Bordon Belles WI
October is Breast Cancer and Menopause Awareness Month. On October 4 Bordon Belles WI invited local residents to support women’s health and well-being by attending its Women’s Health Coffee Morning, which included a raffle, craft and cake sales for Breast Cancer Now.
Following an amazing run of fundraising last year, Bordon Belles WI wanted to give something back to the community, and what better way could the Women’s Institute do that than by providing a safe space for chat, coffee and amazing cake, all for a great cause?
Various guests were invited to attend, to share their women’s health and well-being knowledge with the attendees.
These included Backtogether Physiotherapy, East Hampshire and Havant Mind, East Hampshire Social Prescriber, a highly experienced breast care nurse, Breast Cancer Now and the Bordon Belles’ Menopause Doula, who were on hand to offer support.
Bordon Belles members provided amazing bakes and crafts to offer for sale, as well as organising a raffle with some great prizes.
Whitehill town mayor Cllr Catherine Clark attended to oversee proceedings with deputy town mayor and Bordon Belles member Cllr Linda Delve.
Around £650 for Breast Cancer Now was made on the day, with the Bordon Belles Just Giving page still available for people to donate.
Sarah-Jane Bellis, the president of Bordon Belles WI, said: “Women’s health, such as menopause or pelvic floor issues, is often seen as an awkward or taboo subject.
“That is why it was wonderful to see such an open discussion at our coffee morning, especially around breast cancer awareness as early detection for this is vital.
“We are very happy to support Breast Cancer Now during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and want to say thank you to everyone who has supported this event.”
To donate to Breast Cancer Now visit https://www.justgiving.com/page/bordon-belles-wi-pink?utm_medium=FR&utm_source=CL
To join Bordon Belles WI, which meets monthly at the Forest Community Centre, email [email protected].
This month’s meeting, on October 23 at 7.30pm, is Women’s Health themed, with a guest speaker from Backtogether Physiotherapy.
For more information on the WI in general visit www.thewi.org.uk
Wey Vale Probus Club
A total of 24 members of the Wey Vale Probus Club recently had a very enjoyable and interesting five-day holiday in Lancashire.
The hotel on the seafront at Lytham St Annes was ideally placed for day trips into the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding countryside.
Highlights of the holiday included a visit to the Lowry exhibition and adjacent Imperial War Museum in Salford, a visit to the Antony Gormley statues on Formby Beach, the breathtaking Ribblehead Viaduct, followed by a visit to the pretty town of Clitheroe, and a tour along the seafront at Blackpool to admire the magnificent illuminations.
Members also had a full-day excursion to Liverpool, where they had a very interesting and amusing tour given by a local guide. On the way home they called in at the new RHS gardens at Bridgewater near Salford.
They were blessed with good weather throughout and thanked Probus member Ian Trotter for organising such a wonderful holiday.
The Williams Club
The afternoon of October 1 was a truly wonderful one for the members of The Williams Club for the Visually Impaired of Farnham.
They were entertained by the talented Gareth, who performed wonderful songs from the 1950s onwards. They celebrated the 65th wedding anniversary of Pat and Eddie, and Gareth sang them a lovely romantic song. They also celebrated Hazel’s 92nd birthday with a rendition of Happy Birthday, with Gareth on lead vocals.
Members were treated to a simply sumptuous afternoon tea provided by the wonderful team from St Joan’s. They ended the afternoon meeting with a raffle.
The Williams Club meets monthly, usually on the first Wednesday of the month between 2pm and 4pm and often at Farnham Baptist Church.
The next meeting is on November 4, when there will be a Right Royal Quiz. The club is in the process of pulling together an exciting calendar of events for 2026.
New members and volunteers are most welcome. There is no membership fee. For more information visit www.williamsclubfarnham.co.uk or email [email protected]
Farnham Rotary Club
Farnham Rotary Club marked International E-Waste Day on October 14 by explaining to members how important it is to recycle ‘E-Waste’ - anything no longer wanted which uses electricity or battery power.
A diagram produced by the organisers of International E-Waste Day pointed out the 13 metallic elements which are part of a mobile phone - nickel, antimony, boron, magnesium, aluminium, manganese, cobalt, lithium, gallium, silicon, arsenic, copper and platinum.
E-Waste includes chargers, cables, batteries, electronic components, lighting, phones, computers, watches, televisions, games consoles, music equipment, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-cigarettes, vapes and any other kind of home electronic appliance.
Before choosing and buying electrical items or new technology, members were encouraged to do research to try to ensure, where possible, that what they were buying could be repaired or recycled.
They were told that the Farnham Repair Café could fix general electrical and electronic items such as lamps, radios, laptop computers, bikes, kettles and toasters, but not mobile phones, petrol-driven products, industrial devices and three-phase power tools. For more information visit https://frc.cfsd.org.uk
Members learned about ‘urban mining’ - recycling the valuable materials in these products rather than further depleting natural resources.
However such recycling should always be safe, secure and environmentally sound. Items such as mobiles, computers and tablets must be wiped clean of personal data or physically disabled before disposal. Phones and watches can sometimes be recycled by manufacturers participating in a ‘take-back’ scheme.
Professional information technology asset disposal companies offer certified data removal and recycle sustainably. CPR Computer Recycling (www.cprcomputerrecycling.co.uk) is one such company, collecting for free, recycling everything and giving profits to a local charity. SMS Recycling (www.smsrecycling.co.uk) offers a similar service, but not for charity.
Waverley Borough Council offers free collection of small home electrical items and some information is available on what can be recycled at www.recyclenow.com and www.surreyep.org.uk/what-to-do-with-an-item-in-surrey
Dead batteries can be taken to Robert Dyas for recycling, with the destination of last resort being a local authority recycling centre - see www.surreycc.gov.uk/waste-and-recycling/community-recycling-centres and www.hants.gov.uk/wasteandrecycling/recyclingcentres
A Farnham Rotary Club spokesperson said: “You might think that as our devices have become smaller they are less wasteful. Not so. They can hold copious amounts of data, and the ‘Cloud’ mops up our day-to-day tech activity and sends it to vast banks of metal-clad sheds consuming unimaginable resources, storing everything - all our data, photos and long forgotten ‘trash’.
“So in order to save our finite resources, we all need to minimise our data by deleting and editing.”
For more information about Farnham Rotary Club visit www.rotaryfarnham.co.uk or email [email protected]
For details of Farnham Weyside Rotary Club email [email protected] or visit www.farnhamweyside.org.uk
Rowledge Toy Swap
The Great Rowledge Toy Swap will take place at Little Fishes Nursery in Rowledge on November 27 from 7.30pm to 9pm.
It is a fun, sustainable and affordable way to share Christmas joy, give toys a second life, and support Little Fishes Nursery and Home-Start.
This event is for adults only, but babes in arms are welcome. There will be mince pies, festive drinks and a raffle.
People wishing to donate toys should drop them off at St James’s Church in Rowledge on November 26, between 8.30am and 9.30am, 2.30pm and 4pm, or 6pm and 8pm.
Toys should be clean, should include batteries if required, and should be worthy of being given as a Christmas gift. Donors will be given tokens to swap for ‘new’ toys the following evening.
On November 27 token holders can start looking for toys at 7.30pm, with the doors open to all at 8pm. The raffle draw will take place at 8.30pm.
Alton Art Society
Alton Art Society’s 93rd annual exhibition - which celebrates 100 years of the society - continues at the Alton Assembly Rooms until October 19 from 10am to 5pm (10am to 3pm on the final day).
Kim Page will demonstrate dry brush techniques in watercolour on November 15. Mark Warner will show how to paint a landscape in acrylics on December 20. There will be a street scene in liquid charcoal by Rodney Kingston on January 17. Jill Iliffe will demonstrate an egg tempura landscape on February 21. And Jonathan Newey will round off the season with A Walk on the Wildside - big cat drawing in acrylics - on March 21.
Demonstrations are projected on to a large screen to give everyone a clear view. They are free to members and visitors pay £5 on the door. Tea and coffee will be available during the interval.

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