The sun was out today for The Easter Eggstravaganza, a free fun day held on Abingdon Market Place.  There were Easter crafts, as well as local food stalls, live music,

and performances by local dancers.

The Easter egg hunt trail was a free activity that took place around the town centre. The trail was also an egg-cellent egg-scuse to crack out some egg puns. Competitors had to write down the colours of the twelve eggs and the puns

and return to the BH&O stall in the Market Place to claim a chocolate egg prize.

Mothering Sunday is a day that used to be more about religion. People would visit the church where they were baptised. Now it’s more about celebrating mums in general. At Trinity Church today, the junior church helped make and give out flowers to the women in the congregation, and to men to take home to wives or mothers.

They had extra flowers to share with people who can’t come to church.

As part of her efforts to help local people dealing with domestic abuse, Councillor Gwyneth Lewis OBE, the Mayor of Abingdon, organised a free film night, showing the 1944 film “Gaslight”. The film depicts an example of coercive control in marriage. The term ‘gaslighting’ became known as a form of psychological abuse.

This film was shown on International Women’s Day. According to The National Centre for Domestic Violence, 1 in 4 women are affected by domestic abuse in their lifetime.

Before the movie, there were presentations by people from local organisations that can help with domestic abuse, including police, lawyers, and charities, and talks by people who had experienced domestic abuse. Afterwards, people asked questions and suggested ways to improve the support and safe spaces available. The Mayor will continue with a working party taking these idea forward to make Abingdon a safer place. She previously worked for the World Health Organisation on Women’s Services and was National Clinical Director for Maternal Health at the Department of Health.

One organisation involved is the Mayor’s Charity, Reducing the Risk. They offer support to victims and survivors, and also train professionals and volunteers who help people in abusive situations, and have a network of friends.

The Abingdon ATOM Science Festival will be from March 16th to 23rd, 2024. There is Science Market Day on March 16th and ATOM’s Science Activity Day on March 23rd, and lots of talks at other times. The programme is at https://www.atomfestival.org.uk/programme/.

There’s a free showing of the old movie “Gaslight” this Friday, March 8th, at the Abbey Cinema in Abingdon. Before the movie, there will be talks about how to improve help for people dealing with domestic abuse. There are still a few tickets left.

The Studio Theatre Company is putting on a funny play called “The Magistrate” by Arthur Wing Pinero from March 20th to 23rd at the Unicorn Theatre.

The 30th Abingdon Scout Group is holding a jumble sale and cake stall to raise funds on 16th March.