Mayfield and Five Ashes Village News

MAYFIELD FESTIVAL SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 15

Meet Our Soloists, Part 1: Sofia Kirwan-Baez and Aneska Diament. Two singers, two distinctive musical journeys and one concert in Mayfield. On Sunday 15 November, we're delighted to welcome soprano Sofia Kirwan-Baez - Soprano and mezzo-soprano Aneska Diament to perform with Mayfield Festival Choir. Sofia Kirwan-Baez Anglo-Venezuelan soprano.  Sofia is a Rising Star of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (2025–27). Her operatic career has taken her to @welshnationalopera, Opéra National de Bordeaux and Longborough Festival Opera Sofia has previously performed Haydn's Creation at Mayfield Festival and has also collaborated with The Ripieno Players in Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire. Aneska Diament French-Canadian singer Aneska has studied at the Royal College of Music in London, where her operatic repertoire has included Hänsel und Gretel and Les Indes galantes. She has also performed as a soloist in the premiere of Geneviève Ackerman's Requiem pour Empédocle at Montreal's Maison Symphonique. Hear Sofia and Aneska alongside Mayfield Festival Choir, The Ripieno Players and conductor Jeremy Summerly. Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor. Schubert's German Stabat Mater. Sunday 15 November 2026, 7.30 pm. St Dunstan's Church, Mayfield. Book tickets: https://www.ticketsource.com/.../mozarts-mass-in.../e-evdxbq

MAYFACS

MAYFACS would like to express our sincere thanks to our last founding Trustees, Charles Marshall and Lucy Firrell, who have stepped down after an impressive 10 years.   They were there at the start of MAYFACS, with Lucy as our Chair and Charles as our Treasurer, and stayed on the Board to see us through our first 10 years and the enormous development we have undergone.  Whilst they will be missed as Trustees, we know they will always be MAYFACS Volunteers, and we are over the moon to still have their support for the years to come.  Thank you! With this in mind, we will be reopening our Trustee Recruitment process and welcome anyone interested in joining MAYFACS as a Trustee to get in touch for more information at [email protected] The closing date will be Friday 15th January 2027. NOVEMBER MAYFACS : We reached our £10,000 target. We are over the moon to confirm we reached our milestone 10th Anniversary target of raising £10,000 for our 10 years! This is a massive achievement for Mayfacs, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who supported our summer celebrations to make this happen. But while we’d love to sit back and relax, the reality of running our vital local charity means our feet can’t leave the accelerator just yet.  As incredible as £10,000 is, it only covers a fraction of the funds we need to operate to keep our essential services running for a full 12 months. If you'd like to help us secure the rest of our yearly funding, you can support us in a few ways: Become a regular donor to give us predictable, steady support. Volunteer your time or skills. Organise your own fundraiser for us! To find out more or to donate, please visit our website: www.mayfacs.org.uk and click DONATE. Thank you for making our 10th year unforgettable, and here's to another 10. MAYFACS as a Trustee, to get in touch for more information on:  [email protected] We enjoyed hosting an Autumn fundraiser at Mayfield Cricket Club last month with a Musical Bingo evening and raised over £700 for our work in the community whilst singing and dancing to some 80’s and Rock & Roll classics! Thank you so much to Keven and the Club for hosting the evening, and to our volunteers who helped run the event, and thank you to our “Full House” of attendees for your support. We are also incredibly grateful to the team at Mayfield Bonfire Boyes & Belles for a fantastic event, and for choosing to support MAYFACS with donations this year amongst other worthwhile local causes. Our volunteers also enjoyed supporting the event (some with multiple ‘hats’ on!) and fundraising efforts, where fantastic amount of money was raised. Thank you to everyone involved with this year’s Remembrance postbox topper. made by the ladies at MAYFACS Yarners in Sew Inspired. The theme is Regimental Mascots. There is also a display in Sew Inspired window of the Service. Animal’s Paint and Sip – Wednesday, November 11 2026, 7 pm at Middle House Mayfield £30 per person. Email [email protected] to confirm your place. MONTHLY TRIPS – 2026 Trips Schedule. Monthly Trip places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Please email or pop into the office to secure your place! If you would like to attend any of our trips but need some financial support, please talk to us in confidence. Saturday  November 21: Eric & Ern Matinee Show, Trinity Tunbridge Wells £28 is SOLD OUT (Mayfacs allocation) – tickets may still be purchased directly through Trinity Theatre. Thursday December 3rd: Bluewater shopping trip £12 – limited places.  Little Munchkins Baby and Toddler Group (term time only). Please do join us every Wednesday (term time) from 9.15 am – 11.15 am at Mayfield Scout Hall for just £3 per family! All carers, grandparents and parents are very welcome! Lots of toys and activities available for the little ones, and a cuppa and chat for the others. Bereavement Café (last Friday of each month, 10 am – 12 pm): Friday, November 27 at Mayfield Cricket Club, Mayfield. No meeting in December. Next café: January 29 2027.

MCC Update November 2026

As the pace of construction keeps momentum and good progress is made, we remain on target for the completion of the new Mayfield Community and Health Centre for the end of May 2027. Most of September’s work was underground with the retaining walls, strip footings, drainage and service ducts and sub-structure blockwork finished at the northern end of the site for the health centre. During the month of October, however, similar underground works at the southern end for the community hall were well underway, including the installation of drainage, footings and service ducts. Also during October, the 120-ton mobile tower crane made a re-appearance on site having off-loaded and installed the pre-cast floor slabs for the health centre the previous month. Within two days, it had off-loaded and installed the pre-cast floor slabs for the community centre. The crane was so high the top of the jib could be seen for miles around. With the sub-structures for both the community hall and health centre complete, the above-ground super-structure will be erected from early November. It is a pre-fabricated modular building whereby the component panels are manufactured off-site by a company called Streif UK Ltd and transported ready for on-site assembly. This form of construction enables the building to go up quickly, and, all being well, it will be completed by Christmas. In the New Year 2027, the external stone and brickwork will be added to provide the final external aesthetics of the building.