Choir. From 2pm-5pm a fun workshop will take place and this will be led by Laurie Jones and John Hare. Laurie is Head of Music at Westonbirt School and the youngest son of Good Afternoon Choir Founder, Grenville Jones. John Hare lives in Keynsham, is a freelance musician and the conductor of the weekly Keynsham Good Afternoon Choir.

“It’s going to be a great day of music with new pieces to learn in the afternoon by the hundred plus singers who will attend the workshop. Then in the evening from 7pm (until approximately 9.15pm) there will be a concert at which the special guest is Gavin Osborn. Gavin is a hugely popular entertainer who is well known for his BBC Radio 4 and Radio 6 broadcasts. He has toured across the UK, Europe and Australia and we are delighted that he is coming to entertain us on July 23,” says Grenville.

Tickets are selling quickly for this day of music and if you would like to take part in the workshop and evening concert (music will be provided) please contact the Good Afternoon Choir office on 01761 472468 with tickets priced £15.

If you could like to come along to the evening concert only, tickets priced £8 are available in advance from gac.ticketlight.co.uk or by calling 0844 888 9991 and will be available on the door.

There are now 35 Good Afternoon Choirs across the West of England and singers representing many of the choirs will be attending the workshop and concert. For full details see www.goodafternoonchoir.org

The Chew Valley 10k was one of the major local events that running club Somer AC competed in to conclude a successful Spring season.

Wells Festival of Running features competitive 5km and 10km road races with a 1.2km event for younger runners. On a sunny yet windy spring morning in the cathedral city, nearly 750 participants enjoyed the sunny weather and challenging courses.

There were 50 Somer runners donning the distinctive black and yellow vests, of which 22 came from Somer’s growing Juniors section. Notable performances included evergreen Paul Newman winning the Mens 65+ in the 5km, whilst youngster Roxy Lear was first girl (and third overall) in the 1.2km race.

Only a week later, there was another mass turnout at the Chew Valley 10k at Bishop Sutton. It was a blustery yet hot day on a challenging course comprising the long climb to Hinton Blewitt. The event is well respected in local running circles, with fantastic support from local residents that was gratefully received by all the participants. First back for Somer was Chris Keepen in a rapid 39 mins 34, ahead of several clubmates competing in their first 10km race.

Somer runners continue to participate at local events and further afield. They’d love to hear from you if you want to get into or back to running; Seniors meet Tues/Thurs at Norton Hill School whilst the youth and juniors meet at Downside School on Thursdays during term times. Drop them a line at [email protected] or visit their facebook or Instagram pages.

A GROUP of yarnbombers held a special knit/crocket event as a way to celebrate one of their member’s 95th birthday.

High Littleton and Hallatrow Yarnbombers held this event at the Scout Hall in High Littleton on Saturday, June 14, where people were asked to join in making squares to turn into blankets for Paulton Hospital.

One of the groups members Nel Mudford has been making these blankets for several years. The yarnbombers wanted to celebrate her 95th birthday by helping to make some squares to add to her collection.

Nel is the oldest member of the yarnbombers, but knits lots of items towards the yarnbombing trail, which is on display in High Littleton and Hallatrow every July and August.

Bloomfield Care Homes are handing out a heartfelt thank you to people who helped celebrate the 100th birthday of one of its residents.

To mark the significant date, the care home had asked for people to send in cards wishing her a happy birthday, as she had no surviving family or friends living nearby.

The team at Bloomfield, based in Paulton, spent time reading through each message sent in, from cards and emails to messages from people within the community and across the world.

They say that it was touching to see how Bertha’s story has resonated with so many people, and that the kindness shown made her day unforgettable.

Local Classic car owners all came together to save the day at a local care homes classic car show.

Kingfisher Lodge in Chestnut Walk, Saltford, had planned the show for a few months, but received news two days prior to the event that the planned cars attending couldn’t make it.

Kelly, one of the care home’s activity co-ordinators, sent out a plea on Facebook asking their local community if they could help.

The community replied with a huge “we got this” and turned up on the day in large numbers. The beautiful cars that arrived ranged from a 1934 American REO to a bright red Ferrari, and every other car in between.

For two hours, so many residents, staff, family members and neighbours came along to see the cars and meet the owners, many of the residents recognised cars they learned to drive in.

One resident, Tony, admired the spitfire, saying “it just makes me want to take it out for a spin in the country like I used to”. He had owned a few of them throughout his life.

Another Resident cheered with glee, saying “it’s so beautiful” when he seen the bright red Triumph, before shedding a tear of joy when he saw a classic mini, which they said was their old car.

This may have started off as an event hosted by the care centre, but it became a real community event. Local man Chris commented on Facebook “Saw the cars driving off, lovely stuff!”

Kingfisher Lodge general manager Claudia said “we cannot thank our local community enough, they all gave their own time and also shared their treasured cars with us all and made sure our residents were not disappointed, it means so much to our home, it’s the true meaning of community spirit”.

Children from Chew Magna Primary School became mini chefs on a recent visit to The Pony restaurant in Chew Magna (Wednesday 18 June).

The children in Key Stage One (ages 5-7 years) enjoyed their morning at the Michelin Guide listed restaurant collecting flowers from the garden and making pesto. They created flower crowns, learned about the different herbs and vegetables growing in the kitchen garden and made herb pesto to take home.

A child in Year 2 said: "I really enjoyed learning how to make pesto and making flower crowns because it was fun and interesting."

Another child from Kestrel, the Reception class, said: "My favourite thing is we got to pick the types of herbs; I learnt some flowers can be poisonous"

Chew Magna Primary School’s visit to The Pony was related to the topic of community which they are currently studying.

Janine Blackmore, teacher, said: "The children had a magical morning; how often do you get to pick lovely flowers from wonderful gardens and then make your own crown? The Pesto making was brilliant too: the team talked about eating healthy, natural ingredients and explaining the process of making the pesto, giving children the opportunity to join in.

“At Chew Magna Primary we love encouraging the children to try new foods and this is a perfect opportunity to extend that. We consider ourselves very lucky to have this on our doorstep"

Chew Magna Primary School is one of 17 schools that are supported by The Partnership Trust, a Multi-Academy Trust based in B&NES and Somerset.

Emily Massey, CEO of The Partnership Trust said: “What an inspirational visit to The Pony! It’s great to see children at Chew Magna having the opportunity to explore their local community and learn about healthy eating. I’m sure the herb pesto was delicious.”