This year at The Great Shelford Village Charity we have worked hard to complete any outstanding jobs at the new almshouses and made steady progress on refurbishing our original charity homes.

It has also been a year of change with old faces stepping down and new faces joining. The end of the year sees two Directors step down – Brian Connellan and Keith Sugden after a job well done and three new directors roll up their sleeves. 

We believe in our village, our community and the support that the charity can provide. All our Directors are volunteers and give their time freely. Here are a few thoughts on what makes it so special.

Brian Connellan joined the charity in 2017, he was Deputy Chair as well as taking on all things media, marketing and project management for More’s Meadow 2.

“I was surprised to find GSVC didn’t have a website. So my first contribution was to engage a local web developer and set one up – which somehow led to me becoming the comms guy, posting news on the website and sending stories to the Village News. It was around the same time that the charity had its first planning application for further almshouses rejected. That was a blow, but we had learned a lot about the planning process and pressed on with a second, more professional submission in 2019. After much to-ing and fro-ing, planning permission was finally granted in 2021 and I became the charity’s point of contact with the architect and the builder. It was a big moment when residents finally moved in in early 2023.

My time with the charity has given me insights into village life and the importance of affordable housing – and I have learned much from my fellow trustees / directors, not to mention our wonderful residents. I will miss it – but I look forward to handing over my hard hat, wellies and hi-viz to Jaspaul and her team.”

Keith Sudgen has been caring for the green space from the get-go in 2019 and saw it really take off once the allotments were prepared in the summer of 2020. 

“Every tree was planted by a volunteer, whether it be neighbours, friends, Directors or perhaps more importantly, children, notably Year 4, from the local primary school, who have spent one morning every November since 2020, to initially plant saplings and then in successive years, bulbs. Local children, and Directors, planted the community orchard. One daughter of a neighbour put up with grim autumn weather to plant saplings as part of her Duke of Edinburgh bronze award. I hope they all return from time to time with their families to see what they have achieved.

The standout for me is the community involvement. All trees, whether saplings or larger, are young and immature. The benefit of the landscaping is not for me or the present generation, but for the future. Hopefully in ten to twenty years the vista will be spectacular!”