Altarnun WI

Current membership numbers 14 with 2 prospective members due to join in the near future. New members are always welcome to join in the published programme of events. It was reported that the group lost two longstanding members in the last year and of course they will be sadly missed.

Knit & Natter Group

Consists of 14 members who meet in the church hall. Numbers are on the increase, and all enjoy the company of each other, tea and biscuits for the bargain price of £2 per session.

Altarnun Chatterbox

Usually well attended with up to 30 participants at the village hall, who enjoy something to eat that each other have brought along and combine with bric a brac sales.

Craft & Produce Market

Another thriving event at the Church Hall held on the 2nd Saturday of the month throughout the year, usually consisting of 16/18 stalls.

Community Lunches

Run weekly, from May to September in the Church Hall. 40/60 covers served per week and prices are maintained as low as possible.

Altarnun Village Hall

The level of usage of the hall has declined marginally over the 12 months to the end of April 2023 because some groups have reduced their bookings to reflect their reduced active membership. It was sad to lose the Playgroup on term time Mondays due to a lack of toddlers and Mums able to come along.

The small loss of lettings income has been exacerbated by significantly increased costs, particularly insurance, electricity, oil, and maintenance. The increase in the hourly rate in November 2022 has helped mitigate the cost increases and the installation of new LED lighting has reduced the amount of power used thereby offsetting some of the 100% increase in unit charges. Currently the hall expects to break even in the current financial year and will endeavour to avoid any further hire rate increases in 2024.

The management committee and officers are trying hard to attract new user groups, private hirers and help existing groups increase their membership numbers to maintain current group usage levels.

The hall remains well maintained with the shop entrance porch fully refurbished in August and a significant investment in keeping the heating system in tip top condition. The committee has reorganised storage re-purposing the playgroup toy store to accommodate the table tennis tables and Cardiac group equipment thereby giving room in the chair/table store to allow chairs to be stacked 8 high rather than 12. That change has made it possible to have a chair trolley to move the stacks around the hall much to the relief of those setting up for events.

The committee commissioned a complete Fire Risk Assessment as per Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 which was completed in August 2022. As a result some extinguishers were changed, and the fire alarm system was deemed unnecessary. It has since been removed following failure of the control panel.

The hall received a £5000 donation ringfenced for match funding of grants to reduce the hall’s carbon footprint. This money is held in the hall’s reserve account alongside funds set aside to co-fund major works to roof and windows anticipated within 10 years.

Tre Pol Pen – Altarnun Parish News

Tre Pol Pen continues to sell about 175 copies of the 48 page all colour magazine each month and remains financially secure following cover price and advertising rate increases in January 2023. The business directory remains full with over 50 advertisers. Costs of printing increased significantly in 2022 and again in February 2023 but it is hoped that the increase in cover price and advertising rates in January will be enough to ensure better than break even for the remainder of the year and into 2024. The magazine committee has been strengthened and the number of contributors continues to rise. The magazine printers have again used Tre Pol Pen to showcase what a parish magazine can be. 

The magazine again supported the Village Christmas Lights and helped sponsor the Altarnun Village Hall Quiz Night in Fun Week 2022.

However, a co-editor is urgently required and a candidate with Microsoft Publisher skills or a willingness to learn to assist the sole editor, is being sought.

Altarnun Local History Society

The society is in a strong position with increasing membership and good levels of attendance at the monthly meetings.

Over the last year we have held 10 meeting of which two were members evenings at which members share their own research or particular interest. The other eight meetings had external speakers all of whom gave excellent talks – always informative and entertaining and on occasions quite humorous.

The group had an outing to Kresen Kernow, the new home of the Cornwall Library and County Archives and were delighted to find several volumes of Tre Pol Pen bound in red leather sitting in the archive section.

Despite increasing costs membership subscriptions and meeting fees will not need to be increased for the foreseeable future which underlines the benefit of a strong membership base.

The archives have grown over the last 12 months and the society thanks all those residents who have contributed documents and photographs – indexing it all is the big challenge!

Altarnun Walkers

The group are still meeting almost every Thursday morning and in the 12 months to April 30th completed 49 walks averaging about 4½ miles. We lost 2 walks to wind and heavy rain and one to extreme heat.

The group has grown to over 20 members from Altarnun Parish and another 8 from adjacent parishes and Launceston. Some walk regularly and others come along when they can but we usually have around a dozen each week peaking at 21 earlier this year.

The group makes no charges – all a member needs is an email address to receive details of the walk each week. It is a very sociable group, and the chat is just as beneficial as the walk.

Altarnun Twinning Association

The pandemic, Brexit and reduction in disposable income have led to a difficult year for both our Twinning group and the Jumelage in Gueltas, our twin village in Brittany.

Brexit has meant that the French now need passports to visit the UK rather than just needing their ID cards. The French can travel all over Europe without a passport and most feel that to spend about £90 for a passport to visit the UK just makes the trip too expensive – especially for children.

The membership of the Jumelage in Gueltas has decreased since 2019 and there is less appetite for exchange trips especially with ferry and accommodation costs rising so steeply. The Twinning of the two villages continues and it is hoped that a small group from Altarnun will visit Gueltas later this year to maintain the links.

The President and Treasurer of the Gueltas Jumelage, Dave and Gabby Maddison, visited in late April it is hoped that a further relaxation of travel documentation requirements by French and UK authorities will allow easier exchange visits in 2024. It is understood that Brittany Ferries exchange group visit passenger numbers are about 30% of pre-pandemic levels suggesting all twinning groups are experiencing difficulties.

Altarnun continues to place a report in the Gueltas quarterly Bulletin, and we get regular updates from France to include in Tre Pol Pen.

Altarnun Fun Fortnight 2023

The Village Hall Committee and Altarnun PCC have been working together to co-ordinate a Fun Fortnight from 5th – 20th August as an experiment spreading out ‘Fun Week’ events over 2 weeks and avoiding the week leading up to the August bank holiday when many families are away from the village on holiday.

Final arrangements will be published in the July edition of Tre Pol Pen

Altarnun Village Show

With a committee of 8 people who organise and run the Village Show which will take place this August in the Church Hall.

There is adequate financing in place, and judges for the classes have been selected and a list of classes has been published in a previous Tre Pol Pen. The official schedule will be available soon.

Wesley Cottage

A historic ecclesiastical place of interest that attracts visitors from all over the country and abroad, now open Thursday’s, Friday’s, and Saturday’s 1st May through 31st October. Believed to be the smallest Methodist preaching place in the world and in May each year, Wesley Day Celebrations are held at the Cottage.

Our Parish Church - St Nonna with Bolventor

Within the Three Rivers Benefice which is part of the Trigg Major Deanery. The Benefice consists of six churches, forming a large pastoral ministry across the rural villages that lie in the south and southwest of Launceston and takes its name from the three principal rivers, the Tamar, Inny and Lynher. The wedding diary at St Nonna’s is filling up again and similar popularity is being experienced with Revd Antony’s ‘Breakfast Church’ and Great Debate which are initiatives to deliver new ways to make the church inviting and accessible as well as getting to grips with big life issues.

Notice Date: 15/05/2023