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tel: 0845 521 1857
We have always said our residents are our best ambassadors. That’s why we’ve dedicated these pages to the residents of Cedars Village to fill with news, views and events, in the hope it will give you a genuine insight in village living Retirement Villages’ style.
Once again, we were delighted to welcome back the Rickmansworth Players. They have been to Cedars Village several times in the past and we do hope they’ll come again.
They come as a choir with their own pianist and keep us entertained with a host of favourite songs from the 30s through to the 50s.
Much toe tapping and clapping was in evidence suggesting they, as usual, proved a big hit.
Cedars Village has a number of keen croquet players who spend many a summer afternoon and evening on the lawn. While matches are generally held for fun there are a smattering of competitions held throughout the season where players can unleash their competitive edge.
So there is some excitement around the village about the start of the new season, scheduled in for April 7.
The Croquet Club will officially meet weekly from then but residents are welcome to use the equipment and lawn for practice sessions whenever they like.
The History of Shoes is the title of speaker Jennie Thorn’s presentation to the Cedars Village luncheon club. Jennie will be joining the group for lunch in the village restaurant in April and then sharing her knowledge and expertise.
Our Luncheon Club always aims to combine an interesting talk from an invited speaker and a leisurely lunch in our restaurant here at Cedars Village.
This month we were ‘magically’ entertained by Julie Carpenter who told us all about her life.
Julie is a member of the Magic Circle with children’s parties being her main audience!
She started performing tricks as a child, then turned to acting before picking up her wand once more.
We were delighted to watch her perform some of her favourite tricks at the end of her talk – although we were baffled by how she did them!
Burns Night gave us our annual excuse for a Scottish fling in the restaurant.
Patricia Purcell from the Royal Opera House gave an informal reading and a full restaurant toasted the haggis.
Very traditional and lots of fun!
Our senior nurse Lynda Ashton recently completed a Himalayan challenge to raise money for the Hospice of St Francis. She flew to Delhi where she spent a few days in a Cancer Centre volunteering on a project there and helping with renovating and decorating works. After that she travelled by train to Pathankot and Dharamsala to trek through the foothills of the Himalayas. Many of us at the village were delighted to support Lynda who so far has raised over £3200 for the Hospice.
Gallery of talent
Cedars Village Art Club meets every Monday morning and each year the club organises an exhibition of their work.
The gallery this time round was outstanding, filling the ballroom and conservatory.
Various styles and subject matters were showcased from portraits to landscapes to abstracts.
We all enjoyed a morning browsing their work and acknowledging the tremendous creative talent that we have in our village.
Top secret
The Luncheon Club were visited this month by Hugh Davies from Bletchley Park – one of World War Two’s best kept secrets.
Around 8,500 people worked there – their mission to crack Germany’s coded communications.
Mr Davies explained that Bletchley Park was Churchill's secret passion; he called its codebreakers his 'geese that laid the golden eggs and never cackled'.
Goodbye June!
At the end of September we said a sad farewell to June Ives, as she retired. June has been our village receptionist since day one, way back in 1995 and was the main point of contact for residents and staff for all that time. June was always there to meet and greet us and helped to ensure that the village ran smoothly. Having moved house, and with family in Australia, June decided it was time to retire so that she could spend more time with her husband in her new home and take extended holidays Down Under.
We couldn’t let her retirement pass without a celebration ‘Cedars style’ and we all gathered in the conservatory for coffee and pastries – the picture shows her enjoying a cuppa with some residents. Flowers and gifts were presented and speeches made by Colin Foulger, the Village Manager and former Manager now Operations Director, Malcolm Sniders. John Corner, Chairman of the Residents Association also thanked June for all she had done for the village.
We wish June all the best in her retirement and hope she takes up our offer to pop in any time!
The World’s Biggest Coffee Morning
Once again we hosted a Coffee Morning in Aid of Macmillan Cancer Support. This popular event is always very well supported and this year we raised £915 for the charity.
Our morning was spent browsing the bric-a-brac, enjoying coffee and tucking into delicious homemade jams and cakes.
Fun and fundraising – the perfect combination!
Bank holiday barbecue
Unusually for a barbecue organised for a bank holiday in the UK the weather was kind at Cedars Village!
This is an annual event, always well supported by residents.
One of the big draws is the croquet competition which takes place on the lawn at the back of the mansion house. A large audience was delighted by several very closely fought matches which finally saw Betty and Ted emerge victorious with Mac and Valerie worthy runners up
Later in the day, the prizes for the Cedars in Bloom competition were presented. There was a number of categories including best bedding displays, best tubs and containers, best hanging baskets and best balcony displays. Winners, in no particular order, were Marion, Jean, Rosemary, Ann G, Shirley, Betty, Jo and Sheila. The Cedars Cup, awarded to the entrant with the best garden overall was Betty.
A big thank you to all the competitors for brightening up our village.
Visit from our fellow RV residents at Castle Village
The residents of Castle Village in Berkhamsted, another RV village, formed a choir a few months ago and have been entertaining their fellow residents. With a degree of trepidation they agreed to venture round the M25 to pay us a visit. Our ballroom was packed for the performance, which can’t have helped their nerves too much! They needn’t have worried – Cedars residents were delighted with the choir’s renditions of songs and verses. And while we hope for a repeat performance we’re not sure we’re brave enough to return the favour!
Donkeys in the spotlight
The Luncheon Club here at Cedars Village enjoyed a talk from a representative of the Donkey Sanctuary, based down in Sidmouth, Devon. The Sanctuary is an international animal welfare charity which not only takes in homeless, mistreated and unwanted donkeys and mules but also works to protect and care for donkeys and mules worldwide.
Residents were treated to a talk about the work of The Sanctuary and there was plenty of ‘ahhhh’s as the pictures were shown!
Show music
The Panda Players is a local amateur dramatics society which has been entertaining people in the local area since 1988. It has staged a variety of plays and concerts in the past and we were lucky to experience some of the highlights when the Players came to Cedars to present an evening of music.
The actors, actresses and musicians performed popular songs from shows such as South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun, Half a Sixpence and The Boyfriend.
Check mate!
A new activity has been introduced to Cedars Village this month – proof that you can always find room on the social calendar if enough people are interested!
One of our residents agreed to host a meeting to talk about playing Chess. His knowledge of the game and its origins was remarkable and, it turned out, inspirational.
Those who attended showed such enthusiasm it was agreed a Chess group would be formed. The idea is to meet up regularly, organise games and challenges and possibly even get some beginners on board to pass on tips too.
“Anyone for croquet?”
The croquet season is now in full swing and, weather permitting, every afternoon there is always someone on the lawn waiting to be challenged to a match.
And it’s not just those of us who are regulars who have been spotted swinging mallets. There are plenty of residents who’ve never played before pitching in and learning not just the rules but the strategy of the game!
Computer course
A group of 10 residents were treated to a ‘Get to know your laptop’ session this month. A local IT expert joined us for a morning of ‘silver surfing’ and was able to help us with any problems we were experiencing using our laptops.
Cathedral of Glass
What a wonderful occasion the official reopening of our Conservatory turned out to be.
More than 150 of us, including some invited guests and directors from Retirement Villages turned up to the ceremony which was performed by TV gardener Christine Walkden.
Many of us recognised her from The One Show and, once she started talking, we recognised her distinctive voice from Gardeners Question Time!
She spent the whole afternoon chatting to us, answering questions and admiring our Conservatory. During her speech she likened it to a Cathedral of Glass and talked about it being somewhere that brings people together.
She was spot on and it was a wonderful way to describe the Conservatory which looks absolutely amazing following nine months of restoration work.
It’s now back firmly where it belongs at the heart of Cedars Village and is in use every single day.
Contact us now on
0845 521 1857
