CWMYOY & District WI.are pleased to welcome guest speaker Dylan Allman to talk to us about his ‘Hedgehog Aware’ campaign on Wednesday, February 5, 7.45pm at Cwmyoy Hall.

Dylan explained, "HedgehogAware’ came about after I discovered hedgehogs in my garden during the lockdown.

"Since then, I have learnt all I can about one of the UK’s most loved mammals – the Erinaceous Europeas (European Hedgehog) – and want to do as much as possible to help them not only survive, but thrive."

Dylan has won numerous prizes, awards and grants to assist his projects. He brings buckets of enthusiasm to his talks as well as loads of interesting facts and figures.

He also runs the Monmouth and Wye Valley area 'Hedgehog First Response Unit' with a team of volunteers.

If you would like to join us to find out what you could do to help the hedgehogs in your area, please come along.

There will be refreshments provided.

Non-WI members £5 entry on the door

Doors open at 7:30pm   -   All are welcome  

Any enquiries to WI Secretary: Marlene Howarth    

Email: [email protected]

Whilst his KAT equipment was almost the least important of his losses in the recent 'Richard's' conflagration, newsagent and local character Paul Cable has continued his litter collecting activities on Saturday afternoons on Frogmore Street and adjoining areas, where he frequently stops to chat and share anecdotes with local residents and visitors alike.

Paul's many contributions to the Abergavenny community are to be recognised again when he is set to receive the Gwent High Sheriff's Award in a ceremony at Newport's Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre later this month. Richly deserved.

A very cold and miserable January evening was considerably brightened up when our speaker for the evening was our own member, Des Ruck, who gave us a fascinating visual tour of his garden writes Jane White.

Des is an inspirational gardener, skilled in propagation with seeds and cuttings collected from far and wide and with a passion for reusing and recycling all types of scrap materials. He is skilled craftsman and has made an assortment of containers, display shelving, fencing and structures to make every inch of his garden not only attractive, but also cost-effective. We were grateful to him for sharing it with us and launching our 2025 season so successfully.

Our business meeting followed the tea-break when members enjoyed catching up with friends after the Christmas/New Year break.Our newly appointed chairperson, Wendy Hughes, conducted her first meeting seamlessly and asked Margaret Reardon to thank Des for his talk on our behalf.

The competition "A Photo of your Garden" was won by with Margaret Reardon coming second and third. The Flower of the Month was won by Jane Thompson with a beautiful piece of witch-hazel. The guest speaker at next month's meeting on February 17th will be Phil Pope, talking about Tools for Self Reliance and how our local Crickhowell branch is involved.

Competitions will be "The Flower of the Month" and "Your Favourite Garden Tool." Judy Griffiths and Judith Vicary will be serving refreshments and new members and visitors will be made very welcome. Our meetings start at 7pm and are held at the Mardy Hall on the third Monday of each month.

One of the Volunteers from the Monmouthshire Rural Support Centre (MRSC) at Monmouthshire Livestock Market, is also a Director of a Charity called 'Give Me Hope Africa Wales' that supports the communities in Legenya Sub County in Sironko, Eastern Uganda.

Nessa Jenkins planned to travel out to Uganda in the New Year, so the Directors of MRSC put out a call for items of stationary such as pens, pencils, coloured pencils, rubbers, sharpeners, girls’ pants & bra's etc. for the children in the village.

Supporters of the centre soon started to fill up the donation basket, and Nessa was overjoyed by the amount collected, and thanked everyone for their generosity.

Shirley Hughes the MRSC Coordinator said ‘the latest news from Uganda is that Nessa’s suitcases containing the ‘goodies’ were lost in transit, but yesterday they arrived in Uganda and will be delivered to the village and will be distributed to the children in the village school very soon’.