Dear Aberlady Resident

Welcome to the first 2004 newsletter of Aberlady Community Association! Did you know that all adults living in Aberlady are automatically members of the Association? With this in mind, we thought it would be good to write and tell you a little about what we do and what's new…

The Community Association is about fostering community spirit and we are a registered charity. Much of the committee's efforts go into maintaining the village hall and promoting its use for community activities, but we are also involved in some other exciting projects…

Have a look at the new village website: www.aberlady.org

Check out our new website for everything you'll ever need to know about Aberlady! As well as more information about the Community Association, you'll find a brief history of the village and information about its clubs, societies, businesses, school, church and other local services; plus a useful interactive Events Diary, detailing forthcoming events. This website really is a resource for all and an excellent way to keep up with what's going on in your village. Have a look at the 'What's New' section and feel free to add in any events which you think others might like to know about.

Get an aberlady.org e-mail address - and support the Association at the same time…

One way to support the Community Association is to purchase one of our new 'aberlady.org' e-mail addresses - eg. name.surname@aberlady.org It's nice and brief - and certainly easy to remember! The Community Association can set up your new e-mail address for a small annual subscription of £20 - which pays for the mailbox and also makes a contribution to Community Association funds. If you're interested, contact admin@aberlady.org and we'll set one up for you. Or, if you don't currently have e-mail/internet access but want to get set up, we can do that for you too at an annual subscription of £60 - again including a small contribution to our funds. (If you're a tax-payer you can even Gift Aid your contribution to make it worth more).

A possible Town-Twinning for Aberlady…Come to our French Cheese & Wine Evening on Friday 27th February and find out more…

We have received an exciting proposal from a French village interested in twinning with Aberlady. The village of Valleraugue is in the beautiful Cevennes region of southern France, about 60km north of Montpellier. The next stage is to canvas opinion from the village to see whether there is sufficient interest to take the proposal further. To this end, we will be holding a French-themed Cheese and Wine Evening in Aberlady Village Hall on Friday 27th February at 7.30pm. This is a FREE event, so please do come along, enjoy some French-style hospitality and find out more! We particularly need French speakers (however rusty!) but enthusiastic francophiles are just as welcome! The evening will include a brief presentation on the village of Valleraugue and what twinning might involve, plus a chance to find out more about the other activities of the Community Association. (See the website for more details).

Broadband…coming soon to Aberlady…

Thanks to everyone's support of the recent campaign, Aberlady has now hit the target of 150 registrations required for BT to put us on the waiting list for Broadband connection. Hopefully it won't be too long before we come to the top of the list and we can all enjoy the benefits of high-speed internet access. BT have now suggested that July 2004 is when our exchange wil be upgraded.

So what goes on at the Village Hall?

The Village Hall was gifted to the village by the Earl of Wemyss in 1951. It is hired out to local organisations to run clubs and events, and to individuals for private parties etc. Have a look on the website www.aberlady.org for details of all the clubs and organisations that meet regularly in the Hall: there may be one you'd like to join.

We also run regular events to raise funds to maintain the Hall. If you're interested in helping out, we are always on the lookout for extra pairs of hands and you can do as much or as little as you like! Just come along to one of our meetings (see details at the end of this letter).

Make a donation to the Community Association - and help to keep the hall going!

As you can see, there's a lot going on in the village - but we desperately need funds to support our activities and, in particular, to maintain the village hall so that it can continue to be a valuable resource for all Aberlady residents. If we are not able to raise enough funds, then we may not be able to continue running the hall or sustaining all the events that go on there. This would be a great loss to our community. In particular, we need funds for the following work:

New toilets - approx. £6000 New water main - approx. £2500
Upgrade electrics - approx. £2000 General redecoration - approx. £750

If you think you could make a donation to our funds, however small, and thereby help to secure the future of the hall, please don't delay! Just complete the enclosed form specifying the amount you would like to donate - and don't forget to complete the Gift Aid declaration so that we can claim the tax back on your donation and make it worth even more. Thank you. (In-kind help from plumbers/handymen/painters/decorators would also be extremely welcome!).

Please come along to a meeting and find out how you can get involved…

The Committee would like to extend a warm welcome to all villagers and invite you to come along and find out what goes on in your community. We meet every month in the small room of the Village Hall - usually on the last Wednesday of the month at 7:30pm. Everyone is welcome (indeed encouraged!) to attend. (See the village diary - either on the website www.aberlady.org or in the Post Office - for dates of forthcoming meetings or ask a committee member). It's a great way to get involved in village life and make some new friends.

We hope you've enjoyed reading this newsletter and look forward to welcoming some of you to our future meetings and activities!

Yours sincerely

Aberlady Community Association