Last September the support of North Elmham helped the Playgroup raise £250 by taking away and recycling your unwanted old clothes, shoes, and bedding.

We have arranged another collection for March and again are appealing for you to bag up your items and help us raise even more.

This time we won’t deliver bags around the village as any bag will do. We cannot accept duvets and pillows but old bedding is great. Shoes need to be paired and tied together. The more we collect, the more it weighs, and the more we raise. What a great excuse for a spring clean of your wardrobe and airing cupboard.

Bags can be delivered to 57 Eastgate Street (gravel driveway opposite the old bakery) or we can arrange collection for very heavy bags (call Lisa on 01362 667802 or Lucy on 01362 667199)
Bags need to be delivered before 12 noon on the 22nd March. Seems a long way off but thought we’d give you a bit of warning There will be a further reminder in March’s News.

Thank You in advance for any bags you drop off.

North Elmham Playgroup Fundraising Committee

North Elmham Playgroup would like to thank everyone who attended our Christmas Shopping Event on Saturday 26th November. There was a brilliant show of community spirit and we had a fantastic attendance from people in the village, and it has been reported, one couple came from as far as Watton. We are all very appreciative of the support that we were shown.

The Event had a very bustling atmosphere, and there were many smiling faces. There was tea, cake, soup and mince pies on sale, a wide variety of stalls, and plenty of activities for the children, including decorating biscuits, lucky dip, and making Christmas Cards.

We would like to thank everyone who volunteered their time, setting up the hall, putting up posters, manning stalls, supervising the children's events, working in the kitchen, baking for the cake stall, helping to clear away afterwards, and many other jobs which are too many to mention. Without your help, it would be impossible to run these events.

A big thank you too to Annie and Tony Snow, who donated a beautiful Christmas tree and lots of festive decorations to Playgroup, it was gratefully received, and themed the hall perfectly.

Also thank you to the kind man who donated three blackcurrant bushes to us in the morning of the fair, we didn't catch your name, but we are very grateful, and sold all 3 bushes.

We are pleased to report we all raised a fantastic £504 for the playgroup, a donation that will really help our local group. Thank you

If anyone has any comments on how this event could be improved on for next year, please could you email the comments to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or pop a letter into the playgroup, we would like to build on the successes of this event for next year. Thankyou.

I recently gave birth to a daughter, my first child, and saw an ideal opportunity while on maternity leave to integrate us into the local community. I noticed that the playgroup advertised in the Elmham News as having a baby and toddler group and so we trotted along at the first opportunity. I was very impressed by what I found, such as the friendly qualified staff, an array of stimulating toys and a great outdoor play area. Being behind the school also had its advantages as my little girl is always excited to see the school children playing outside and the environment will be familiar to her when she hopefully progresses up to the school. The play group also works actively with the children to make the transition as smooth as possible by arranging visits over to the school. I felt very privileged to have such good facilities so local to me.

Shortly after joining I was made aware that the play group was holding an emergency meeting calling for more committee members so that it could continue. In my naivety I had assumed that these, what I felt were essential, services were provided by the local councils. I went along, baby in arms, to the meeting to see what it was all about, hoping that it would not result in the disappearance of this new found gem. I discovered that it is actually run as a charity and must have an appointed committee in order to operate. While the council does provide some funding and fees go some way towards paying for staffing costs there are still a large amount of costs in running a successful play group that are only met by kind donations. Donations are needed to pay for the general maintenance of the building and the toys, to pay for extra staffing when needed and also to provide new and replacement toys and equipment. The committee is made up of a group of hardworking parents who feel passionately about providing a fun and educational environment for the local children. They give their precious time for free and deal with staffing, health and safety, fundraising and monetary issues to name but a few. I felt very strongly that I didn't want to lose such an important facility and so volunteered my services, big gulp. Since joining the committee I have seen just how much work, time and energy goes in to keeping things going while also desperately trying to raise money to ensure the security of its future. I also learnt that this year the play group will be in its 40th year so I'm sure there will be many of you who have had links to it in some form over the years. To ensure it continues we need the support of the whole community. If you would like to help you don't need to have children in the play group to get involved. We can always use volunteers to help with fundraising and maintenance. It doesn't matter whether you are male or female, young or old. It is a great way to meet people local to you while also getting that warm glow knowing you are doing something good for the next generation to come through our village. If you can't give your time but would still like to contribute you could donate items for raffles or come along and join us at one of the many fund raising events we have planned (look on our website northelmhamplaygroup.org or see the Elmham News for details). One very simple and free way you can help without even leaving the sofa is by using the following website to do your internet shopping. Go via easyfundraising.org.uk and search for North Elmham Playgroup to make your purchases at no extra cost to you and they will donate direct to us.

In these difficult times please don't cut back on your community spirit. The playgroup is an asset for our children and our village and with your help it could be here for another 40 years. Thank you, Helen Whitehouse.

This is the quiet month of the year for Playgroup with the children all enjoying the summer break, whether it be off on holiday, some days out, or relaxing at home.

Its also the month when a small number of people will be giving up their time and talents to maintain our building and outside space, ensure a smooth transfer to a new committee and continue fund raising events. Lots of voluntary work will be carried out over this month by both staff, parents and helpers which goes to show the dedicated support we have to keep our village playgroup going strong.

If you feel you can help Playgroup in any way or would like more information, please do get in touch.

Playgroup is located behind the school (via the gate).

Telephone 668091 Playgroup Manager - Lesley Aston