Throughout 2026 Alton charity Cardiac Health is celebrating 50 years in operation with a host of fundraising events.

Cardiac Health helps people lead stronger and healthier lives through exercise at its facility in Chawton Park Road.

Since July 2025 Alton Football Club has been the charity’s fundraising partner, so Alton chairman Carl Saunders joined Cardiac Health centre manager Denise Ellis to jointly launch its anniversary celebrations with an art and design competition for local children, who are invited to ‘Design a Heartfelt Thank You Card’ for the charity.

Denise said: “So many local people have been supported by Cardiac Health over the last 50 years; it’s been a pillar of the community since Dr Hugh Bethell first launched the ‘cardiac rehab’ exercise sessions at Alton Sports Centre in 1976.

“Partnering with Alton Football Club for this, our 50th anniversary year, makes so much sense as health, fitness, exercise and community are at the heart of everything we do. I am so pleased that Carl and the team at Alton FC have agreed to help us launch this competition and provide some of the prizes. I can’t wait to see the entries.”

Cardiac Health will invite every child who enters the competition to see their design on display at its exercise centre on March 26. There will be after-school refreshments and a chance to tour the facilities.

On March 6 the Cardiac Health Big Quiz, sponsored by Sheen Stickland, returns to the Alton Maltings Centre. Tables seat eight people and there will be a bar. Tickets cost £21, which includes a hot supper.

The Social Bridge Afternoon Tea returns to Beech Village Hall on April 23. A wonderful tea will be provided by the charity’s volunteers and the event will cost £70 for a table of four.

For more information on the competition, and tickets for the quiz and tea, call 01420 544794 or visit https://cardiachealth.org.uk/

Local charity space2grow has received a £2,000 donation from the Tilford Village Fete committee.

Space2grow is an award-winning community well-being garden in the heart of Farnham. It supports the well-being of local people, with a particular focus on children and families.

Kate Newton from space2grow said: “This incredible donation will make a huge impact for our project. We have so many plans for the garden this spring which we will now be able to put in place, making the space more magical for the children who use our services.”

Tilford Village Fete is an annual summer event, and with the help of sponsors and supporters it raises funds each year for its chosen charities or community projects.

There is always traditional fete fun plus a themed raft race and an evening party with live music. This year’s fete will be at Tilford Village Green on July 11. For more information visit www.tilfordvillagefete.co.uk and www.space2grow.space

Sheet Film Club will be showing My Favourite Cake (2024) at Sheet Village Hall on February 19 at 7.30pm.

This gentle, inspiring and beautiful film about love and hope is set in Tehran and is so timely as the regime there is facing an existential threat to its survival.

This is the story of Mahin, 70, who lives alone since her husband’s death and her daughter’s departure for Europe, until an afternoon tea with friends leads her to break her solitary routine and revitalise her love life.

As Mahin opens herself up to new romance, what begins as an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unpredictable, unforgettable evening in a land where women are not allowed to speak, dress, work or act with all the freedoms allowed to men.

Directors Maryam Moqadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, unable to attend the launch of their film because of censorship, summed up their work as being “a story that is contrary to the common image of Iranian women and similar to the life stories of many lonely people on this planet: about savouring the short, sweet moments in life.”

Non-members are welcome for a fee of £6 on the door. Tickets can be bought in advance at https://webcollect.org.uk/sheetfilms. The bar opens at 7pm and snacks can be ordered, at the door, from The Queens Head for the interval.

The Masters of Melody Concert will be held at St Mary’s Church in Buriton on March 1 at 2.30pm.

Soprano Penny Pettifor and pianist Tom Cooper will be joined by cellist Helen Downham and flautist Simon Diggens.

The quartet will present a journey through 300 years of the world’s most beautiful song, from the haunting beauty of John Dowland to the lush romantic melodies of Schubert - with the flute dancing through the regal fanfares of Purcell and the cello taking centre stage for virtuosic solos by Vivaldi.

Admission is free, with a retiring collection to support the work of St Mary’s Buriton. There will be light refreshments afterwards.

Haslemere U3A will hear a talk by jewellery expert Jason Middleton at Haslemere Hall on March 9 at 2pm.

Jason is a professional speaker on gemstones and jewellery. For 22 years he has had a career in the jewellery industry working as an international gemstone buyer for a respected jewellery company.

In 2015 he started his own company, Versen, supplying the jewellery market with loose gemstones and finished jewellery, specialising in pearls and semi-precious stones.

The talk will cover hallmarking, noble metals and gemstone faceting, and will look at the role of hallmarking in jewellery today and previously.

It includes an opportunity for audience members to assess the hallmarks on their own jewellery. The talk also includes sections on the precious metals and popular gemstone cuts seen in jewellery.

Complimentary tea and coffee will be served after the lecture.

Paul Chapman will give a lecture on Kiki de Montparnasse to The Arts Society Haslemere at Haslemere Hall on March 17 at 1.45pm.

Alice Ernestine Prin (October 2, 1901 to April 29, 1953) was nicknamed the Queen of Montparnasse and often known as Kiki de Montparnasse.

She was a French model, chanteuse, memoirist and painter during the Jazz Age. She flourished in, and helped define, the liberated culture of Paris in the so-called Années folles - ‘crazy years’ in French. She became one of the most famous models of the 20th century and in the history of avant-garde art.

In the autumn of 1921 Prin met American visual artist Man Ray and the two soon entered into a stormy eight-year relationship.

She lived with Man Ray in his studio on rue Campagne-Première until 1929, during which time he made hundreds of portraits of her.

She became his muse at the time and the subject of some of his best-known images, including the surrealist image Le Violon d'Ingres (Ingres' Violin) and Noire et blanche (Black and White).

Complimentary tea and coffee will be served after the lecture.

Haslemere Players will perform the musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Haslemere Hall from March 25 to 29.

In this fabulous production, Roald Dahl’s book bursts on to the Haslemere stage in a dazzling spectacle of comedy and candy-coated imagination.

Follow kind-hearted Charlie Bucket as he discovers that dreams really can come true when he wins a tour of the world’s most famous chocolate factory, filled with whirling machines, fizzy lifting fun and sweets beyond belief.

Join Willy Wonka, the Oompa-Loompas, Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde and Mike Teavee for a night to remember, complete with toe-tapping songs, a live orchestra and energetic dancing.

There will be performances every evening plus matinees on March 28 and 29. For tickets and times call 01428 642161 or visit www.haslemerehall.co.uk

Alton Walking Football Club played a few sponsored walking football matches over the festive period and raised £1,000 for Cardiac Health.

The club has 40 members aged from 50 to 78 who continue to play the beautiful game - but a lot slower.

Cardiac Health centre manager Denise Ellis was presented with the cheque at Alton FC’s Anstey Park Enclosure ground, where the club plays, on February 2.

In a letter to Denise, Mike Graves - who runs the club - said: “The guys at the Alton Walking Football Club just want to say a big thank you to you and your staff for providing excellent advice, counselling and exercises for us and all the communities in and around Alton.

“Some of our members have been through hard times recently. After attending your events and carrying out your tailored exercises they have achieved full recoveries and are still able to play the beautiful game.

“I hope our small contribution to you will help you provide more courses and advice to more and more people and your organisation can go from strength to strength. Thank you from all at the Alton Walking Football Club.”

The club plays on Mondays from 3.30pm to 5pm and Thursdays from 3pm to 4pm.