The Competition closes on the 20th December and we would love to see your wreath sparkling brightly on the Mission EmployAble Doors For The Cause gallery.

Entry requires a donation of just £3.50 (plus booking fee) per upload. All proceeds going to Mission EmployAble.

Here is a little example of some of the fabulous wreaths that have already been entered:

     

Closing Date: 20th December
Prize: A Fabulous Christmas Hamper

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and good heath for 2021.

Official Page

Our 2020 virtual dog show Mission WoofAble gave you, our supporters, a chance to show off your furbulous pets and we were delighted with the response.

There were so many beautiful and often touching photos to choose from, that our judges Shirlie Kemp and Jo Day described their job of picking the best entries as an emotional rollercoaster.

“It was an extremely hard task to choose the best and we wish we had a prize for every entry"
- Judges Shirlie Kemp and Jo Day

“We were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of residents for their furry friends and also by the generosity of local businesses in donating prizes and want to thank them all for contributing to so worthwhile a cause.”
- Erica Bendall, chair of the Mission EmployAble fund-raising committee

Winners and Highly Commended for Mission WoofAble 2020:

Date: 23rd - 26th May 2021
Distance: 452km over 4 days
Route: Chorleywood - Stonehenge - Taunton - Okehampton - Padstow

Donate Now

 

Our original three Coastbusters have been joined by two friends, which means that five of them will now cycle from Chorleywood to Padstow from May 23rd - 26th.

The original trio, Tony Bendall, Gary Waller and Robert Finney had planned to cycle the 452 km to Cornwall in aid of Mission EmployAble in November, but had to postpone during lockdown.

Now they will be joined on their re-scheduled ride in May by two mates, Patrick Turnbull and Adrian Horsburgh, both from Chorleywood, with all proceeds going to Mission EmployAble.

Adrian Horsburgh. "Definitely the amateur in the group with a rather rusty bike but hopefully a good enough engine to see the distance out." (Adrian is a man of few words but he will get the job done and he will be a great asset to the team)

Patrick Turnbull. "Over the last 15 years my friends have allowed me to cycle with them and I just about managed to keep up but I really enjoy the company and banter. As a family we have had our summer holidays every year near Padstow for 25 years and I am so looking forward to cycling there - it’s a long drive let alone a bike ride!"

All five cyclists will receive a Mission EmployAble sports goodie bag for their efforts.

If you and your friends want to set yourself your own sporting challenge in aid of Mission EmployAble, please email us at erica@missionemployable.co.uk. We would love to hear from you and discuss your ideas.

A wonderful way to support Mission EmployAble and Chorleywood Bookshop this year is to buy or order our Christmas cards from the bookshop and help promote the charity to your friends and family.

We are selling our specially designed colourful Christmas cards in packs of 10, which you can buy from Chorleywood Bookshop or here, via our website.

If you live in the Chorleywood area, we will hand deliver your cards free of charge and best of all, the cards are glitter-free and printed on fully recyclable FSC-certified paper.

Price £5.99 for 10 cards or £53.91 for 100 cards

Cards available from Chorleywood Bookshop, Tel 01923 283566, E: info@cwbookshop.co.uk

The bookshop re-opens on Wednesday, 2nd December:
Mon to Thurs: 9am – 8pm
Sat: 9am – 5.30pm
Sun: 10am – 4pm

Lending a paw to support your local charity Mission EmployAble and The Chorleywood Cricket Club Pavilion Fund.

Do you think your dog is furbulous, well here is their time to shine. Enter our Virtual Dog Show to show off your dog(s) and be in with a chance of winning a fantastic hamper for Best in Show along with other great prizes for being 1st place in your Class.

Here is a little example of some of the gorgeous pictures on our gallery;

     

Closing Date: 20th November
Prizes: 1st in class, Best in Show and the Judges Choice.
Judges: Shirlie Kemp & Jo Day

Good luck, we can’t wait to see all your lovely furbulous fur babies.

Official Page

Photo courtesy of jo@jodayphotography.co.uk

Photo courtesy of jo@jodayphotography.co.uk

**STOP PRESS** Lockdown has prevented us departing today (2nd November), because we wouldn't complete our cycle until after national lockdown starts on Thursday 5th (and has disrupted our logistics for the return home). Instead we are planning an equivalent ride on 23rd-26th May 2021.

The money you have donated is going to this amazing charity and we can not thank you enough for supporting the team who will complete this Epic Challenge.

Date: 23rd - 26th May 2021
Distance: 452km over 4 days
Route: Chorleywood - Stonehenge - Taunton - Okehampton - Padstow

Donate Now

 

Team Coastbusters are a group of friends who really enjoy cycling. They used to love Football, Rugby & Basketball but those days are distant memories. But they like to cycle, keep fit and enjoy the challenges of long distance bike rides as well as raising money for good causes. So on 2nd November they're off on a 452km (283 mile), 4-day cycle to Padstow in Cornwall, in aid of Mission EmployAble and the Chorleywood Cricket Club Pavilion Fund.

Mission EmployAble aims to train people with learning difficulties, to employ some and help others find work so that they can lead fulfilled lives working and contributing to their local community. It needs a venue for a 30 cover cafe / tea Room with a gift shop to provide training opportunities for over 20 trainees per week. So ME and CWCC are now working together to build a brand new pavilion with combined facilities (cricket pavilion / cafe / tea room / training facility) on Chorleywood Common.

So who's actually cycling to Padstow?

Tony Bendall's a veteran of 15 London To Brighton bike rides, several trips from Chorleywood to Brixham, Bristol and Padstow. Out most weekends cycling in and around Herts & Bucks covering about 4000 miles a year on one of his many bikes. Strava and Garmin are his top 2 gadgets!

Gary Waller - "I’m fairly old hand to cycling, I love it, especially long distances. I have completed some big bike rides in the past, like Coast to Coast. I know that I’ll be looking forward to crossing the finishing line, although the laughs with the team during the ride are always great. However, I’m not looking forward to cycling up any hills that are planned en route.”

Robert Finney's cycling career began with a touring bike ride through Burgundy. Many wine regions later, Robert started long distance cycling in Blighty (only 4 London-Brighton's so far) - most recently leading a group of ten round the Isle of Mull in his native Scotland. If Tony’s the ideas man, Robert’s the planner, ensuring the trio finds a picturesque route away from the trunk and other A-roads which Tony so loves!

If you have a great idea like Tony, Gary and Robert's and have a fundraiser challenge in mind, please get in touch we would love to hear from you: erica@missionemployable.co.uk.

Lockdown failed to dampen the enthusiasm or compromise the creative talents of those who entered Chorleywood’s first ‘virtual’ flower show, namely Mission DiggAble, organised this year by the new charity Mission EmployAble in conjunction with the horticultural societies of Chorleywood and Heronsgate.

The charity, which is raising money for a training café for young adults with learning disabilities, decided that with so many flower shows being cancelled locally and nationally, green-fingered residents should be encouraged to ‘have a go,’ with fabulously colourful results.

Mission EmployAble hosted Mission DiggAble on its website and awarded prizes in eight categories: tallest sunflower, best vegetable, best painting, best flower arrangement, best hanging basket or container, best upcycle, kids’ corner and best in show.

Founder and chair of Mission EmployAble, Katharine Weston thanked all the local businesses who donated prizes.

She said: “Like so many charities, our fund-raising activities have been put on hold this year, but we wanted to keep our name in the public eye.

“DiggAble was a wonderful opportunity and it proved to be great fun for all the participants.”

The winning entries were:

For further information, to donate to Mission EmployAble and to see the full gallery of Mission DiggAble entries, visit the Mission DiggAble Official Page

Photos courtesy of jo@jodayphotography.co.uk

Theme: The 2020 Scarecrow
Create a scarecrow to mark this landmark year. It could be somebody or something you appreciate more than ever from key workers to your next-door neighbour or a straw version of the person you’ve unexpectedly become – a home worker, cake baker, keen gardener, Zoom regular or Quiz champ. The character could even represent what you’ve missed over the last six months from a family wedding to a festival or gig. Just add a few props to set the scene!

Register Your Scarecrow
tickets.mp/scarecrows (£6.50)

Closing Date for Registration
Wednesday 30th September at midnight.

What Happens Next?
Towards the end of this week you will receive an email asking for the name and location (including post code) of your scarecrow plus a brief quote, story or poem giving the reason for your scarecrow choice. A few days prior to the Trail weekend you will be sent your Scarecrow Trail number to attach to your scarecrow.

Scarecrow Setup
Set up your scarefcrow by 11am on Friday 9 October. Be sure your scarecrow is in a spot where it can be viewed throughout the weekend.

Following the Trail
The Scarecrow Trail list and voting form will be online this year. The link will be on our website and facebook page and will go live just prior to the Trail weekend

Contact Information
Please send all Scarecrow Trail communication to this email address: info@chorleywoodmagazine.co.uk

Brent is among the remaining 20 to complete the Centurion Running Grand Slam of 100s

The Grand Slam of 100s award is recognition for those who complete all 4 Centurion 100 mile events within a calendar year:

• Thames Path 100
• South Downs Way 100
• North Downs Way 100
• Autumn 100 (originally the Winter 100)

The Autumn 100 is a 100 mile continuous trail race based in the twinned villages of Goring & Streatley on the river Thames. The course reflects the shape of a cross and takes runners on a series of 4 different 25 mile out and back spurs using sections of both the Ridgeway and Thames Path National Trails.

I have been asked, what makes me want to run four 100-mile races in 4 months to raise money for Mission EmployAble.

There’s nothing special about it - I’m just a guy who likes to run a lot. But what is more amazing is all the time and dedication that all the volunteers from Mission EmployAble are giving towards creating a truly fantastic future for so many young people with learning difficulties - bricks and mortar that will last for generations to come to ensure that everyone, no matter what their abilities, will have a chance to get trained and find employment. The entire community will also benefit from a fantastic new cricket pavilion and a place to meet on the Common for a coffee and some food.

Running 400 miles is easier to imagine if you break it up into manageable bite size chunks in your head. Each of the races are 100 miles, which must be completed before the cut off time of between 27 to 30 hours. Each race has around 13 feed stations. This means that I just have to think about 7 and a bit miles to the next checkpoint. So when the chaff under my arms is so painful that I have to run with one arm in the air for relief, or my feet are so wet and blistered that it feels as though the soles of my feet are sliding off, or my quadriceps are so ruined that I have to walk up the hills backwards, I just think about getting through the next 7 miles to the feed station, take a drink and some fruit, reset and carry on.

Incentives for donating to Mission EmployAble:

• The person who donates the highest amount will get to choose my outfit to run in next January's Country to Capital race that runs through Chorleywood. This is the middle of winter and it is 43 miles, so a mankini is not that practical! 😊
• The 4 people who donate the most, will get a finishers t-shirt for one of the races.
• For every £2000 raised, I will run a marathon on consecutive days to a maximum of 14 days (As I do have a job and a family). So if I raise £28,000 I will run 14 marathons in 14 days.

To follow the progress you can either follow me on Strava under the name of Burt Bang or at Centurionrunning.com for live updates of all the races.

Brent Mullane
Running for Mission EmployAble

Photo courtesy of jo@jodayphotography.co.uk

Choose a Mission - Walking, Running or Cycling
Beginner: £5.00
Intermediate: £10
Ultra: £15.00

With the easing of lockdown Mission Employable have been delighted to be able to launch their own My Mission for our local foot-ninjas and pedal crunchers looking for a personal fitness challenge.

Rediscovering the joys of walking, running and cycling within our beautiful village has encouraged us all to work on our own fitness. Sunny weather, quieter roads and the need to get out and breathe in the better air has also been essential to help lower stress, reduce feelings of isolation and help ease anxiety and depression.

Your one-off donation per category (£5 for a Beginner entry, £10 for an Intermediate entry and £15 for an Ultra entry) enables you to enter your progress into your chosen leaderboard and update it as many times as you like, with all proceeds going to Mission EmployAble.

Mission EmployAble, together with the horticultural societies of Chorleywood, Rickmansworth, Heronsgate and Loudwater, are calling on green-fingered residents of all ages and from the surrounding villages to take part in Mission DiggAble, a virtual flower show, to raise money for a training café staffed by young people with learning disabilities that will be housed within Chorleywood Cricket Club’s new pavilion on Chorleywood Common.

When you feel the time is ripe, simply upload your photographs of your fruit & veg and plant/s for assessment by the judges, using the submission form below. You may enter as many categories as you wish and as many times as you like. Entries are open from Monday 8th June 2020, with the deadline for photo submissions being Monday 31st August 2020.

Each entry into the competition costs just £2.50 with all proceeds going to Mission EmployAble.

Winning prizes for each of the 7 categories will be selected, followed by a Best of Show

With commercial cinemas being allowed to re-open this weekend, you may be wondering when the village's community cinema will be re-starting too?

We are monitoring events and developments as the lockdown eases but the final decision will obviously be subject to Government guidelines and public health advice.

When we do come back, one of the first films we'll be showing is the heartwarming, original and funny, The Peanut Butter Falcon (Cert. 12). The screening in conjunction with local charity Mission EmployAble, is in support of their Cafe/Tea Room in a new Cricket Pavilion on the Common in which they'll train and employ people with learning disabilities.

Like so many other charities, Mission EmployAble's fundraising activities have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. However, they are coming up with innovative ways to raise money, including a virtual Flower Show - Mission DiggAble - in conjunction with several local Horticultural Societies which runs through till mid August. For more information please see http://www.missionemployable.co.uk/virtual-flower-show.php

Getting back to films, the free-to-view selection currently available on BBC I-Player includes On Chesil Beach, Selma, The Lady In The Van, 3:10 to Yuma, 99 Homes, The Hurt Locker, Philomena, The Blair Witch Project, Kajaki - The True Story and My Life As A Courgette. It also features a number of excellent 'classics' such as Fort Apache, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, The Magnificent Ambersons, Top Hat, King Kong and Citizen Kane.

All definitely worth seeing.

Finally a big THANK YOU! to everyone who came to one of our screenings over the past year, to the Bookshop for their ongoing support and to Ultimate Destinations for their much valued sponsorship.

Stay safe and well - we'll keep you up-to-date and hope to see you soon!

Spice Up Your Life will continue with monthly virtual events offering opportunity to learn about or learn to do something new in your life. We will be introducing some exciting Asian cooking ,Cheats way for the Best Canapes, Wine Tastings & Baking to name a few .Keep a look out for the next event which will be on our website soon and available to book.

Happy Holidays!

Mission EmployAble EventsTeam

We are delighted that at last night's Three Rivers District Council Planning meeting we received unanimous approval for our plans for a new pavilion. We would like to thank everyone who filled the public gallery again as this helped to remind the councillors that this application has a lot of support.

The months of unstinting support from our Parish Council, local councillors, local community groups such as: Chorleywood Residents Association, Friends of Chorleywood Common, the church and all those who wrote in to support the application, were crucial to gaining approval. On behalf of Chorleywood Cricket Club and Mission EmployAble, we would extend our thanks and warm appreciation for all the support we have received from these groups and wider local community.

We have much work to do with getting further approvals, finalising the building plans and raising the funds to pay for the new pavilion but gaining planning permission is a major step forward.

We will keep you updated about our progress and we have many fundraising activities planned that we would be delighted if you were able to join.

Mission EmployAble and Chorleywood Cricket Club (CWCC) attended the planning meeting at Three Rivers District Council last evening.

Although the planning decision for the proposed re-building of the cricket pavilion on Chorleywood Common was deferred, it appeared to us that there was broad support for the proposal. There were concerns to ensure that there was no future potential for a purely commercial venture on the site and a possible solution to this problem was proposed at the meeting. If this proposed solution does address the concerns raised then a favourable outcome could be likely. We hope that his will be resolved at the February meeting.

During the meeting, the Chair stated that there was clear and widespread support in the community for the application and this undoubtedly contributed to the Councillors trying to find solutions to their concerns.

ME and CWCC would like to thank everyone for their continued support for the project and a special thank you to all those who demonstrated this support last night by filling the public gallery.