ASHILL VILLAGE AID

There was a significant move into the village by many couples taking early retirement in the 1960’s with the new bungalow estate developments, these being ideal homes in our beautiful village. Eighteen years on, several of those people are now on their own, often without access to a car and the idea of forming a type of ‘Good Neighbours’ scheme was discussed. All groups and associations were invited to an open meeting and from that, in 1978, Ashill Village Aid came into being.

Volunteers offered to cover their own home patch, being available to help, advise and many times just be a good listener to anyone in need of support. These volunteers, now called ‘Contacts’ still fulfil the same role in all areas of the village, their houses being identified by a white on red AVA sign. We have an elected committee and have recently become a registered charity.

In 1981 following negotiations with Breckland Council the AVA Community Car scheme commenced, providing transport for those with no access to a vehicle for visits to GPs, dentists, hospital visiting and appointments etc. This is a frequently used service the drivers are volunteers and are paid running costs.

In 1984 AVA was able to obtain the lease of a derelict farm storage building in the centre of the village by the pond, our vision, to renovate it and open a drop in centre. Grant applications were submitted, sufficient being successful to enable us to commence the renovations using reclaimed red Norfolk bricks and tiles, to retain the character of the original building. After much sweat and tears the centre was completed. We were delighted to receive an award from Shell UK and the Royal Institute of British Architects, which was presented to us by HRH Prince Charles.

The AVA Call-in is a successful venture, providing a venue for meetings, luncheon clubs, a chat and a cup of coffee, staffed by volunteers. A recently completed taster course in computers was over subscribed, such was the interest, we now have tentative plans to obtain computer/s to open a learning centre, at present we are looking at sources of funding for this project.

Although Ashill Village Aid appears mainly to be involved with older people, we are aware that the younger folk in our community have some unmet needs as identified in the Appraisal and we look forward to addressing these issues.

Ashill Village Aid has developed from an original idea by Enid and Peter Turner.

The present committee:-

The Call-in in 1983 during renovation

The call-in after renovation

Comments, ideas, suggestions welcome, contact

enid@eturner freeserve.co.uk

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