GRANTS are open for community groups and projects around Colden Common. 
The parish council's small grant award is available. 
For more details, contact 01962 713700 or accounts@coldencommon-pc.gov.uk.
The closing date for application is Sunday, July 28. The applications will be determined in September. 

LOOKING ahead, the Twyford pumpkin revival is returning. 
It will be held at The Bugle Inn on Sunday, October 13 from 5.30pm. 
There will be food, drinks, weigh the pumpkin competition and more. 

A HAMPSHIRE village music festival is fast approaching.
The Locality Festival will be held on Saturday, August 31 from 4pm at the Phoenix Inn.
A range of musicians will be performing, including: Mackenzie Gordon-Smith, Ed Sheeran Experience and Kings of Lyon.
There will also be entertainment for children including a bouncy castle and face painting. The Phoenix Inn will be providing Ale, cider, Pimms and Prosecco; Sams Mobile Catering - fish and chips; St Mary's PTA – tuck shop; and Marucci's ice cream van.
For more details about tickets, visit eventbrite.co.uk/e/locality-festival-tickets-726266892827. 

COLDEN Common Community Pantry is appealing for donations.
They need - tinned food: e.g. meat/vegetarian stews, curries, soup, fish, baked beans, tomatoes, Fray Bentos pies.
Unopened packets of dry food: e.g. breakfast cereals, tea, biscuits. Sachets of rice or pasta.
Jars: e.g. coffee, jams, marmalade, sauces, frankfurters.
Cleaning and personal hygiene items: e.g. sanitary products, nappies, toilet rolls, toothbrushes and toothpaste, shower gel, shampoo.
Tinned vegetables are not in demand except tomatoes.
For more details, email coldencommoncommunitypantry@proton.me or call 01962 712610. 

MINIBUSES from Colden Common take people to supermarkets. 
The shopping trips are on Wednesdays and Thursdays and cost £3 per person. 
They depart from Spring House and call at Sunningdale, Glen Park, Avondale and other locations in Colden Common as requested.
On Wednesdays, they go to Tesco in Winnall, leaving at 9am and returning at 11am. On Thursday, they go to Tesco in Eastleigh, leaving at 1pm and returning at 3.15pm. 
For more details, contact 01962 714288.

A BINGO night is raising money for a community aid trip to Malawi, in 2025. 
The event will be held at Reeve Hall Scout Hut in Martins Fields, Compton, on Saturday, September 7 from 7pm to 10pm. 
Tickets cost £5 per person, to fund Louis Hopkins, Explorer Scout, on his trip of a lifetime. 
Tickets can be bought by emailing rachel_vines77@hotmail.com or via Rachel Hopkins in Compton School playground on a Wednesday afternoon or Thursday afternoon.
Refreshments, snacks and bingo tickets for sale on the night. Cash only. 

COLDEN Common Community Centre holds digital drop-ins.
These are sessions to help people with any technical challenges. 
They are held on the first Tuesday of the month from 10.30am to 11.30am. 
The next session is on August 6. 

SAVE the date for Colden Common's scarecrow festival in October. 
It will be held around the village on Sunday, October 6 from 10am to 3pm.
In a Facebook post, organisers said: “Our popular annual community event returns. Join us for a scarecrow hunt around Colden Common. With tasty chocolate treat (allergy alternatives available), wonderful arts and crafts and fab raffle prizes. Great family fun for all ages, with riddles to solve for older children. Everyone is invited! £5 per child. Price includes entry to the trail and prize, entry to the arts and crafts and colouring competitions and a drink and a biscuit.
“Hot drinks will be served in stoneware cups. If you would like to purchase a drink to take away with you, please bring your own reusable mug.”