There are a number of groups run by churches in Abingdon for people fifty years and over. PCSO Allison Blood was at one of them yesterday giving a talk. She was at Back to 35,  a group for the over-50s that meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays each month from 10.30 am at 35 Ock Street. She was giving them advice about how to stay safe from fraud and purse thefts.

PCSO Allison Blood won the Oxfordshire Police Community Support Officer of the year award. Sorry I am so late giving you that news which happened back in May 2018.

There was another talk yesterday called ‘Active Ageing: Exercise and Brain Health’. This was in the King Charles Room (Kings Head and Bell), and given by by Neuroscientist and Alzheimer expert, Dr Sana Suri. The talk was put on by the Abingdon ATOM Society. The room was packed and Dr Sana Suri said ‘It is good to see so many people interested in ageing‘. Some of us were there trying to get some tips to avoid dementia. Dr Suri said ‘What is good for the heart is good for the brain’.

Calling all singers!

Calling all actors!

The 2019 Passion Play (to be held in the Abbey Gardens on April 6th) will be professionally acted for the first time, but singers and acting extras from the community are invited – in fact, essential!

Anyone interested is invited to a taster event at Peachcroft Christian Centre on 10th February. Singers 3-5 pm and extras 2-3 pm.

The Church in Abingdon has been holding a number of joint events over the current week. There have been prayers at St Nicolas church each lunchtime throughout the week taken by different church leaders. Tomorrow (Sunday 27th Jan 2019) there is a joint service at 3pm at Christchurch. And last night the annual Church in Abingdon Quiz was held at St Helen’s Church. Thankyou to them for an excellent quiz.

Money raised at the event will go towards The Abingdon Bridge, a charity that supports young people in difficult situations.

In the quiz there were a couple of questions on local Abingdon history. John Mason appeared in the picture quiz, and we were asked the reason and the date for the first ever Abingdon bun throwing.

The Abbey Cinema opened today and has a full programme of films.

The Abbey Hall has been transformed with all round sound, a ten meter screen, tiered cinema seating at the back, and tables with swivel chairs at the front where people can enjoy drinks and light meals from the Guildhall kitchen. The white walls and windows are darkened with full length curtains.

The Abbey Cinema will act as Screen 1 with the Unicorn Theatre as Screen 2. A full programme of films can be seen at https://theabbey.ac

Ian and Sue Wiper, who run the The Evesham Regal, approached Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council earlier in the year with this proposed use for the Abbey Hall – empty since 2015. The two parties have since been working together to make this project happen. The cinema will be there for a couple of years as part of the initial agreement.

The first film is Mary Poppins Returns – ‘everything is possible, even the impossible‘.