THE Meeting Place, a weekly get-together in Lower Froyle to help bring residents together, has just celebrated its silver anniversary.

And to mark the event, house builder Linden Homes South provided a specially baked celebratory cake.

Founded by villager Annette Booth in 1990, The Meeting Place is held every Friday morning in Froyle village hall where residents from both villages can chat over coffee and cake, and sometimes get help with domestic needs.

Members can buy postage stamps, papers and greeting cards during the morning session, and there are hot snacks available.

Linden Homes South is one of the club’s newest neighbours as in nearby Upper Froyle they are regenerating the former Treloar College and its landmark Burnham House into quality new houses at Froyle Park.

During the celebrations, Susan Whiting, marketing manager at Linden Homes South, dropped in to the Meeting Place to deliver a specially-made silver anniversary cake and to congratulate everyone involved.

The event happily coincided with one of the group’s oldest members, Mary Wilde, celebrating her 85th birthday on the same day, so she was given the honour of accepting the cake on behalf of the others. She has been attending meetings for the last 22 years.

As the cake was cut, Ms Whiting said: “Congratulations to The Meeting Place. To have lasted 25 years shows what an important role it plays in Froyle. We feel like we’re the club’s neighbours at Froyle Park, so we decided to drop round with a cake to say well done.

“Linden Homes realises there’s more to our work than bricks and mortar, it’s about building communities too. We like to do our bit by getting involved in lots of positive ways and we’re very proud to support groups like the Meeting Place.”

Susie Robertson, one of the Meeting Place organisers, said: “The Meeting Place was started as a way of bringing people in the community together and we’re delighted to be celebrating 25 years of doing exactly that. Here’s to another 25!”

And she added: “Having a cake delivered by Linden Homes made the day extra special. The Meeting Place is for all residents of Upper and Lower Froyle and we would be delighted to welcome the new families moving into the Froyle Park development.”