Twyford Together news - Autumn 2021

Photo: Chris Drew

Update by Robin Yeadon, Chair of Twyford Together

As we begin to get excited about Christmas, it’s a good time also to reflect upon the past year.

For Twyford Together it has been another curtailed year in terms of events – not entirely unexpected due to the various restrictions in place at times.

However, it was great to kick things off again in June with the Beer Festival - a huge success, raising £12k for men’s cancer charity Orchid. Congratulations to Ian Wisdom and his team for all their hard work in getting the festival back on, overcoming a few challenges along the way.

We then had a marvellous Twyford Charity 5K and Fun Run in October, and much of the normal Christmas calendar has been reinstated too.

Sadly, this last year we have said goodbye to three great village stalwarts: Gordon Storey, David Warner and David Turner.

Gordon Storey was the man behind the Twyford Together Business Forum. Gordon used his skills, determination and boundless energy to great effect and was responsible for organising (or being involved in) many community-oriented events and initiatives benefiting our village.

He was an inspiration to all and is greatly missed. Many representatives from across the local community joined together in mid-September to pay tribute to him in a lovely event at Buratta's, organised by Lisa from the Kitchen & Bathroom Place. Twyford Snooker Club, where he served as chairman. David was one of the driving forces behind the renovation of the hall on Wargrave Road. He worked alongside club members raising money to repair and refurbish the historic building, which was relaunched in July 2019 as the Twyford Memorial Hall.

David Turner was a trustee at the Polehampton Charity and the Twyford Youth Centre, a regular helper at the Twyford Donkey Derby and a staunch advocate of the proposed new library at the former Polehampton School. As part of raising funds and awareness for the library project, in 2019 David recreated his see-saw world record 50 years after first making it into the Guinness Book of Records with his friend David Sutch.

Twyford village Christmas events

The Christmas Fayre makes a welcome return to London Road on Friday 3 December from 6pm to 9pm. There will be many stalls and several shops open as well as plenty of entertainment, food and mulled wine.

So please come and enjoy what will be a lovely evening, with a great opportunity to purchase Christmas gifts.

Don’t miss the switching on of the Christmas tree lights, scheduled for Sunday 28 November. The festivities will start from 5pm and more information will be posted nearer the time on our @TwyfordTogether Facebook page.

Our ‘Be A Santa to a Senior’ Christmas tea party will sadly not be held this year, but will again be replaced by the delivery of Christmas gift hampers.

Twyford Charity 5K and Fun Run

A huge ‘well done’ to everyone who took part in any of the races, contributing to our RECORD turnout. Big thanks to Chris Drew for taking so many excellent photos, which are now available to view and download for free from www.flickr.com/ photos/barnesfitness/albums/.

So many highlights, but to name a few: the pre-school toddle (always a favourite), having to re-start the year 3/4 race due to keen runners jumping the gun, Cara - our 5K hero who ran with her guide - and the excitement surrounding the announcement of our three fastest streets (1st Longfield Rd, 2nd Springfield Park and 3rd Jarvis Drive).

We must also thank Barnes Fitness for expertly organising the races, The Piggott School for allowing us to use their premises, all our volunteers (especially the Piggott Sixth formers on registration and St Mary's Church at the finish line), Castle Royle for being our primary sponsor; Decathlon, Up and Running, Stanlake Park, Burattas, La Fontana and Haweli for donating prizes, Waitrose for the bananas, all our local schools and RG10 for the enthusiastic support, and this year's wonderful stallholders: Refill Hub, MJW, Polehampton PTA, Happy Hours, Camp Mohawk, Twyford & Ruscombe Horticultural Association, Twyford Rethinks Its Plastic - TRIP, Twyford Comets and Rural Pie Co.

What a great community we have! Special thanks to Emma Donald for working so hard to pull this all together.

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, when we get there, and a healthy and prosperous New Year to follow.