Parish Church - Small as the community of Aymestrey Parish is (314 people), a restoration appeal to raise £50,000 during this year will be launched on April 1. This is the amount of money needed to match the grant received from English Heritage covering 72% of the urgent work needed to repair the fabric of the Parish Church. Fund-raising events will take place each month and there will be a grand draw concluding on the night of the Harvest Supper in September. A woodcut of the church by artist, Jonathan Heale will be sold in limited edition and this will be launched in the Great Hall of the Bishop's Palace in Hereford by Kathy Pridiss, a well respected artist, and the wife of the new bishop, Anthony Pridiss. The fund raising event for April, a Bluebell Walk, takes place on Sunday April 25.

Parish Council - Aymestrey Parish Council has received a £4,000 Countryside Agency grant to produce a Parish Plan. In the next few weeks every household in the parish will be sent a questionnaire asking for the community's thoughts on subjects such as traffic, tourism and housing. Five parish councillors in the Mortimer Ward have been awarded a government grant to run two minibuses for the community. Parishioners will be able to book the minibuses to collect them from their homes for short journeys, where no other public transport is available. Charges will be comparable to normal bus fares. For more information contact Community Wheels on 01568 615785.

Village Hall - At the recent Black Country Night the husband and wife duo, Dandy, provided the sell out audience with an evening of comedy. Volunteers provided a supper of bangers and mash and thanks go out to all who worked so hard and so willingly to make the event such a success. A quiz night will take place tomorrow (Friday) at 8pm with teams of up to four people, costing £5. Raffle and refreshments are available. Car boot and table top sales will be held on the second Saturday of each month through the summer starting on May 8 at 10am. Carpet Bowling takes place every Monday evening 7 to 7.30 start. It is hoped that the Village Hall Committee will have raised enough money this year with the help of a possible grant to have the outside of the hall re-cladded with new lapped timber, as it is in quite a shabby state and does nothing to enhance the village and certainly does not reflect the welcoming, comfortable interior.