THE latest community news from Aberystwyth.

International Celebration

MORE than 100 people supported an International Celebration last Saturday at St Paul’s Methodist Centre, which this year celebrates 25 years since the building first opened its doors as both a church and community centre.

Organised in partnership with some of the groups who use the building, the St Brieuc, Kronberg and Esquel Town Twinning Associations and Korean student group provided delicious regional food specialities for visitors to try as well as traditional music to listen to. People were encouraged to find out more about the different groups by filling in a quiz-sheet as they made their way round, with prizes for answering all the questions correctly. There were also opportunities to learn some everyday Korean phrases as well as to make Chinese lanterns.

If you missed this opportunity to celebrate Aberystwyth’s international community, the Chinese Culture Society invites you to their Chinese New Year celebrations at the university on Saturday, 11 February, at 6.30pm.

St Paul’s Methodist Church also looks forward to welcoming families to a Messy Church Silver Jubilee celebration on Saturday, 11 February, from 3pm. A Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, 26 February, at 10.30am, to which all are welcome, will mark 25 years since the centre was opened.

Camera Club

ABERYSTWYTH Camera Club was founded in 1949 and has been meeting on a regular basis ever since. The current meeting place is Penrhyncoch Village Hall, with weekly meetings on Tuesday evenings, 7pm.

Members are diverse in their interests and their skills vary from beginner to professional standards. Digital photography is popular of course, though we have members who enjoy the traditional film and darkroom methods. The profiles of current members and examples of their photography may be seen at www.aberystwythcameraclub.org.uk and the calendar shown there will give an outline of forthcoming activities.

Our activities include club competitions, inter-club competitions, speakers, exhibitions, visits and critique evenings all of which are very beneficial as means of learning and improving skills.

During the summer months local outdoor events are held where a theme or topic is agreed and members do their best to shoot some good images on the chosen subject. These images are usually discussed and evaluated at the following meeting, which most members find helpful and instructive. During periods where the weather is less likely to be fair, a photoshoot may be held indoors at the village hall, where lighting techniques are another important aspect of our photography.

The club is making efforts at the moment towards selecting printed and projected images for two forthcoming competitions against other photographic clubs, and we are optimistic about our chances of extending our recent successes in this challenge.

Meetings are informal occasions with tea and coffee and sometimes hob knobs and Welsh cakes.

If you are interested in photography and would like to join, or to know more, please come along to a meeting to see what they do. If you need further information please contact the club through the website.

Plascrug Bridge Club

17 JANUARY: 1, Doreen Anthony and Dylan Raw-Rees; 2, Pamela Woodhouse and Margaret James; 3, Jeff Thomas and Gwynant Edwards; 4, Jo Davies and Elenid Thomas.24 January: 1, Elenid Thomas and Dylan Raw-Rees; 2, Margaret Ellis and Vicky Edwards; 3, Gwynant Edwards and Jeff Thomas.

Postcard Club

THE Aberystwyth Postcard Club held their first meeting of the new year on 10 January, with their annual general meeting at their new meeting place in St David’s Church hall, Bath Street.

Sue Whitehouuse was re-elected chairperson, Gillian Hopkins as vice chairperson, Peter Henley as secretary and Ann Lucas as treasurer. The next meeting will be the annual competition to be held on 7 February, at the Church Hall at 2pm.Details of the club can be obtained from the secretary on 01970 828173.

Shop volunteers

TENOVUS Cancer Care, Wales’ leading cancer charity, is urgently looking for volunteers to help at their shop in Aberystwyth.

All profits from the shop go directly towards helping cancer patients and their loved ones. But the shop urgently needs more volunteers to help raise funds to help more people affected by cancer.

Katie Taylor, volunteer develop-ment manager at Tenovus Cancer Care, said: “Anyone who’s interested in volunteering in our shop can look forward to a warm welcome and meeting new friends. It doesn’t matter how much time you can give – all we ask is that you get involved and make a difference in your community. We’d love you to join us, so why not pop in to see us for a chat!”

If you’d like to find out more about volunteering with Tenovus Cancer Care, visit tenovuscancer-care.org.uk/volunteer.

If you’re a member of a club, society or group, send your news to [email protected]