Mayford Grange Residents Diary

We have always said our residents are our best ambassadors. That’s why we’ve dedicated these pages to the residents of Mayford Grange to fill with news, views and events, in the hope it will give you a genuine insight in village living Retirement Villages’ style.

It may be traditional but we’re going to resist the urge to smash plates at this Friday’s Greek evening. We’re expecting a wonderful meal with some traditional Greek food – maybe feta cheese, fresh Mediterranean vegetables and some lovely fish followed by some of those delicious Greek pastries that melt on the tongue?
We’ve been promised some Greek music in the background and a spot of entertainment but, as we said, no plate smashing!

The terrace here at Mayford Grange is absolutely beautiful with a wonderful water feature bubbling away. We’re very much hoping to be able to utilise it for our first barbecue of the season. That’s booked for the first weekend in June to tie in with the Jubilee celebrations. That should give it chance to stop raining but we’re not holding our breath on that one!

Fenton Gray and Charles Miller provided us with a wonderful afternoon of Cabaret in our multi-function room. They sang, danced and generally entertained us, putting on a very varied performance.

Their show was followed with a formal Cabaret Afternoon Tea in the restaurant – a triumph from the kitchen as usual!

We were delighted to have so many residents at the Activity Meeting held in February. This is a regular event with residents encouraged to throw in ideas of events, activities and outings they’d like to happen over the coming months. We’ve had several new people move into the village over the winter and they threw in some new ideas which were very well received.

Our village manager Gillian is on hand to facilitate and the wonderful staff here are always happy to provide refreshments so we’re looking forward to a full spring and summer.

The pool table in the clubhouse has become popular over the last few weeks. A number of residents have started cue-ing up, both practising together and enjoying a few friendly games.

A tournament may follow…!

April will see the start of a computer course at Mayford Grange. It’s being pitched at beginners level so the first week will see a basic introduction to Microsoft Word include writing a letter, and designing a greetings card and flier. As people get more confident we’ll start looking at other programmes and their uses and, those who already have the basic skills, can join in as appropriate.

Our new Village Manager is Gillian Hudson.

Gillian has only been here a short time but we are already getting to know her – and she’s definitely breathed an extra spark of life into our village.

Gillian lives in London but is familiar with this area having worked around Woking previously.

She’s got 17 years experience in the care sector, six years in banking and a degree in media and communication – which is a lot of varied experience to bring to the role!

She’s already got us all fired up to fill the calendar with social events in the run up to Christmas, We’re looking forward to celebrating with her!

A while ago we had some art classes running here at Mayford Grange. Even those who hadn’t held a paint brush since leaving school were taught to create a recognisable picture!

Following on from that, one of our residents is working hard to organise an art exhibition here at the village.

A range of work will be on display and of course there’ll be light refreshments to enjoy while you’re browsing.

The exhibition is on December 9 between 5pm and 7pm in our clubhouse at Mayford Grange.

Do come if you can. 

We’re spoilt here at Mayford Grange. Our latest event was a Cheese and Wine evening which was perfect for those of us who like to indulge ourselves in gastronomic delights!

We were given the opportunity to sample some wonderful cheeses, including some from our region, and they were washed down with some delightful wines. There was red, white and rose so something for everyone.

As well as residents, there were a number of people in attendance who are thinking about moving here. It was nice to get a chance to show off our village to them and demonstrate the lifestyle they could one day enjoy! 

That was the subject of a seminar held at Mayford Grange recently. We had speakers in from the National Trust, Woking U3A and The Friends of Woking Community Hospital.

All three were given the opportunity to discuss their organisations, how to get involved and the benefits.

It was all about keeping active – physically, mentally and socially. That’s something we all understand the importance of here. Many of us are involved in activities outside the village and interest groups and events within the village too.

We’re looking forward to our new chef starting at the beginning of next month. He comes highly recommended and, according to those who have met him, he has some great ideas for our menu which we look forward to sampling!

RV’s chairman Nigel Welby and his wife were surprise – and very welcome – guests at our latest coffee morning here at Mayford Grange. The event was organised to raise money for Help for Heroes, a very worthwhile charity.

A photographer from our local newspaper came and took some pictures of us tucking into a range of very tasty homemade cakes and biscuits.

People donated money in exchange for their coffee and cakes and a raffle helped boost the total too. We were delighted to raise £235 in less than two hours with all the money going to the charity.