Heathfield Town News

Almost 7,000 poppies were hung on the railings at Union Church, Heathfield and along the High Street! And it certainly looked amazing! A big thank you to everyone that made and donated poppies, everyone that came along and helped to sew them onto the chains, everyone that helped to hang them on the railings and came along to the coffee morning. I couldn't have done it all without your help! Also, a big thank you to Heathfield Crafts, Kit Wilson shop in Heathfield and Village artisan community in Uckfield for being poppy collection points! T Williams.

Welcome Baptist Church, Toy and gift swap will take place on Monday 24th November at 7.30pm. Donations needed and can be dropped off now. (If the church is closed please pop in the wooden playhouse) We are collecting: Toys (for all ages – boys & girls); Soft toys & dolls, Cars, trucks, action figures, Lego, Duplo, building blocks, Puzzles & board games, Books for children & teens, Craft kits & creative play sets, Outdoor toys (balls, skipping ropes, ride-ons in good condition) Gift Bric-a-Brac (great for teens & adults): Accessories (hats, scarves, jewellery, hair clips) Self-care (bath bombs, unopened creams, makeup, nail varnish) Stationery (notebooks, pens, planners, art supplies) Small décor (candles, fairy lights, mugs, photo frames) Fun extras (games, books, reusable unused water bottles, craft kits) Come on the night and find something new-to-you. A perfect way to save money, reduce waste, and share joy this Christmas! Free community event – everyone welcome!

Baby Bank and Beyond CIC, we need your help. A warm, bright, secure space is needed to store and compile the 200 Christmas gifts we are due to pack for families who may have very little. This space will need to be accessible to a few volunteers and to key workers picking up for their families. We’d like it from the middle/end of November to the 19th December. Do you know of a space in the community, in church, office unit or similar that we could use? It needs to be free or very low cost. Please contact us, email: [email protected]

Christmas packs for children. Baby Bank & Beyond CIC are about to start packing up 200+ Christmas gift packs for children 0-10 and their parents /carers - which means they will be taking in over 1000+ items into the Baby Bank over the next few weeks. “While this is happening, we won’t be taking any general donations because we don’t have the space for it all! We are so fortunate that our community support us so well and we are grateful to everyone. If you’d like to gift to us in other ways our Christmas drop offs (for new gifts only) are: The Works in Hailsham, The Orange Toolbox in Blackboys, Ricky's Ltd in Heathfield. If you’re a local business, group or organisation that would be willing to donate some festive chocolate /sweet packs to us we’d be pleased to receive them. If you need a helping hand with child basics 0-10 or have a Christmas donation to drop to the Baby Bank in Hellingly, please just get in touch. Email: [email protected] WhatsApp /text: 07355 445502

Heathfield Farmers’ Market. We look forward to welcoming you to our next Farmers’ Market on Saturday 15thNovember.All the regular stalls will be there selling fresh fish, eggs, fruit & vegetables, plants & herbs, goats milk products, bread, preserves, cinnamon buns, local venison, traybakes and desserts, cheese and lots more. From the Ashes will be selling beautiful turned wood products and some gorgeous knitted goods – perhaps these could be the start of your Christmas shopping! Men’s Shed will have their eclectic mix of wooden gifts. Why not pop along and see what your local Farmers’ Market has to offer? The market runs on the third Saturday of the month from 9am to 12.30pm and is held in the Co-op carpark at 110 High Street, Heathfield. Free car parking too! (This is correct at the time of posting, but subject to late amendment) Future Date: 20th December.

Heathfield’s Annual Tree Festival will take place from 21st to 30th November at Union Church, Station Road, TN21 8LB Opening as part of the Town’s late night shopping event on Friday the 21st November from 5pm until 8pm and then open every day 10am until 6pm excluding Sundays which will open 12pm until 4pm. Over 50 trees from many Heathfield organisations on display. Events include late night openings, concerts, ‘Take over’ mornings, and a family tea on Sunday 23rd at 4pm. See the Union Church Facebook page or website for more details.

Final Call for artists. As part of this year’s Christmas Tree Festival, we are inviting people to send us digital photographs or scanned artworks representing their interpretation of ‘Peace on Earth’. A few will be chosen and shown on the big screen throughout the festival and especially at the Candlelit Peace Vigils. Please send submissions to Vicky, at: [email protected] by the middle of November.

Belles of the Ball. For many families, a Sunday roast is a complete luxury. Can you help? For just £20, we can provide a full roast dinner, including pudding for an entire family this season. If you’d like to gift a hearty, healthy meal to one of our Belles families this Christmas, please donate whatever you can. Together, let’s fill plates, hearts, and homes with warmth this Christmas. Belles of the Ball aim to raise £500 by 02/12/2025 Find the link on the Belles of the Ball Facebook page for: Belles Christmas Dinner, or email: [email protected]for further information.

The Heathfield Benefice junior and youth choirs have started again. Come and join in with the preparations for Christmas services. Rehearsals take place in term time. Friday 15.45 until 16.30pm at All Saints and St Richards School for children in Years 3 and 4 and 17.30 until 18.15pm at St Richards Church, Upper Station Road Heathfield for students aged 11-18. Adult Choir practice takes place every Friday 19.30 until 20.30pm St Richard’s church Upper Station Road for any singers. Junior Choir is open to all children from any primary school (as well as those home-schooled) aged year 3-6. This is designed to be a fun 45mins of singing and games as well as teaching children the basics of being in a choir and how to take part in services. The Youth Choir is a new venture to open up to students of Secondary age from any school. Here we will hope to develop more choral skills including singing in harmony and leading songs as well as hopefully having fun singing together. The Adult Choir rehearses every week and leads the music for weekly services in the Benefice. We sing in SATB four-part harmony, sometimes a cappella and sometimes with organ accompaniment. All of these are free of charge and run by, a fully DBS checked and fully qualified teacher with over 20 years experience of running choirs. If you have any questions or would like any more information, please email: [email protected]

Sing your own praises here, email: [email protected]