There will be a gathering on Saturday 9 July 3pm-5pm at the Ludlow Quakers Meeting House - the weather's looking good and families can use the outside garden for socialising.

Just a few updates for you all:

English and conversation lessons

• English lessons – these continue to run at the Quakers Meeting House, St Marys Lane Ludlow SY8 1DZ on Tuesday mornings – 10am to 11:45am (three levels of classes) and Thursday afternoon -1:30pm to 3:15pm (three levels of classes)
• English assessments  (for potential new students) - Saturday 3pm to 5pm

Please can you contact Jacki Moore to book onto one of the sessions, unless you have already agreed this at a previous lesson. Jackiamoore@gmail.com or mobile 07929656545. If it's more convenient for you to change your lesson day please inform Jacki. Hosts, please can you remind your guests of this.

We're also aware that many guests have found or are looking for work, and this may have an impact on their ability to attend lessons during the daytime. If this seems to be the case, please contact Jacki, as we may be able to start an evening class, subject to the availability of teachers.

• Conversation sessions – these will start on Saturday 16 July from 1:30pm – 3:30pm. We hope this is a more convenient time for students, who can then stay for the afternoon social gathering from 3pm to 5pm. Although these sessions are aimed at more able English speakers, we may also be able to offer 1:1 support for students who require specific help with tasks such as writing a CV, applying for a job or other support which would be better suited to a 1:1.

Social events

Bitterley Court Gardens

SY8 3HL 10am to 5pm. We've very kindly been offered ten free vouchers, which gives access to the gardens and tea, for guests and hosts to visit a lovely garden in Bitterley. The weather looks set be sunny, and this is a lovely garden, so if you'd like to attend please call Erica on 07974 001310 asap so that she can forward a voucher to you.

Picnic

We've been offered two possible venues for a group picnic, one in Haytons Bent, and one near Clun. Please let me know if you'd be interested in attending. It might be a bring your own picnic, but we could supply ice cream!

Meal together

21 July in Ludlow, I have had three hosts interested in this event, offered by Tish Docherty from Appleteme. The cost is £15 per head for food and a welcome glass of beer/cider or glass of wine. Two courses, menu to be agreed. The minimum number would be 18 people and the maximum 30. Please call Erica on 07974 001310 asap if you're interested.

Cooking together

Would guests like to meet and cook together and then invite other families to join for the meal? We can provide raw ingredients for the meal and source a local kitchen to use. Please call Erica on 07974 001310 asap if you're interested.

Clay workshop for all the family

Free of charge, anybody interested please call Erica on 07974 001310.

Other activities that may be of interest – yoga (free of charge), craft activities for children (free of charge).

Children’s resources

Children’s clothes

We have eight bags of clothing donated which will be available for guests to look through on Saturday. Please do ask if guests need anything specific for both children and adults. We'll do our best to source clothing for all. Please also ask friends to donate school uniform that’s no longer needed.

Toys

We've had some toys donated, but we'd like to keep some at the Meeting House and offer some toys for guests to take home. We've been offered some ride-on toys that were asked for specifically by a host who has toddlers arriving. Please do ask if you need anything specific for a child to play with - this includes any games or books.

Transport

This is proving to be a major barrier for guests to attend lessons, find work and socialise independently. We have a small number of volunteers who are willing to transport people to appointments, and we're going to look into the Community Car Scheme which may prove beneficial in supporting the volunteer base. We'll keep you posted on progress.