Hall Events and Fundraising

A number of community events take place at the Parish Hall during the year organised by the Parish Hall Management Committee who are grateful for the support of volunteers from the community. 

You are welcome to take part in the regular events at the Parish Hall including Pilates Classes, Exercise Classes and Coffee Mornings. You can find the dates and times on the Events Calendar.

Dates of Events planned for the year are also listed on the Calendar and you can see a list below. Pop them in your diary so you don't miss out.

  

Events coming up soon!

 

Wednesday 13 November 

Stoodleigh Parish Hall AGM at 7.30pm at the Parish Hall. Come along for the review of the last 12 months and help plan the coming 12 months.

Please join us for the Stoodleigh Parish Hall AGM on Wednesday 13 November at 7.30pm at the Parish Hall.  If you're a resident in the area - a user or non-user, you're invited to take part in discussions about the Hall over the last year and the coming year.

Do you have any spare time to volunteer to lend a hand please? The Parish Hall is always in need of help with new ideas and suggestions - from across our community. Practical help and support would be so welcome! The existing and new volunteers are vital so that the committee is able to ensure our community building stays in good shape and available for everyone's use. It's also an opportunity to get to know others in the village!

To find out more, please ring the secretary on 07818 433046 or come along to the meeting on 13 November. See the draft Minutes and Chairperson's Report from the AGM 2023 and the AGM 2024 Agenda. 

Watch this space for more events in 2025!

 

Recent events ....

Saturday 26 October:  Autumn Market & Coffee Morning - Thank you to everyone for their support. Thanks to those who attended and to the stallholders for delighting us with their wonderful array of goods.

Saturday 1 June:  Coffee, Walking & Lunch -Coffee, Walking and Lunch!    Walkers enjoyed two routes including a treasure hunt. Congratulations to the Williams family, Ruth & Caroline and Geraldine & Phil, winners of the treasure hunt. A delicious two course meal was served for both walkers and other members of the community. It was a brilliant community event and super company with the sun shining through the Hall windows on to tables decorated with bright pots of beautiful flowers. Please see photos and comments showing what a great time we all had.

Saturday 6 April:  Stoodleigh Spring Market & Coffee Morning - Many thanks to all those who supported the Spring Market at the Parish Hall, enjoying the products, produce, tea and cakes, and took their chances with the excellent raffle. There was a great attendance with the hard work from Linda, Jan, Yvonne, Jill,  and the rest of the management team resulting in a profit of over £500 for the hall funds, which added to the cheque presented to the hall from Christine Palfrey, the retiring organiser of the 100 club, for a further £250. Next event is the popular coffee morning on 4^th May. All funds go towards the maintenance of the hall, and the support is very much appreciated.    Dick Sibley, Chairman of Management Committee

 

2023

Saturday 2 December - Christmas Tree Lighting - Ho ho ho! 🎅🎅🎅 Christmas celebrations started at the Parish Hall and was supported by a large and happy crowd. Thanks to John, Steve and Bo for providing and securing the terrific tree in place. Father Christmas, towed by vintage David Browne tractor driver, arrived in a link box, all lit up with fairy lights whilst ringing a hand bell through the village to call residents to the Parish Hall. Thank you Andy and Julian! A super Santa’s Grotto and children’s activities area plus children’s presents were organised by Lou and Eva. Carols and Christmas songs were sung accompanied by Claire on the keyboard and glasses of mulled wine & apple juice, hot chocolate and refreshments were enjoyed. What a great night - thank you to the organising team of Stoodleigh elves and fairies and our supportive community!

The Food Bank collection and contributions were welcomed by CHAT Tiverton Foodbank (Churches Housing Action Team). Their team were able to distribute to families ahead of Christmas.

We've started a photo gallery for those who'd like to share their pictures taken at this event.  Please send your photos to stoodleighweb@gmail.com and we'll do our best to display them.

 

Saturday 28 October 2023 - Autumn Fair

Thank you everyone who visited the Autumn Fair on Saturday - great to see you all! 🎃 🕸️ 🕷️ Thanks to the artists and makers who brought their goods to share and the wonderful visitors who took advantage of doing some shopping. You gave a great welcome to our fantastic visiting stallholders, were amazing supporters for our bring and buy stalls and kept our kitchen cafe volunteers busy by enjoying coffee, scrummy cakes, tasty soup and fresh bread. 

Congratulations to the Stoodleigh Pumpkin Carving Champion this year, William Chant, age 7. William won the title with our 'visitor voting system".  And didn't the polished, red, vintage David Browne tractor parked outside provide a bright welcome! Thank you to our community for your support in making the Fair another village success. 

 

Saturday 24 June 2023 - Stoodleigh Family Fun Dog Show - Run jointly by St Margaret's Church and the Parish Hall Team

What a wonderful village day!  The organisers were delighted that the Family Fun Dog Show was so enjoyed by everyone and was such a success and are grateful for your lovely comments. Lots of planning was involved and plenty of work to do but the Show wouldn’t have happened without so many of you.

Thank you everyone for joining us - not only creating that great village atmosphere but also raising an amazing total of £1,213 which will be shared equally between St Margaret's Church and the Parish Hall.

Thank you also to the all the volunteers who helped to make this happen. 

Special thanks to our hosts, Pat and Fred; our Judge, Sandra; and our Commentator, Roger.

Rosey and Jane kept jugs and glasses topped with Pimms and John poured the beer. Yvonne and the team topped scones with cream and jam, sliced cake and served tea. Therese and Tori took care of the cake stall which was laden with delicious donations from Stoodleigh's fabulous bakers. Christine and Margaret were kept busy selling raffle tickets for the amazing donations made to an array of prizes and Linda kept everyone guessing on the tombola as brilliant prizes were taken away ...... and you needed just one more turn, in case you were lucky again!

The show ring team - Diana, Jan and Phil - were amazing support for the Judge and what a great obstacle course, set up by Becky and Olivia, which provided much fun for dogs, owners and spectators! 

Grateful thanks to West Ridge Vets for sponsorship of the main event. Also for show class sponsorship – Watermans Country Supplies, Heard & Sendell, Nature’s Way and Lesley & Andy.

All the information has been uploaded on the Show Class Results page and there's a small informal gallery with some pictures of the day at Family Fun Dog Show Gallery 2023

Let’s look forward to the next village event – we know you enjoyed this one and you’re welcome to get involved with the next one too! Or perhaps you have an idea for something you'd like to organise?

Saturday 8 April 2023- Easter Fair:  

The winner with the top score for the Stoodleigh Egg Rolling competition was Isobel!  Well done Isobel - our Stoodleigh Easter Egg Rolling Champion 2023.

The Parish Hall team thanks everyone who joined them at the Parish Hall for the Easter Fair. They said "It was great to see you all!  What a supportive, sociable and happy crowd you were. Thanks also to our wonderful stallholders showing us their talent and the brilliant items they offer and the community volunteers who helped us - on the stalls and in the kitchen - you were brilliant!"

Saturday 4 March 2023 -  "Stoodleigh Spring Walk" preceded by coffee and followed by lunch and enjoyed by everyone. Thank you for your support.

Saturday 31 December 2022 - Coffee/Soup/Sandwiches@theHall

The Parish Hall team served coffee to visitors as they arrived at the Parish Hall after which they tucked into a light lunch of soup and sandwiches. Soup choices included mushroom or carrot and tomato followed by egg and cress, cheese/salad, and ham/salad sandwiches. The happy crowd of visitors enjoyed good company and chat, catching up on news with friends and neighbours.

Friday 2 December 2022 - Village Christmas Tree

The switch was pressed and on went the lights of the Village Christmas Tree 🎄 on Friday 2 December after a very loud countdown by a happy crowd of villagers  ...... followed by some enthusiastic singing of Christmas Carols and Songs 🎅 🎶🍷 around the tree with mulled wine and refreshments. Great fun and a sociable event - thank you everyone for supporting us. We were sorry that some of you were unable to join us because you were unwell  - get well soon folks! Hope you all enjoy the tree and the lights as you pass by! The food bank collection and donation bucket was returned to CHAT before Christmas for sharing. Thanks to a team of people, Elves and Fairies, from across the village who made this community and fun event possible.

Tuesday 15 November 2022 - Parish Hall AGM

At the Parish Hall AGM on 15 November, members of the Management Committee for 2022/23 were elected – thank you to the volunteers who were pleased to continue. Please see the draft minutes of the meeting and also the Report of the Chairperson.  At the first meeting after the AGM, Viv Menear was elected as chairperson for a second year. You may be new to the village, just want to meet some fellow villagers or find out a bit more about what goes on at 'your' Hall or you may be looking to get a little more involved. New ideas and new faces are always welcome so please get in touch. Contact the secretary. 

Saturday 29 October 2022 - Stoodleigh Autumn Fair

Thank you Stoodleigh Community! What a happy, fun, sociable and supportive crowd you were. It was great to see you all at the Autumn Fair today. Thanks too .... stallholders, cooks, bakers, gardeners, volunteers and everyone who contributed - fabulous!

Looking forward to our next village event where we can meet for some more fun together!

Saturday 6 August 2022 - Stoodleigh Family Fun Dog Show: 

What a great Dog Show on Saturday! 🐶 🐕 🐩  😁

Thank you to everyone who came along and made it such a lovely afternoon. Our wonderful venue provided super shade keeping our dogs and visitors cool. The dogs and their owners enjoyed the show classes, our visitors tucked into scrummy scones with cream and jam, tea, pimms and beer and took advantage of delicious cakes from our awesome cake stall. There were lots of lucky winners on the raffle, tombola and the competitions. 

We couldn't have organised the event without the help of so many of you in the village who volunteered beforehand and on the day. Thanks to our hosts, Pat and Fred; our Judge, Jeannie; Roger, our commentator; and our fabulous stallholders and sponsors. Thank you very much ..... it was a truly community event where we welcomed visitors from near and far! 

We all enjoyed a brilliant afternoon and raised an amazing £1,324 to be shared between the Church and the Parish Hall!

Thanks everyone for making the event such a success! 👏

Dog Show Classes and Winners below ......

 

Dog Show classes winners             Best puppy (under 12 months) - Mabel, with owner, Hannah             Best veteran (7 years) - Mo, with owner, Jill             Prettiest bitch - Genie, with owner, Melanie             Most handsome dog - Otto, with owner, Daisy             Best condition - Coco, with owner, Gary             Best trick - Pip, with owner, Olivia             Best junior handler - Scout, with owner, Henry             Dog the judge would most like to take home - Otto, with owner, Daisy             Best six legs - Pip, with owner, Olivia             Best in Show - Genie, with owner, Melanie              Reserve Best in Show - Otto, with owner, Jack Rosettes to fourth place, Junior Handler Cup and Annual Cup for the Best in Show

 

A few of the photos of the afternoon can be seen on the 2022 Dog Show Gallery

 

Saturday 16 April, Easter Market & Coffee Morning:

Thank you for joining us and supporting all the stalls who offered such lovely goods. It was a super, sunny, Saturday and great event where so many of you took the opportunity to come out and get together. Thank you also to the stallholders for their preparation and hard work bringing their goods to share with us. Special thanks to the Kitchen Cafe, Vanessa and Jean, who were kept very busy throughout the morning - you are a great team! Thank you to Tesco who donated Easter Eggs for our competition - congratulations to the lucky winners, the young and not so young! We raised over £350 towards Parish Hall funds - your support is much appreciated. See you soon at the next event.

Parish Hall Team

 

Saturday 5 March 2022 - how did the Breakfast, Walk and Lunch go?

The sun shone for us on Saturday for the Stoodleigh Breakfast, Walk and Lunch lifting everyone’s spirits after all the recent wind and rain.

The kitchen volunteers served bacon rolls, coffee and tea at the Parish Hall before the 17 walkers and 8 dogs set off towards West End Cross. They took footpaths across fields to Rifton Woods followed by a climb to the top of the Woods. The group followed the bridleway through the woods to Coleford Bottom and took the track to Aldridge Mill. The permissive path across fields and woods was then used to Trow Bridge before the last climb up Wormsworthy Hill to Ash Cross and back to the Parish Hall.

After about 5 miles of fresh air, sunshine, exercise, chatting and Stoodleigh countryside, the walkers met up with non-walkers to   enjoy lunch together at the Hall. The tasty chicken pie, new potatoes and veg went down a treat and our special village volunteer served her scrumptious home baked cup cakes afterwards.

Much catching up and conversations took place as getting together for community events have been sadly lacking over the last two years. Saturday’s event was a step towards the return to more normal times and future occasions and events. A good time was had by all and we managed to raise just over £240 towards the running of the Parish Hall.  Thank you everyone for your support and thanks to Morrisons, Tiverton, for their vouchers towards ingredients for breakfast and lunch!

Parish Hall FUNdraising team

Viv, Jan, Vanessa and Geraldine

 

Parish Hall Annual General Meeting - Tuesday 16 November 2021 at 7.30pm at the Parish Hall

See the draft minutes of this meeting.

 

Autumn Market and Coffee Morning - 30 October 2021

Thank you to everyone who visited the Autumn Market and Coffee Morning at the Parish Hall on 30 October. What a success! We were delighted to see so many of the community - a great mix of previous regulars catching up, chatting with and welcoming the many new residents in the village. 

Thanks also to our talented stallholders, artists and crafts people for making their lovely goods available to buy, to our volunteers on the Hall stalls and to our Hall Kitchen Cafe volunteers for a continual supply of coffee, tea, hot chocolate and delicious cakes - yes, the cupcakes were back - along with other home baked, yummy delights!🍰🍥 ☕

What an artistic bunch of pumpkin carvers you are  - well done!  Congratulations to Eliza for her winning entry, "The pumpkin who ate too many sweets"! Eliza, you are now the Stoodleigh Champion - 2021  🎃🎃

It was a great morning for a community get-together and you'll be pleased to know that, in addition, we raised some funds for the Parish Hall. Thanks for your support folks!😁 

  

*   *    *    *    *

Past Events:

 Stoodleigh Spring Breakfast, Walk and Lunch:  Saturday 7 March 2020 - An invigorating walk of almost 5 miles on footpaths, bridleways and lanes around Stoodleigh was enjoyed by a sociable group of walkers. They feasted on breakfast of croissants and coffee before the walk. A scrumptious lasagne lunch was prepared by Parish Hall fundraisers and a special village volunteer served her home baked cup cakes afterwards.  It was not only walkers who enjoyed the food and company as members of the village joined together at lunchtime for another sociable community event where funds were raised for parish hall funds. Thanks to our sponsors, Morrisons and Tesco, Tiverton.

Christmas Draw & Bingo:  Monday 16 December 2019- Thanks to our local businesses who donated some fabulous prizes for the Village Christmas Draw and thank you also to the community who supported us. There were many winners from across the village when the Draw took place at the Bingo Night at the Parish Hall. There was much fun and laughter on that evening and you helped us raise over £980 to help maintain and improve the Parish Hall.

Annual General Meeting:  Tuesday 19 November 2019 at the Parish Hall -  Reports were provided on the previous year’s activities, finances and discussions took place about future events and planned work on the Parish Hall. Thank you to those who attended the meeting. Twelve members, including three new volunteers, were elected to the Hall Management Committee. The Committee elected Linda Brice (chair), Dick Sibley (vice-chair), Janet Russell (treasurer) and Geraldine Talbot (secretary). Please note – for Hall hire arrangements, email rusianjan@btinternet.com or ring 01398 351401. See Hall AGM 2019 Draft Minutes

Autumn Market & Coffee Morning - Saturday 26 October 2019: Despite the bad weather and "the rugby", it was great to see to everyone who visited the Parish Hall and helping to make this event an enjoyable occasion. Thank you to all the stallholders who showcased their goods for sale to all those who came to shop and catch up with others in the community. Thanks too to the local councillors who came to chat about community issues with which they may be able to help. Grateful appreciation also to the volunteers who helped with community plants, cakes, preserves and competitions and served refreshments. A lovely morning for all and just over £400 raised for Parish Hall maintenance and improvements. Thank you from the Parish Hall Management Committee! 

*    *    *    *    *

The seventh Stoodleigh Family Fun Dog Show on 10 August 2019 was a great success! You can see the report and results of the classes here.  Photos will be posted soon!

*   *    *    *    *

Easter Market & Coffee Morning - Saturday 20 April 2019:  Thank you to the local businesses, crafts people and stallholders for showcasing and offering their goods for sale at this event. There was also an easter egg extravaganza raffle, fun with egg rolling and delicious refreshments. Thanks to the community and visitors for coming along for a sociable morning and supporting our event where £360 was raised for parish hall funds.

*    *    *    *    *

Auction of Promises - 23 March 2019 

Thank you to all those in the community who contributed the "Promises" - your great ideas and wonderful variety of offers were very much appreciated.

Thank you also to those people who came along to the Auction, filled the Parish Hall with jollity and bid so generously for the huge array of Lots on offer.

What an enjoyable and fun evening it proved to be - thanks to Roger Hill and Peter Broadbent, our auctioneers, for keeping us entertained and encouraged with our bids.

We are delighted to let you know that you have raised a grand total of £2,420 for Church and Hall funds. Thank you very much.

Margaret and Geraldine

on behalf of St Margaret's Church and Stoodleigh Parish Hall

*   *    *    *    *

See a report and photographs of the Stoodleigh Breakfast, Walk and Lunch which took place on 2 March 2019.

*   *    *    *    *

The Christmas Draw and Bingo was held on 17 December 2018 - grateful thanks and appreciation again this year to all those in the community who supported the event by buying draw tickets and coming along to the bingo. The bingo provided much fun and excitement which continued when the draw took place as there were some fabulous prizes donated by local businesses and residents for which the organisers are very grateful. Thanks to our sponsors: 

Banbury's, Tiverton; Classic Cuts, Hairdresser, Tiverton; Elsie May's, Tiverton; Exeter Chiefs Rugby; Frou Frou, Tiverton; Great British Takeaway, Tiverton; The Hartnoll, Bolham; Knightshayes, Tiverton; Loyton Estate, Morebath; Merlin Cinemas; RHS Rosemoor; Talbot's Tippler; The Mitre Inn, Witheridge; The Stag Inn, Rackenford; Wetherspoons - White Ball, Tiverton; and Withleigh Nurseries. 

The Draw and the Bingo raised a total of £842 for funds for maintenance and improvement of the Parish Hall.

 *    *    *    *    *

The Autumn Market & Coffee Morning  took place on Saturday 3 November 2018 and the Parish Hall welcomed local businesses with their goods, local artists displaying their wares and local bakers, cooks and makers. The event proved to be a great social and community event yet again. The refreshments offered were thoroughly enjoyed - in particular the popular cupcakes and Stoodleigh Special Hot Chocolate. £428 was raised to help maintain and improve the Parish Hall. Thanks to the community for their support.

*    *    *    *    *

The Family Fun Dog Show on 11 Augustm2018 offered Show Classes to suit every family pet and provided entertainment for all the family.

A variety of show classes provided fun for the many entrants and the Best in Show was Scampi with his delighted owner, Ruby, from Stoodleigh. See all the results.

Visitors also enjoyed delicious cream teas, refreshments and a Pimm’s Tent. There were scrumptious home-made cakes, fabulous prizes on the raffle and competitions. 

There were cups for the Best in Show and Best Junior Handler with prizes from our sponsors for Best Condition (Oasis Grooming) and Fastest Recall (Biothane Bert).

Thanks to our sponsors, West Ridge Veterinary Practice, and to our many local businesses for their support:

• Biothane Bert
• Burnetts Sheds & Fencing
• Creature Comforts
• Heard & Sendell
• Mole Valley Farmers
• Oasis Grooming
• Pets at Home
• The Stoodleigh Inn
• Waterman's Country Supplies
• Wottons Removals

Thank you to our judge, Lesley Thwaites, who did a magnificent job with so many great dogs taking part. Thanks also to our hosts for the use of their paddock - a wonderful setting for the Show, to the super volunteers who helped and huge thanks to everyone who came along and supported our event. 

We are pleased to report that with your help we raised almost £800 which has been shared between St Margaret’s Church and Stoodleigh Parish Hall.

*    *    *    *    *

The Stoodleigh Summer Walk took place on 7 July 2018 and walkers enjoyed bacon roll breakfasts before setting out on a route of just over six miles. The walk was  along bridleways and footpaths through lanes, woodlands and fields and there was plenty of shade on warm, sunny day. The group walked back to the Parish Hall where a delicious lunch was enjoyed by walkers and non-walkers alike. Thanks to all those who took part and thank you to the volunteer cooks for the day. Just over £250 was raised for funds for Parish Hall improvements.

*    *    *    *    *​

The Easter Market & Coffee Morning 2108 was well supported again this year. In addition to the visiting businesses offering their goods for sale, there were Cakes, Easter Sweets and Egg Tombola, Veg, Community Plant Stall, Face Painting, Books and Competitions. Don't forget the opportunity to enjoy refreshments - Plenty of great coffee, tea and cakes were enjoyed with a chance to catch up with friends and neighbours. The event raised just over £430 for Hall funds. Thanks to our community for your support.

*    *    *    *    *

A great evening was spent taking a guided tour around Lundy with a Slide Show provided by Jennifer Rowlandson on 16 February 2018. Photographs of stunning cliffs, puffins, guillemots, Sika deer, Soay sheep, wild goats, peregrines and seals were just a few great sights shown. This was a joint event organised by the Church and the Parish Hall and funds raised amounted to £266.40 which was shared between the two.

*    *    *    *    *

The Christmas Draw was another huge success this year! Thank you to everyone who supported the Parish Hall and bought tickets for this year’s Draw and also to the local businesses and members of the community who donated amazing prizes. The Draw took place at the  Christmas Bingo on 18 December 2017 which was another lively event. The Draw and Bingo raised a total of £773 for Parish Hall funds. Thanks everyone!

*    *    *    *    *

The Parish Hall was almost filled to capacity for the showing of the "Rural Life" 1901-1981 Film on 24 November 2017. Those attending enjoyed being able to re-live the leisure and labour of our rural past. The film provided an insight into how people lived in rural Britain and represented life in a similar era to the ones in which some of the audience grew up, went to school, and worked in. Members of the audience found it to be a delightful experience, full of memory evoking footage - much of which previously unseen for decades.

A hot supper of bolognaise, jacket potatoes and crusty bread was served after the film followed by a fascinating local history exhibition provided by the History Group. Local families had also provided photographs of their homes, farms and families in Stoodleigh during the same era as the film. The Stoodleigh Estate Sale Particulars of 1926 were available for visitors to browse and purchase copies of information about the properties in which they now live .

Thank you to the wonderful audience that came, the volunteer catering team and the History Group. Thanks also for the enthusiastic comments from our audience afterwards and also for their support as £295 was raised for Parish Hall funds.

*    *    *   *

 

                                                                                                            

 Stoodleigh residents, those from the surrounding area and visitors enjoy the regular Market and Coffee Mornings, Annual Family Dog Shows, walking events, slide shows, wine tasting and bingo.

Maintenance and improvement of the Hall is dependent on the income from hiring and fundraising. Any profit, however, large or small, is vital in taking care of our Parish Hall for the community. Some of the events held in recent years include Last of the Summer Walks 2015, Easter Market and Coffee Morning, Last of the Summer Walks 2015, Stoodleigh Spring Walk 2016, Stoodleigh Family Fun Dog Show 2016 and Stoodleigh Family Dog Show 2017.