February 2021

7 Buckden Roundabout February 2021 FRIENDS IN DEED Friends in Deed is a group of volunteers who offer help and support to residents of Buckden. There are times in our lives when we could all do with a little extra support or companion- ship whatever our age or circumstances. Need someone to talk to? - it is not easy to ask for help, but why struggle when there are people happy to listen and to help? When we keep things to ourselves and struggle on, things can feel overwhelming and a little bit of help can make all the difference. Whilst visiting is limited for our volunteers at the moment, we can easily provide a friendly voice and ear over the phone. This is a free service and can be either a one - off chat or regular chats. If you do want someone to talk to, please call our co - ordinator, Angie, on 07810 006598 and she will make the arrangements. Need a lift? Our team of volunteer drivers are able to provide transport for hospital / dental / hair appointments etc when family, friends or public transport is not an option. There are fixed fees for this service. Please email our transport co - ordinator peter.mount@btconnect.com or call 07914 669967 and leave your name, number, address and details of your appointment (date, time, location). Please do give us at least 24 hours notice and we shall do our best to meet your needs. We are still looking for more drivers, please contact Peter if you might be interested. The Huntingdonshire Local Group of the Wildlife Trust invite you to our on line illustrated talk on Wednesday 10th February at 7.30pm. Biodiversity and conservation are still managing to make head- lines despite our current difficulties and we are lucky enough to welcome an expert in this area tonight. The talk will be giv- en by Andy Plumptre and hosted via Zoom. Andy is Head of the Key Biodiversity Area Secretariat at the University of Cambridge, where globally important areas for biodiversity are identified, promoted and monitored. Tonight, Andy will show us what has already happened in Africa and ask whether this can be applied to Britain. Booking is via the Trust ’ s website, www.wildlifebcn.org/events and then following the Eventbrite link. Entry charge is £2.50 for members of the wildlife trust or £4.00 for non - members. For more information please contact Alistair on 07775 365507 or alistairrgrant@hotmail.com. Part of the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire. Registered Charity No: 1000412 Identifying Key Biodiversity Areas for Conservation: Lessons from Africa and Applications to Britain Village News Unsure about using Friends in Deed? Here ’ s some feed- back received from a new client recently I was wondering how I would get to my appointment and a friend suggested "Friends in Deed". The driver accompanied me to the clinic door and assured me that he was happy to wait the 2 - 3 hours in the car park with a good book . “ Knowing that the wonderful help and support offered by "Friends in Deed" has relieved me of much anxiety about how I would get to appointments when unable to drive my- self, is so reassuring and a service beyond price! Many thanks to all Friends in Deed for all your wonderful giving of your time, care and kindness .” Buckden Branch—Royal British Legion Further to my notes for the January edition of the Roundabout I am very pleased to report that, with a final count and a fur- ther contribution from HMP Littlehey, taking their total to £780, the final total for this year ’ s Poppy Appeal for the village is £2468.52. With no house to house collection permitted, that is a very creditable result in an extremely difficult year. Once again, my sincere thanks to Tim and Celia for all their efforts. Peter Mount. Chairman. Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Appeal 2020. I would like to say a very big THANK YOU to everyone who con- tributed to the Shoebox Appeal, as 357 shoeboxes were sent from Buckden. It is a wonderful achievement by everyone, es- pecially in these uncertain times. This means that some needy children in poor countries will have had a happier Christmas, as they will have received a shoebox from Buckden sent with love. That in effect is a smile on a child ’ s face, so thank you all again for making this possi- ble. Carol Swepstone