We are delighted to announce that the Centre has secured the top grant of £12,000 from the Tesco Bags of Help grant in the voting which took place in the local Tesco stores in late October/ November last year. A huge thank you to all those who voted for our project - you really made a difference for the Centre.
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The committee are currently working to finalise plans for the pond refurbishment and nature area redevelopment. The work will be completed during 2017 so look out for updates, and volunteering opportunities and dates for this exciting project.

Since launching in 2015, Bags of Help has awarded more than £24m across 2,421 local projects.

And from 1 December, customers will be able to vote for local groups all year round, every time they shop and grants will be awarded monthly – meaning that thousands more projects will benefit from the scheme.

Funding will now be awarded to groups who are seeking to use and develop outdoor spaces in ways that will benefit their local community, and money will be available in smaller amounts, making it more accessible.

Customers will get the chance to vote for three different groups each month. At the end of each month, when votes are collected, three groups in each of Tesco’s regions will be awarded funding.

Anyone can nominate a local project and local organisations can apply. To find out more visit www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp

On 21st October 2016 12 members of the Hertfordshire Occasional Guild spent a busy day at the HGC.
The amount of work they covered was phenomenal! It included:

• work in the archive
  
• cleaning all the crockery and cutlery in the kitchen (a regular working party job) to keep things in tip-top order for our users
  
• garden clearing in the playground area to continue improving the area and revealing more of the original shrubs and plants, about 30 wheelbarrows of overgrowth was cleared!
  
• clearing old staples from notice boards in the craft room (the final stint of a working party job that has been ongoing during 2016 and one we're all pleased has now been completed) to make them usable and improving the general appearance of the room.

Thank you all for the difference you have made.

We are delighted to announce that the Hertfordshire Guide Centre at Cottered has been successful in securing funding from the Tesco Bags of Help Scheme for a fabulous restoration of our pond.

Tesco has teamed up with Groundwork on its Bags of Help initiative in hundreds of regions across England and Wales. The scheme will see three community groups and projects in each of these regions awarded grants of £12,000, £10,000 and £8,000 – all raised from the 5p bag charge.

With our grant we plan to completely transform our pond, which is currently overgrown. The area will be cleared of brambles. Proper access to the pond will be built, along with a nature garden and seating area. If we receive enough votes we hope to build a complete nature reserve and educational space, including information boards and pond dipping equipment so that Rainbows, Brownies and Guides, and other visitors to the centre can make the most of their visit. The photos below show what the pond looks like now, and our plans for the future.

Voting for the three successful projects in our area will be open from 31st October until 13th November 2016. You can vote for us at:

• Baldock Tesco Extra
• Royston Tesco Extra
• Hitchin Tesco Express

Customers will cast their vote using a token given to them at the check-out in store each time they shop. Please vote for our project as the more votes we secure the larger our grant, and the more we will be able to achieve.

For more information please visit: http://www.tesco.com/bagsofhelp

A huge thank you to Gill, Jo, Vikki, Andy, Jean, Natalie and Dave for all of their hard work at the County Guide Centre on Saturday 18th June.  Whilst ‘operation kitchen clean-up’ took place inside, Natalie and Dave tackled the playground and pathway areas. I don’t think the kitchen has ever looked or smelt so clean – it literally sparkled!

More help is always appreciated - our next working party will be on 17th August when the focus will be on the outside so please bring your garden tools. Come and join us!