# Community Newsletter > A print-style community newsletter with a welcome letter, noticeboard, events calendar, recurring columns, a recipe, birthdays, a puzzle, and contact details. Source: https://buildpdfs.com/templates/community-newsletter Category: Creative A print-style community newsletter with a welcome letter, noticeboard, events calendar, recurring columns, a recipe, birthdays, a puzzle, and contact details. ## What's included - Front-page welcome letter and headline story - Noticeboard with photos and a short recap - Monthly events calendar and a weekly schedule - Recurring columns like a volunteer spotlight - Community recipe, birthdays, and a word search - Back page with contacts, hall hire, and directions ## Sample content **News from Willow Lane Community Hall** Free · please take one home The ### Willow Lane Letter **November 2026** Willow Lane Community Hall, Ashbourne Green **Issue 47** Harvest Supper 2026 Our lead story #### The Harvest Supper fed 140 neighbours Two long tables, thirty-two volunteers and one very busy tea urn: our biggest supper since the hall reopened. On a wet Saturday in October, the doors opened at half past five and the queue already reached the gate. By seven, every chair was taken and Ken was fetching benches from the store. We served 140 hot suppers, 18 homemade pies and more crumble than anyone could count. Full story, page 3 → In this issue 1. 2Letter and noticeboard 2. 3Harvest Supper in pictures 3. 4What’s on in November 4. 5Meet Margaret, 82 5. 6Groups and clubs 6. 7Recipe, birthdays, puzzle 7. 8How to get involved **Large-print copies** are by the hall door. From the editor Issue 47 · November 2026 A letter to our members #### Dear friends and neighbours, What a month it has been. On Harvest Supper night I stood at the hatch and looked down those two long tables. I counted grandparents and toddlers, the choir still in their scarves, and three families new to Willow Lane this summer. That is what this hall is for. Thank you to everyone who cooked, carried, washed up and stacked chairs, and for the flyers, photos and notes you pinned to the board. This issue is made from them. November is a full month: Remembrance Sunday, the choir’s concert and the Craft Fair. As the evenings draw in, please look out for each other. If someone would enjoy Tuesday lunch but can’t get here, tell me. Our drivers will collect them. With warm wishes, and see you at the urn, June Whitaker Volunteer editor, on behalf of the hall committee This hall is where the whole lane comes to sit down together. **With thanks**To Hollis & Sons for the loan of the trestle tables, and to Green Street Bakery for 200 bread rolls. **Write to us**Put your news in the red box by the kitchen, or email the editor. Copy for December by 20 November. ##### The noticeboard pinned by you, this month ###### The heating is fixed The new boiler is in and the main hall is warm again. ###### Lost property A navy umbrella, glasses in a red case and one child’s welly. Ask in the kitchen. ###### Need a lift? Our drivers bring members to lunch and Sunday service. Call Ken: 01632 960 418. ###### Christmas cards £3 for ten, on sale after Sunday service. All money goes to the food bank. ###### Phone or tablet trouble? Come to the tech help café on 26 November. Priya and Sam will help. ###### Raffle prizes wanted For the Craft Fair. Bottles, bakes and gift sets to June by 19 November. The Willow Lane Letter · November 2026 **2** Harvest Supper Saturday 18 October In pictures #### A long table, and room for everyone **At the hatch:** Arthur on the stew, Ellie on plates and Josh, 15, with the last tray of rolls from Green Street Bakery. **Pass the bread:** Clarence and his grandson Malik, who came for the pie and stayed for the stories. **Second helpings** at the far table. The kitchen team started on Friday: forty kilos of potatoes and two great pots of beef and barley stew, with a vegetable pot too. Saturday brought the pies, the crumbles and a steady stream of helpers. The children laid the tables with jars of autumn leaves. The choir sang grace in three parts. Not one plate came back with food on it. “I came to wash up for an hour. I left at eleven with a full heart and very wrinkly hands.” **Ellie Brooks**, first-time volunteer **140** suppers served **32** volunteers, aged 11–86 **18** pies baked at home **£612** raised for the food bank The Willow Lane Letter · November 2026 **3** What’s on November 2026 Cut out and keep #### What’s on in November All events are at Willow Lane Community Hall unless we say so. Everyone is welcome. The hall has step-free access and a hearing loop. Sat **8** 10:00 – 12:00 Food bank collection and sort Back room · bring tins, take a cuppa Sun **9** 10:45 Remembrance Sunday: two minutes’ silence At the war memorial, then tea and soup in the hall Wed **12** 19:00 Hall committee meeting, all welcome Small room · tea from 18:45 Sat **15** 10:30 Under-11s v Hartfield Rovers (home) Rec ground, Mill Road · come and cheer Sat **15** 19:30 Quiz night, teams of up to six Main hall · £3 each, bring your own snacks Thu **20** 14:00 – 16:30 Flu jab clinic with Dr Shah’s surgery Small room · book at the surgery first Sat **22** 10:00 – 13:00 Christmas Craft Fair and raffle Main hall · stalls, mince pies, Father Christmas at 11 Sun **23** 15:00 Choir autumn concert: “Songs from the Shows” Main hall · free, retiring collection Wed **26** 14:00 – 15:30 Tech help café Small room · phones, tablets and video calls Sun **30** 16:00 Advent lights on the hall tree Front garden · carols and hot squash ##### Every week Just turn up. No need to book. Monday 10:00 Knitting circleSmall room Monday 19:30 Choir rehearsalMain hall Tuesday 12:30 Seniors’ lunch, £4Main hall · lifts available Wednesday 10:00 Food bank openBack room · until 12:00 Thursday 10:30 Chair yogaMain hall · £2 Friday 17:30 Youth football trainingRec ground · ages 7 to 11 Sunday 10:30 Sunday service groupMain hall · coffee after **Dates in red** are the big events of the month. Please tell a neighbour, and offer a lift if you can. The Willow Lane Letter · November 2026 **4** Volunteer spotlight Meet the people behind the hall **Margaret Pennington, 82,** at her post in the hall kitchen. The cups are laid out by half past nine, every time. ###### Margaret by numbers Years at the tea urn **30** Cups poured (her guess) **150,000** Urns worn out **2** Sugars she will remember **All** Ten minutes with #### Thirty years at the tea urn Margaret poured her first cup here in 1996\. She has not missed a Tuesday lunch since, “apart from the hip”. How did you start? My husband Don joined the choir and I came to listen. Somebody handed me a teapot at the interval and nobody ever took it back. What has changed most in thirty years? The faces. New families come from all over the world now, and the children teach me words in four languages. The tea is the same. What is the secret of a good cup for a hundred people? Warm the pot, never rush the urn, and learn everyone’s name. The name is more important than the tea. Any advice for new volunteers? Say yes to the first job you are offered. You will find your own corner soon enough. Mine just happened to have an urn in it. And when you are not at the hall? I knit for the hospice, I do the crossword in pen, and I bake. My crumble recipe is on page 7\. Don’t tell the WI. If someone comes in on their own, they don’t leave on their own. That’s the rule of the urn. The Willow Lane Letter · November 2026 **5** Groups and clubs The month in round-up ##### Willow Voices Choir · Mondays 19:30 Twenty-four voices strong and rehearsing hard for “Songs from the Shows” on 23 November. Tenors are still wanted. No audition, just a love of singing, and tea at the interval. ##### Youth football Under-11s · Fridays 17:30 | Willow Lane 3 – 1 Abbotsford Juniors | Won | | ------------------------------------ | ---- | | St Mary’s 2 – 2 Willow Lane | Drew | | Willow Lane 1 – 4 Hartfield Rovers | Lost | ##### The knitting circle Mondays 10:00 Fourteen knitters and one very patient cat-sitter met every Monday this autumn. The blanket squares are now sewn together and on their way to St Clare’s Hospice. **212** squares knitted **9** blankets for St Clare’s Next: hats and scarves for the food bank. Spare wool is welcome. Leave it in the basket by the door. ##### Food bank: what we need Wednesdays 10:00 * Tinned meat and fish * UHT milk * Toothpaste and soap * Tinned fruit and custard * Rice and pasta sauce * Tea and coffee * Long-life juice * Nappies, size 4 and 5 We have plenty of pasta and beans, thank you! Last month you helped **63 households**. **Drop-off:** Wednesdays 10:00 to 12:00, or the crate in the porch. The Willow Lane Letter · November 2026 **6** Community kitchen Recipes, birthdays and a puzzle From Margaret’s kitchen #### Margaret’s apple crumble **8**serves **20 min**prep **40 min**bake ###### For the fruit * **1 kg**Bramley apples, chopped * **50 g**soft brown sugar * **1 tsp**ground cinnamon * **1**lemon, juice only ###### For the crumble * **200 g**plain flour * **125 g**cold butter, in cubes * **100 g**demerara sugar * **50 g**porridge oats ###### Method 1. Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, gas 5). 2. Mix the apples with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon. Put them in a large baking dish. 3. Rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and oats. 4. Scatter the crumble over the apples. Do not press it down. 5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden and bubbling at the edges. Margaret’s tip: a handful of blackberries, and custard. Always custard. ##### Happy birthday * **3 Nov**Doris Kemp, who is **90**! Cake at Tuesday lunch. * **11 Nov**Arthur Bell, our Saturday stew chef * **19 Nov**Amara Osei, striker for the under-11s * **27 Nov**Rev. David Lowe, Sunday service group **A warm welcome** to the Novak, Rahman and Hughes families, new on Willow Lane, and to baby Iris Taylor, born 2 October. ##### Autumn word search K K N I T T I N G H I P Y L E A V E S F A R A A P P L E N G P R C C R U M B L E R U V H L E Y T S A I R M E O J V C E Y I G S P S I R L F A L H H U K T R A U T U M N B P I S S R K V R H U O P N G H M H G N R P U E L A A I P I G Y U R R L O L * Harvest * Supper * Crumble * Apple * Pumpkin * Autumn * Leaves * Choir * Knitting * Tea urn * Neighbour Words go across or down. Answers next month. The Willow Lane Letter · November 2026 **7** Get involved 8 · The Willow Lane Letter There is a place for you here #### How to get involved The hall runs on volunteers. An hour a month helps, and you need no experience. This winter we need: * **Volunteer drivers** Tuesday lunch and Sunday mornings _Urgent_ * **Washing-up team** After Tuesday lunch, one hour _Urgent_ * **Choir tenors and basses** Monday evenings, no audition _Open_ * **Food bank sorters** Saturday mornings, once a month _Open_ ##### Who to call | Hall bookingsRita Fernandes | 01632 960 211 | | ---------------------------------- | ------------- | | Food bankTom Adeyemi | 01632 960 532 | | ChoirHelen Marsh | 01632 960 774 | | Knitting circleMargaret Pennington | 01632 960 309 | | Youth footballCoach Dev Patel | 01632 960 861 | | This newsletterJune Whitaker | 01632 960 150 | ##### Hire the hall **£18 /hr** Main hall, seats 120 **£10 /hr** Small room, seats 20 **£8 /hr** Kitchen, with urn Charities and community groups pay half price. Parties, wakes, classes and meetings all welcome. ##### Find us Willow Lane Community Hall 14 Willow Lane, Ashbourne Green Step-free entrance, hearing loop and accessible toilet. Bus 22 stops at the door. Email: hello@willowlanehall.org.uk #### Finished reading? Pass this copy on Give it to a neighbour, leave it at the surgery or post it through a friend’s door. Someone on your street might be waiting for an invitation. This copy is for you To:Mrs Kemp, no. 22 From:Pat, next door See you at:Tuesday lunch! The Willow Lane Letter is written, photographed and delivered by volunteers. Registered charity no. 1100472. Next issue: December 2026 ## Frequently asked questions ### What is a community newsletter? A community newsletter is a regular print or PDF update from a local group, such as a community hall, residents' association, or club. It shares news, an events calendar, recurring columns, and contact details so members stay informed. ### What should a community newsletter include? Include a welcome letter from the editor, a noticeboard with recent photos, an events calendar for the month, a few recurring columns, something light like a recipe or puzzle, and a back page with contacts and how to get involved. This template has all of these. ### How often should a community newsletter go out? Most community newsletters go out monthly, timed to the group's events calendar. Some smaller groups print a shorter issue every two months instead, to keep content fresh without overloading volunteers. ### Is this community newsletter template free? Yes. You can customize the community newsletter template for free and download it as a print-ready PDF to hand out or post at your hall. ## Related reading - [How to design a professional PDF](https://buildpdfs.com/guides/how-to-design-a-professional-pdf) - [From Word or Google Docs to a professional PDF](https://buildpdfs.com/guides/word-google-docs-to-professional-pdf) - [What "client-ready" means for a client deliverable PDF](https://buildpdfs.com/guides/client-deliverable-pdf-client-ready) [Use this template](https://buildpdfs.com/signup?templateId=community-newsletter) — free, no credit card required.