April 2024

19 Buckden Roundabout April 2024 Village News Friends of Buckden Towers Greetings to all our members, supporters and Roundabout readers. I wish you all a joyful Easter FoBT has remained as active as ever, in spite of the almost non - stop rainy weather that we have experi- enced over the recent months. We will have held our ever - popular Spring Quiz Night earlier in March, for the second time, in the Kings Room at Buckden Towers. Not quite filling the room as comprehensively as last autumn, but nevertheless a good number of people enjoyed the challenge of Alec MacAndrew ’ s tough quiz questions. Later in April we are hosting a presentation by Alison Weir on the subject of one of her best - selling books, “ Catherine of Aragon, The True Queen ”. This will be held in the Kings Room and all 80 seats have been pre - sold. The event will make a significant contribution towards FoBT ’ s primary objective of raising funds to support the conservation of the historic buildings of Buckden Towers. Our link with Catherine in Buckden Towers is well known, and we are looking forward to a very entertaining and informative evening In May we will hold our annual Plant Sale Day and preparations for this are well advanced. Plant Sale Day has long been our biggest fund raising activity, and brings in market gardeners and the general public from miles around. We hope for good weather to get the best result from the hard work put in by Fiona in organising this. And presently, contractors engaged by FoBT are busy restoring the previously neglected and overgrown garden area just to the south of the Outer Gatehouse Lodge. The garden has been stripped of all the unwelcome overgrowth, treated for weeds, and is currently being planted as a wild meadow, together with a mix of hardy shrubs, and will embrace a central area with a bench for quiet relaxation. This is being fully funded by FoBT through a grant received from an Ameri- can well - wisher. Our tour season has re - started as from the beginning of March, so do get in touch if you fancy a guided tour around the establishment. These are very informative and entertaining. Check our web page for details. Now, a reality check: We need new members. Please engage with your friends and family with a view to persuading them to join this worthy cause. At £10 per annum for an individual, or £15 for a family, the cost is low. The bene- fit to our community both now and in the future, is considerable. Details on the web site: www.friendsof buckdentowers.co.uk Thanking you for your valued support. Keith Lawrence—Chairman FoBT Hello everyone. I ’ d like to introduce myself to you as the new Chair of the Buckden and Little Paxton Surgeries Patient Participation Group which repre- sents the patients of the Practice and works in part- nership with GPs and Practice staff to provide feed- back on the services provided to improve patient care. At our last meeting we discussed the 200 Club. The 200 Club was es- tablished many years ago and membership is primarily from Buckden residents. Members pay £12 per year and there are 4 draws in the year. The Club has been loyally supported by residents in Buckden but the number of members has continued to fall year on year. Together with the resignation last September of our Treasurer and Administrator for the 200 Club, we have had to review the viability of continuing with the Club. As a small but enthusiastic Group, we have decided to sus- pend the Club for this year and focus on different projects to promote health and well being, working with the newly evolving Buckden Com- munity - Led Well Being Hub. We hope that we can recruit new members to our PPG which will ena- ble us to have more resources to run such a Club in the future. I would like to extend our grateful thanks to Club members over the years which has enabled the Practice to fund, for example, additional equip- ment for the benefit of patients. If you would like to join us, we meet quarterly with Practice staff to provide patient feedback and receive an update about the local health and care system. Members also get involved in ad hoc activities includ- ing collecting patient feedback, volunteering at vaccination clinics and running fundraising events. We have also been consulted on the devel- opment of a new website which will be easier for people to read and find information. We are particularly under represented by younger people including new parents and minority groups. If you are interested in joining us, please contact bandlpppg@gmail.com for further details, or contact me, Elizabeth Clark on 01480 216176. Buckden and Little Paxton Patients Participation Group