Volunteers Needed! Our regular volunteers are fully occupied with the refit of the museum, which means we are unable to man stalls at a number of events without more help on: May 20 - Communities First, Six Bells June 16 - Aberbeeg Hospital fete July 7 - Six Bells Fete If you can help please contact Peggy Bearcroft on (01495) 213806.

Lecture Programme - the current lecture season has now ended, and the society would like to thank Marge Selway for arranging a varied programme, with something to suit all tastes.

Please call at the museum for updates and to collect your Newsletters. The lectures restart on Wednesday, September 5 - Solemn Sabbaths and Faraway Sundays', by Pete Strong Spring Trip - Saturday, June 2, trip to Warwick Castle, cost £16.50 including entry and bus fare.

Please contact Roy Pickford, on 01495 213377 for details and to book your place - NOTE CHANGE OF DATE!

Fundraising - Well done, Bethan! Bethan Roles, granddaughter of Elaine and Dennis, has raised £2.60 for museum funds by saving pennies and two penny pieces in her museum' money box.

Fundraising, April 2007: £320.

ABERTILLERY COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL FRIENDS ASSOCIATION: The next meeting takes place on May 23, at 5.45pm, in the school library. Please go along and support them.

CHRISTCHURCH ABERBEEG: The rewiring works are nearing completion and it is expected that the church will re-open early in May.

A special service will be held on Ascension Day, Thursday, May 17, at 7pm, with guest speaker the Archdeacon of Newport, The Venerable Kenneth Sharp.

During March and April, the members of Christchurch held their services in the Methodist Church in Aberbeeg, and they would like to express their gratitude.

QUIZ NIGHT: The Friends of Christ Church, Aberbeeg, are holding a general knowledge quiz, on behalf of the Church in Aberbeeg Social Club on Monday, May 14 at 7pm.

The monies raised will go towards further essential work which needs to be undertaken at the church.

There will be a charge of £8 per team of four people and refreshments will be available afterwards.

A number of local organisations have already been invited and hopefully the event will be well supported.

If you wish to enter a team or teams, please contact Bill Jones, on (01495) 216728 by May 9.

BLAENAU GWENT COMMUNITY FOOD NEWS: Fruity Friday! May 25 2007. World Cancer Research Fund's UK goal for Fruity Friday is to raise awareness of the links between diet, nutrition and cancer prevention.

Get involved by visiting www.wcrf-uk.org/fruity_friday and ordering your Fruity Friday pack. There are all sorts of ideas to introduce more fruit into your diet and encouragement to raise funds for cancer research National Vegetarian Week 21-27 May 21-27: May sees the fifteenth year of National Vegetarian Week, which aims to celebrate vegetarian values and promote the health benefits of a vegetarian diet.

Check out www.vegsoc.org to find delicious recipes and information about vegetarian foods and ingredients.

Even if you're not a vegetarian, why not ensure you have at least one meat free meal a week?

With the huge range of delicious foods available, meat-free doesn't need to be boring!

PS: Don't forget www.vegbox-recipes.co.uk for a wealth of seasonal recipe ideas.

Healthy Start Voucher Scheme: Do you know someone who is pregnant or with a child under four?

They might be entitled to vouchers from the Healthy Start scheme, which replaced the Welfare Food Scheme last year.

They can spend their vouchers on milk, but also on fruit and vegetables and the fruit and veg co-ops in Blaenau Gwent and some of the greengrocers are signed up as suppliers.

Find out more about the scheme at: www.healthystart.nhs.uk/ ABERTILLERY BOOK: If you were unable to buy a copy of Look back at Old Abertillery and Six Bells Volume 2, then the good news is that the author, Malcolm Thomas, has re-issued this book.

The book is on sale at This 'n' That, priced at £13.95.

AGM: HI Help Inside, the counselling agency, holds their AGM, May 17, at 20 High Street, Abertillery, 7.30pm.

GREEN GYM NEWS: Clive Ward has sent in the following: The Green Gym Tomato Growing Challenge is happening!

Participants from across Blaenau Gwent are being given a small plant, of a number of different varieties of tomato to be nurtured and grown this spring.

Young and old are getting involved and are using a variety of methods to grow their tomato plant.

When the plants ripen, it is intended to have tomato tasting session to see how the different varieties differ in taste.

The Green Gym also making plans to grow salad vegetables on their allotment to supplement the tomatoes!

If you want to learn more about this challenge or other activities email c.ward@btcv. org.ik