The Harpenden Trust

04/02/2025

What a fantastic evening! Thanks all for coming along 🥰💜

Thank you to Lussmanns Harpenden for a wonderful evening yesterday. A huge thank to the Mayor of Harpenden and to Andrei Lussmann for hosting the evening. Not only is it tremendous that Youth Talk is one of the chosen charities for the Mayor of Harpenden this year but we were in great company with lots of great conversations - and the shepherds pie was simply to die for!

All to benefit Youth Talk, our local young people and our good friends at The Harpenden Trust. Thank you to everyone who came along 💙😊

27/01/2025

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27/01/2025

The MP for Harpenden, Victoria Collins for Harpenden & Berkhamsted, visited our Trust Office on Friday to take a look at all of the vital community work we do. Following her attendance at our annual general meeting back in October, where she learned about our wide-ranging community initiatives, the MP was particularly interested in seeing how we support residents facing cost of living challenges. We shared insights into the Trust's approach to helping Harpenden residents and we spoke about the range of support requests we receive and our methods for providing both financial and practical assistance to those who need it most 💜

Victoria also accompanied our Home Visits 🏡 team on a client meeting, showing how we make a meaningful difference in local people's lives 🥰

We were very proud to be able showcase the work we do to support some of the MP's constituents and we thank her for taking time out of her day to visit us 👏

24/01/2025

Last month, we visited Ashridge House Christmas Light Trail and invited the wonderful Ukrainian Refugee families we support 🇺🇦

After a photo shoot by the pretty Christmas tree 🎄 in the courtyard of the house, we ventured into the winter wonderland and we weren’t disappointed. We were greeted by a cheery festive village with a lovely Christmas fayre illuminated by twinkly lights.

The light trail then unfolded before our eyes and was a special experience. There was everything from a walkway of decorated Christmas trees, laser lights, a display of fire, water and music and a stunning, colourful sound and light display against the dramatic backdrop of Ashridge House. 💜

Everyone agreed that the whole evening made a magical Christmas event for all, and our Ukraine friends were so grateful to us for giving them this opportunity. One of our families described the evening as: "A real miracle and an incredibly enchanting event that would remain in their memories for many years." 🥰

It was a pleasure to host this trip and we are so pleased it was enjoyed by all. 💜

To read more about all the things we do at Harpenden Trust visit: www.theharpendentrust.org.uk

24/01/2025

A Festive Partnership with Waitrose & Partners in Harpenden...

Thanks to a thoughtful initiative from Waitrose in Harpenden, we were able to bring extra Christmas cheer to over 500 members of our community in December. Their generous donation of a huge range of seasonal tasty treats helped enhance our regular activities across all our support groups and community gatherings 💜

From the Well Bean Café ☕️, to our Seniors' Coffee Mornings, every Trust activity enjoyed a range of festive snacks donated from Waitrose, Harpenden. We were particularly touched to see the joy these simple gestures brought to our diverse community - from the young voices of St John Lawes School's choir and Grove School's carollers, to our regular attendees at Memory Lane Café, PD Buddies, and the Ribbon Cancer Support Group

Waitrose, Harpenden has helped demonstrate how even small gestures, like boxes of biscuits and other treats 🍪 can make a significant difference, especially to those facing challenging circumstances during the festive season. Thank you Waitrose! 💜

22/01/2025

💜🍽️🍷

We have a few remaining tables for this fantastic evening in aid of Youth Talk and The Harpenden Trust's Wellbeing Hub. Come along and enjoy the company of Andrei Lussmann and The Mayor of Harpenden. Lussmann is an wonderful local sustainable restaurant offering relaxed, ethical dining, and we hope this event is an ideal opportunity to try their delicious food.

Email: [email protected] or call 01582 463662 for more information and to book your table. https://buff.ly/4h3LAua

20/01/2025

Compassionate Café - every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month. 2pm - 3.30pm at our Well Bean Café, above the Co-op in Southdown 💜☕️

Our Compassionate Cafés are drop-in sessions, in local cafés and venues, providing a welcoming space for people affected by any type of loss

19/01/2025

We would like to say a huge thank you to all of our fantastic Harpenden Trust volunteers who delivered the Christmas Appeal envelopes ✉️ across our local community in December. Just like Nick Griffith pictured here - getting the whole family involved too, dog included! Brilliant job all - very well done 👏 💜🐶

We had 220 volunteers, delivering 12,500 envelopes, across 362 streets throughout Harpenden - a magnificent team effort I think is fair to say! 🥰

We’re still busy collecting any final envelopes and counting all of your very generous donations. We are looking to announce how much has been raised in total next month, so watch this space for a further Christmas Appeal update… 💜

Thanks once again to everyone who got involved with our Christmas Appeal 🥰🎄it really is very much appreciated 💜✅

16/01/2025

Is your New Year’s resolution to volunteer more? If so, we’ve got various volunteer roles available for local people to get involved. There’s lots of different ways you can help us, so if you’re interested in supporting the local community, please give us a call, drop us an email or message us on here 💜 thank you ☺️

15/01/2025

🚨⛄️🎶 THE NEWS YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR... 🚨⛄️🎶

⭐️ Christmas Carols on the Common - 6pm, Christmas Eve 2025 - CONFIRMED! ⭐️

What an extraordinary evening Carols on the Common was! From Rudolf to Once in Royal David's City, the Common was filled with the most wonderful sound of families and friends singing together 🎶 Thanks to all of you, around £5,000 was raised on the day for our Christmas Appeal, supporting local residents going through challenging times 💜

The evening wouldn't have been possible without our sponsors and volunteers: Harpenden Building Society, Bradford&Howley, Lumin Wealth Management, Hicks and Company, Taylor Walton solicitors and the fantastic support from Harpenden Town Council - thank you 🤩

Our sincere thanks also to the band: Tim Sutton, Dave Pankhurst, Jack Jennings and Kathryn McGuinness, as well as Darren Woodhouse and his team at Event Production Live. Thanks finally for the support from the team at Hertfordshire County Council and of course, not forgetting our wonderful army of volunteers at Harpenden Trust that helped make this event happen! 💜

The feedback was incredibly positive and because of this, we’re delighted to announce we plan to make this an annual tradition, so please save the date for Christmas Eve 2025! We look forward to gathering again for another evening of carols and festive community spirit 💜⛄️🎶

10/01/2025

Thank you Bradford&Howley 💜⛄️🎶

08/01/2025

We’re really pleased that our Community Fund has been able to contribute towards the construction of an outside canopy that will allow the children at High Beeches Primary School to learn outside - come rain or hot sunshine! ☀️ 🌧️

Sue Cu***ng, a member of the Community Fund, presented our plaque to the school accompanied by Steve Pryor, the Chair of the Community Fund, with a great turnout of children at the presentation 💜

Stephanie Shewbridge, Deputy Headteacher at the school said:

“We are thrilled to be working with the Trust once again. This very generous grant has meant that we have been able to complete our programme of installing canopies outside each of our classrooms, whilst other building work has been taking place, and strengthening our provision for the children even more.”

We’re so pleased we’ve been able to help with their school improvement project 👏💜

To find out more about the Community Fund and everything else we do to support our local community, visit:
https://www.theharpendentrust.org.uk/about-us

07/01/2025

On Monday 3 February, Andrei Lussman and the Mayor of Harpenden will be hosting a charity event at Lussmans Sustainable Kitchen in town.

All proceeds will be donated to the Mayor's chosen charities; us and Youth Talk 💜

Book your place today 🍴🍷

Andrei Lussman and the Mayor of Harpenden will host a special charity dinner on 3rd February 2025 at Lussmans Sustainable Kitchen in Harpenden.

This unique event will raise money for two important local charities: Youth Talk and The Harpenden Trust's Wellbeing Hub. Tables of variable sizes are available. To find out more or book your table please contact [email protected] or call 01582 463662.

https://buff.ly/4gdZ465

31/12/2024

Thank you for your support 💜🥰

On 17th December, Cllr Jamie Day Mayor of St Albans and Mayoress Liz Day were delighted to attend St Nicholas Church in Harpenden for the Mayor of Harpenden's Carol Concert. Harpenden Mayor Pip Liver introduced the event, and the congregation were treated to some wonderful singing by the Harpenden Academy Choir, Katherine Warington School Choir, and St Nicholas Church Choir which is directed by Marie Price. The congregation also took part in singing a fun-filled The Twelve Days of Christmas. The concert was in aid of the Mayor's two charities, Youth Talk and The Harpenden Trust. If you would like to join St Nicholas Church Choir contact: [email protected] or see www.parishofharpenden.org/music/ St Nicholas Church, Harpenden The Harpenden Trust Youth Talk Katherine Warington School

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas 🎅🏻 from all of us at Harpenden Trust 💜 and thank you for your wonderful donations!

You've really made a difference to your community and have brought joy to someone’s life in Harpenden 🥰✨

24/12/2024

What an incredible event Carols on the Common was! Thank you so much to the 3,500 (approximately) of you that came along and sang with us - you were the stars of the show 💜

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas - from everyone at Harpenden Trust 🎶⛄️✨🎅🏻

24/12/2024

Behind today’s door are our amazing volunteers! Without these wonderful local people 🥰 we simply wouldn’t be able to support the hundreds of Harpenden residents that we do every single year. They spread a little bit of magic✨ in everything they do and we are truly grateful 💜🫶🏻

Every year, during December, we ask for donations through our very special Christmas Appeal. This allows us to keep doing all of the vital work we do - supporting many local residents in need. Please give what you can afford to make a difference to your community and bring joy to someone’s life in Harpenden 💜🎄🎁

https://www.theharpendentrust.org.uk/how-you-can-help/donations