SUNDAY WORSHIP - St Andrew's, Presteigne: Holy Communion (CW) at 11am, with the Rev Stephen Hollinghurst. St Michael's, Discoed: Holy Communion (CW) at 6.30pm, with the Rev Stephen Hollinghurst. St Michael and All Angels', Lingen: Holy Communion (BCP) at 9.30am, with the Rev. Stephen Hollinghurst. Baptist Church, Presteigne: Morning Worship at 11am, with the Rev Suzanne Roberts. Methodist Church, Presteigne: Morning Service at 11am.Our Lady and St Therese Roman Catholic Church, Presteigne: Mass at 9am, with Fr Tim Maloney. Border Fellowship at the Barley Mow, Presteigne: Meeting at 10.30 am. Norton Christian Fellowship at the East Radnor Day Centre, Presteigne: Meeting at 10.30am. St David's, Whitton: Holy Eucharist at 9.30am, with Fr Andrew Pearce. St Andrew's, Norton: Sung Eucharist at 11 am, with Fr Paul Gerrard. Traditional Anglican at 7, Hereford St., Presteigne: Eucharist at 10am, with Fr Brian Gill.

ASSEMBLY ROOMS - On Sunday afternoon, January 25, Mid Border Arts presents a talk, Samyeling, by Jasmine Bentley, about her three-month stay at the Tibetan monastery, Samyeling, in Scotland. Jasmine will be donating her fee to the charity Rokpa-Tibetan for help where help is needed. Tickets are £5 on the door, and the talk begins at 3pm.

PRESTEIGNE WI - Institute members are reminded that the new season restarts after the Christmas break next Wednesday at 2.30 pm in the Green Room at the Assembly Rooms. Guests are always welcome to come along and enjoy the discussion plus tea and a chat with the members.

TABLEAU - On Saturday, January 31, Tableau is presenting Rich Gifts in the Assembly Rooms, in aid of the Frances House Project in Galgau, Romania. Frances House is a home-grown project, established and sustained from Presteigne. During the Communist era it had been used as a secret place for Christian worship, and needed a great deal of work to make it serviceable again. Now restored, the building is being used as a Christian teaching centre for the village children of Galgau. The next step in the project development is to restore the adjacent barn to create workshops for various skills and crafts as the children progress - plumbing and carpentry - and the traditional crafts of Romania, such as pottery and weaving.

Rich Gifts, art, drama and music, is an entertainment in words and music with Margaret Morgan, Marion and Christopher Rowlatt, Stephen Hollinghurst and Kate Doubleday. Ranging from Shakespeare to Fanny Burney, and from Oscar Wilde to Samuel Pepys, together with some lovely Handel and Purcell songs, there will be something for everyone to enjoy, including a glass of wine in the interval. Tickets are £5 (including the glass of wine) with payment on the door, but numbers are limited so advance booking is advisable, on 01544 267901.

FILM FANS - Friday, January 23, sees Presteigne Film Society presenting Todd Haynes' Far From Heaven at 8pm in the Assembly Rooms. The film is described as a meticulous recreation of a 1950's melodrama, with lush music, dcor and costumes. With a veneer of middle class suburban respectability in Connecticut, themes of sexuality and racism surface from the domestic lives of Frank, his wife, Cathy, and their black gardener, Raymond. Brilliantly crafted, with another luminous performance from Julianne Moore, this film puts, in the context of the past, passions which resonate today The performance starts at 8pm. Calling all WI Members, and others, don't forget that Calendar Girls will be on in Lingen Village Hall, presented by Flicks in the Sticks, on Friday, February 6. There will be two showings, one in the late afternoon and the other in the evening. Phone 01544 267586 for details.

PROBUS CLUB - The Presteigne Probus Club is seeking to raise its profile in the Town, and to demonstrate its wish to play a full part in the thriving local community. For the first meeting of 2004, Presteigne Twinning Association were invited to speak about their work and plans and chairman John Kendall, and secretary Elizabeth Boyles, gave an account of the visit to Lign in Britanny to sign the Twinning Agreement. French local government is very different from our own, and towns of much our own size have considerable financial autonomy, with a substantial budget to spend in accordance with local wishes and needs. A splendid new Cultural Centre had been inaugurated to coincide with the visit from the Presteigne party, and a local road was officially designated with the new name of Place Presteigne. A return visit from our twin in Lign is to be a highlight of 2004 in Presteigne, and plans and fund-raising are well advanced. Probus chairman Edward Mears thanked the visitors on behalf of members, and pledged the support of the Probus group in anything with which the club could help in, while treasurer Cyril Hindley presented them with a cheque as a goodwill contribution to their endeavours. The Presteigne Probus Club meets every first Tuesday of the month from September to May, 10.45am, at the Radnorshire Arms. Membership of the club is open to all retired, or partly retired, men living within the area of Presteigne, from any profession or business, with the object of providing opportunities for fellowship amongst members by way of non-political and non-sectarian meetings and social activities. Secretary Geoff Johnson-Brett can give details to anybody interested in joining on 01544 267255.

BURNS NIGHT - The Arkwright Hall at Kinsham has a distinctly Scottish flavour on Saturday evening when there is an invitation to celebrate Burns' Night, with supper at 8pm. Tickets are £10 and details are available on 01544 267306.

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS - The Presteigne street lights have been taken down. Well done and thanks to those people who risked life and limb and the traffic to get the lights down safely.