St Albans
City & District

Hertfordshire Chamber Orchestra

Date: Saturday, 17th April 2010 at 7.30 pm
Place: St Saviours Church, Sandpit Lane, St Albans AL1 4DF
Following the highly successful concert at St Saviours last April, HCO have kindly agreed to hold another concert in aid of Home-Start. This is the programme: Tickets are £12 each.
Download Programme and booking information HERE
To order tickets, please email: office@homestartstalbans.org.uk or phone 01582-833810

Christmas in Wheathampstead

Home-Start took part in the Wheathampstead Christmas Tree festival again in 2009. The theme this year was nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and we decorated our tree according to the story of Cinderella.

And we were lucky enough to get a lot of assistance from some young helpers in the village. From time to time, Home-Start has been running a stall at Wheathampstead Farmers’ Market, providing entertainment for children. In November we asked the children who came to help us make decorations for the tree that we’d be exhibiting in December.

And so it was that our tree was decorated with many fine paper cut-outs of the glass slippers that Cinderella wore.

Christmas in St Albans

As usual just before Christmas, staff and volunteers took part in the Round Table collection in aid of Home-Start – following Santa Claus through the evening streets of old St Albans.

To make it particularly memorable, it started to snow very hard as we made our way round. Very cold but undaunted, we made it to the end – and collected around £700 A big thank-you to the Round Table for their support and to everyone else who braved it that night.

Christmas in Harpenden

We had a stall as usual at the ever popular Harpenden Christmas Fayre on 22 November.

It was a busy day and we had a good site opposite St Nicholas Church. Lots of people came to buy our Christmas cards and puddings, and for children there was a draw for an enormous Winnie the Pooh. Sadly no one won Winnie, and so he spent Christmas thawing out back in the office.

Car Draw earns Home-Start over £500

In Summer 2009 we launched a Car Draw where the prize was a brand new Fiat 500.

The car draw was organised on behalf of Home-Start St Albans (and a number of other small charities) by the Foundation of Social Improvement (FSI), a new charitable body set up to help other charities and not-for-profit organisations.

Home-Start received 95.2% of all the proceeds. This was because the car itself was donated by Zurich Insurance, and FSI keep their administrative costs down to a minimum.

The good news is we raised £516. A big thank-you is due to the FSI for organising the draw which enabled many charities to take part and to benefit.

All the fun of Village Day

Once again in 2009 we had s stall at Wheathampstead Village Day. We sold Car Draw tickets (see above) and we also ran a tombola for children and the young at heart.

It was a lovely afternoon and we were lucky enough to be allocated a prime location at the top of the field. So this, in combination with the attractions of the car draw and tombola, meant we did good business. And, apart from having a lot of fun, we made a profit of just under £300.

Our thanks go to all who helped man the stall.

Children’s Entertainment at Wheathampstead Farmers’ Market

Home-Start again provided the entertainment for children at the February and March Farmers’ Markets in Wheathampstead. The challenge in March was to decorate an Easter egg – and an Easter duck!

Wheathampstead Christmas Farmers’ Market

Date: Sunday, 21st December 2008
Mulled wine and cup-cakes became delicacies in Wheathampstead over Christmas. At the Home-Start stall we sold numerous glasses of hot mulled wine to shoppers at the Christmas Farmers’ Market . . . while the children decorated cup cakes in the colours of Christmas! It was a delightful morning – and we made £180 for Home-Start.

Santa Claus tours St Albans

Date: Thursday, 18th December 2008
As usual just before Christmas, staff and volunteers took part in the Round Table collection in aid of Home-Start – following Santa Claus through the evening streets of old St Albans. Clive, who played the part of Father Christmas, is still humming the carols. And to top a momentous evening we collected £675 for Home-Start. A big thank-you goes to the Round Table for their support.

Wine Tasting Evening

Date: Thursday, 27th November 2008
Home-Start’s wine tasting evening at Cellar Door on 27 November introduced us to some wines most of us had not tried before. As a result many of us left heavily stocked up for Christmas!

Cellar Door, in London Road St Albans, are Independent Wine Merchants Of the Year 2008, and now we understand why.

Harpenden Christmas Festival

Date: Sunday, 23rd November 2008
We ran a stall at the Festival from 12 noon till 6pm. As usual, and despite the weather, our team of helpers battled on and we had a good day. Our lollipop and Winnie the Pooh tombolas were both very popular. Our thanks go to our valiant helpers Sue Douglas, Nikki Lynes and Eliza and Stephen from Beaumont School.

Quiz Night

Date: Saturday, 25th October 2008
Susanne Woods organised a Quiz Night in conjunction with her colleagues at Harpenden Rotary Club. And it was a sell-out, raising no less then £1,300 for Home-Start.
To complete the evening, Sally Patterson organised a Home-Start team and they won!
It really was a memorable evening.

Children’s Entertainment at Wheathampstead Farmers’ Market

Date: Sunday, 19th October 2008
Children’s entertainment at Wheathampstead Farmers’ Market is a brand new initiative – so children can safely be kept amused while parents shop. Home-Start provided the entertainment at the October market – cookie decorating especially for Halloween. Much fun was had by all!

Fashion Show at John Lewis

Date: Thursday, 9th October 2008
This was a fashion show especially for Home-Start guests. John Lewis staged it on our behalf at their store in Welwyn Garden City, and provided wines and nibbles too. We had 60 guests – many of whom are our hard working volunteers. Including the raffle, we made £1,000 for Home-Start and all had a great evening.

Lunch in the Garden

Date: Sunday, 31st August 2008
Jill Ackroyd held a scrumptious summer lunch in her garden and raised no less than £750 for Home-Start.

Teas at the Abbey

Date: Sunday, 3rd August 2008
Home-Start staff and volunteers spent a bust but highly enjoyable afternoon manning the Refectory Restaurant at St Albans Cathedral. Our menu of tea, coffee, cakes and other scrumptious light refreshments raised around £300 for Home-Start.

Wheathampstead Village Day

Date: Sunday, 13th July 2008
Our first ever stand at the annual Wheathampstead Village Day was great. A super event … wonderful weather … a fabulous atmosphere. We had lots of helpers - that made it especially enjoyable day as we could all enjoy the fun of the day too. We gained a lot of publicity, and made over £150 on our raffle.

Stall at Festival of Light

Date: 22nd June 2008
Home-Start’s stall at the Festival of Light in St Albans succeeded in attracting a number of potential volunteers – as well as making a small profit.
It was a very worthwhile day.

Home-Start Tea Party

Date: 18th May 2008
A fine, sunny afternoon in May . . . a beautiful garden . . . delicious tea and cakes . . . plenty of games and competitions and other activities . . . lots of children enjoying the excitement – it all made for a wonderful atmosphere and a Tea Party to remember! Home-Start raised over £300 in the process. Well done Victoria, who hosted the party in her garden, and everyone else who was involved.

Regents Park 10k run

Date: 3 May 2008
Victoria Robertson (our Treasurer) took part in aid of Home-Start. She completed the run and raised over £900 in sponsorship. Victoria has a very busy life – with 2 little ones to look after - and we are really grateful to her for making the time to train and support us in this run. Victoria says a BIG thank you to everyone for their fantastic support and for sponsoring her on the 10k run.

Hertfordshire Chamber Orchestra

Date: 5th April 2008
Place: St Saviours Church, Sandpit Lane, St Albans AL1 4DF
Programme: Debussy Prelude a l’apres-midi d’un faune Stravinsky Orpheus Brahms Violin Concerto with Florence Cooke solo violin; Conductor: Nicholas Collon
The concert was a great success: HCO were extremely professional, and the acoustics at St Saviours are superb. The friendly, enthusiastic audience was made up of nearly 100 people, and Home-Start raised over £800. We hope to arrange another concert with HCO at a future date.

Murder Mystery Evening

On 8th March 2008 – at Homewood Road Church Hall, St Albans, AL1 4BH (Junction of Homewood Road and Sandpit Lane). Called The Big Top Of Death, it promised to be very scary. . . yet fun too! But the blood and gore didn’t put anyone off their supper!

Brocket Consort Concert

On 12th January 2008 the Brocket Consort held a concert of chamber music at Rothamsted Manor, Harpenden, in aid of Home-Start. An excellent evening was spent in the Great Drawing Room, with music by Schubert, Finzi, Debussy and – as a finale – Nat King Cole. The singers and musicians who make up the Brocket Consort include our own patron, Julian Godlee.

Waitrose St Albans in store collection

We were offered the opportunity to carry out a collection at Waitrose in St Albans during the week of 21-27 January. We are delighted to report that we raised £750 – and found the Waitrose customers were very interested in our charity and the work we do. A big thank you to our Trustees that helped us with the collection – we know the fact that we could stand in the lobby with a nice warm-air blower made life a little more pleasant – but we still appreciate your enthusiasm.

Round Table Christmas Carols house collection

The Christmas Carols house collection, organised by the St Albans Round Table on behalf of Home-Start, took to the streets on 20th December. Home-Start staff and volunteers had a festive evening collecting from house to house in the area just to the south-east of the City Centre. It was wonderful to see the wonder in children’s eyes as they waved to Santa and listened to the carols. The adults were obviously quite taken too!

We collected £974, more than £600 of which will come direct to Home-Start. A big thank-you to the Round Table for their help.

Wheathampstead Christmas Market

Home-Start ran a stall at the Wheathampstead Christmas Farmers Market on Sunday, 16 December. We sold hot mulled wine - which hit just the right note on a cold, bright day – along with Christmas puddings and confectionery. We raised over £200 profit.

Charity Quiz Night

Soroptimist International of St Albans & District held a fun quiz night on 24th November 2007 at Homewood Road Church Hall, all on behalf of Home-Start. There was supper too, and a bar, ensuring a good evening was had by all. We are very grateful to the Soroptimists for their support.

Tea at the Abbey

Home-Start staff and volunteers manned the Refectory Restaurant at St Albans Cathedral throughout the afternoon on Sunday, 18 November, serving tea, coffee, soup and cakes. The proceeds went to Home-Start.

Harpenden Christmas Fayre

Home-Start ran a stall at the Harpenden Christmas Fayre on Sunday, 25 November. It was a very festive, atmospheric occasion, culminating when the Harpenden Christmas lights were switched on.

Carols at St Albans Station

were sung by members of Soroptimist International of St Albans & District on Monday, 10 December. It was in aid of Home-Start, and we are very grateful to the Soroptimists for their support.

The Great Duck Race

About to launch...in they go! Nikki with the winning duck
and the Mayor presenting the first prize

Nearly a thousand plastic ducks raced down the river in Wheathampstead on 23 September in aid of Home-Start.

The Mayor of St Albans, Kate Morris, helped launch the ducks, and was among the group of spectators watching the race from the bridge by the Bull downstream to East Meads.

Home-Start volunteers had been busily selling duck race tickets for the previous few months and raised £1,500. “We’re so grateful to all the people who bought tickets,” said manager Sally Patterson. “This is enough money for us to support a family for a whole year.”

Celebrating five years of service

Four volunteers, Carol, Mary H, Mary D and Elaine are celebrating five years of service to Home-Start as home visiting volunteers, and we were able to present engraved, glass plaques to Carol and Mary H, pictured above with Anne Main, local MP, and Deputy Mayor Geoff Harrison.

Pamper Evening

Salon XXIV in Harpenden hosted a pamper evening on 1 October in aid of Home-Start. Customers chose four treatments – from hairdressing, facial, manicure, pedicure, reflexology, shiatsu and Indian head massage.

The event raised £600. “This sort of money makes such a difference to us and means we can support an extra family for several months,” said manager Sally Patterson.

Salon XXIV is a new hairdressing salon, and is obviously being strongly supported by its customers: the pamper evening tickets sold out in the first week. “I’m so pleased to be helping Home-Start,” proprietor Carol Giblin said. “I think they work wonders. It’s such a simple principle – mums helping mums. I hope this will just be the first of many pamper evenings.”

(Salon XXIV is at 24 Station Road, Harpenden - 01582 462000)

The fashion show was a success
and we raised about £800!

The Soroptimist International fashion show held at Maple School on 5 June in aid of Home-Start.