On Tuesday 12th December the community of Meppershall celebrated their 10th Anniversary with Afternoon Tea and a Christmas sing-a-long.
The GNOMES (Good Neighbours Offering Meppershall Excellent Service) were established on December 2nd 2013 and have been helping the residents of Meppershall ever since.
Those that GNOMES have helped over the years, volunteers and members of the Beds RCC Good Neighbours team attended the party. It was a great opportunity to connect with residents and hear about the wonderful volunteer work that’s making a real difference to the local community.
Over the years, GNOMES have helped Meppershall residents with a variety of jobs including lifts to appointments, befriending, filling out forms or writing letters. The Meppershall GNOMES are volunteer-run and self-funded, relying on donations from the local community to cover running costs.
Good Neighbour Scheme Support Team Leader Justine Hunt presented the committee with a certificate to celebrate 10 years of Meppershall GNOMES. Justine said how lovely it has been to work with the group, sharing memories from over the 10 years of performances, events and activities that the GNOMES have been involved in. She was delighted to be able to present this certificate to the group and praised them for everything they do in the village.
One GNOMES volunteer called the group a “Godsend”, after originally using the group for help themselves before then becoming a volunteer. Elsie, who has lived in Meppershall for the past 65 years, shared how the help of the GNOMES for the last 10 years has brought many positives to the village, which has changed so much over this time.
A huge thank you to everyone who helped put the birthday party on yesterday and to everyone, both past and present, for making GNOMES such a success!