The VIC Culgaith

Volunteers' Lunch

2012-01-12T12:41:00.005Z

The volunteers all came for lunch, prepared and served by the trustees. The new annual awards, known as the Victors, were launched with four worthy recipients. The award of Top Librarian went to Hugh Jago who has looked after the book table. The 'Service with a Smile' award went to Margaret Coward while the'Top Cleansing Operative' award went to Angus Wilson for his sterling service at the sink. 'Scrubber of the Year' went to Janet Suddaby for her persistence with cleaning and hygiene. The trustees would like to thank all the volunteers without whose commitment and time the VIC would not be able to function.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-19T12:25:00.003Z

A lovely afternoon of singing, entertainment, mulled wine and mince pies for the last VIC of the year. The children entertained us with Christmas music while some adults under the direction of Jenny performed poetry and other sketches. Thanks to everyone who made the afternoon such a great occasion.

Thanksgiving Day

2011-11-24T20:00:00.002Z

A real buzz at the Vic today with lots of things going on. Firstly to celebrate Thanksgiving Day we had one of Paul's legendary quizzes. The highest score was 7/10 and everyone said a lot of guesswork was involved but Hazel from Winskill was a worthy winner. Also Culgaith School representatives came to sell their decorated Christmas gift bags. These were very well received and many customers went home clutching the bags. Christmas puddings, preserves, cakes and tea towels were also being sold with profits gojun g to the school.

Tea Cosy Competition

2011-10-20T16:30:00.003+01:00

A big thank you for everyone who made a tea cosy for our competition. There were 19 entries, each one quite delightful. The Vic customers voted for their favourites and the winners were, in first pace, the chicken on a nest by Barbara Lee,; in second place the elephant by Pat Watson and in joint third place the snowman by Margaret Longstaff and the felt cosy by Lesa and Jasmine Gilpin. Congratulations to the winners.

Flower Show 2011

2011-09-05T06:31:00.003+01:00

The Vic supported the annual Culgaith Flower Show by providing refreshments and prizes. The event was a great success with a very high standard of entries in all categories. Thanks to Flo for taking these photos.

Happy 90th Birthday, Frank!

2011-08-19T08:02:00.002+01:00

Today the Vic celebrated its second birthday and also, more importantly, the 90th birthday of Frank.

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Happy Birthday, Flo!

2011-07-14T16:37:00.002+01:00

The Vic celebrates Flo's 80th birthday.

Retro Day

2011-06-30T20:08:00.004+01:00

The new tablecloths look great and really brighten up the hall.
The VIC customers enjoyed teatime treats of old today with a great range of goodies.

Royal Wedding Fever

2011-04-28T19:09:00.004+01:00

The knitters of Culgaith plus one from Langwathby worked hard to create the Royal Wedding party, complete with the Archbishop and corgis for the celebration of William and Kate's wedding. The happy couple were toasted in bubbly and the wedding cake was shared. A big thank you to everyone involved in making the afternoon such a lovely occasion.

Launch of Walk & Talk

2011-04-07T16:32:00.004+01:00

Today the long awaited 'Walk & Talk' launch took place with lots of walkers joining the first walk which ended at the VIC for refreshments.

Men in the kitchen!

2011-03-31T16:59:00.003+01:00

Once again the men of the village did themselves proud and provided a great array of cakes. Excellent service, with a smile, too. Thanks to Flo for these photos of the occasion.

Red Nose Day

2011-03-19T10:43:00.005Z

With the fun run, competition and donations, the VIC raised the magnificent sum of £92.68 for Comic Relief so thank you to everyone who took part.

Litter Pick

2011-02-27T08:44:00.007Z

Another successful litter pick with even more bags of rubbish collected thanks to the volunteers who turned out to help make our village and its surroundings less polluted. But the deer skull was left where it was found.

Christmas Celebrations

2011-01-09T11:16:00.006Z

Once again we had an excellent afternoon just before Christmas when the children from Culgaith School entertained us with Christmas songs.

The VIC re-opens!

2010-12-02T09:43:00.009Z

Despite the arctic weather outside the VIC re-opens today after a break of two weeks while building work has been carried out in the hall. The main purpose of the work was to provide a safe means of escape from upstairs in the event of a fire. To achieve this, the last few steps of the staircase have been turned away from the kitchen and enclosed by a wall. The escape route then goes out through the side exit door. The result is that the kitchen has miraculously become larger and so the hall committee also took the opportunity to upgrade the kitchen at the same time.

The kitchen walls have been insulated, more units have been fitted and a larger range cooker installed so that there is now much more floor space and storage for crockery and other VIC paraphernalia.
The front door has also been altered so that there is not a blast of cold air running through the hall every time someone opens the door! We hope that these improvements will make life in the VIC more comfortable, especially in this snowy weather. Some painting still has to be done and new flooring put down but by Christmas the kitchen area will be much better. More work to the main body of the hall will follow next year which may mean further disruption to the VIC but in the long run will make for a more efficient and comfortable hall for everyone.

Inevitably the alterations have meant that a big clean-up operation had to swing into action after the builders had left. Many people offered help and the VIC trustees would like to thank all those who helped in any way to get the hall ready to re-open. In addition the VIC trustees would like to thank Alan and Barbara Lee for the kitchen units and cooker and also thank the hall committee for organising the building work.

Kids in the kitchen at Halloween!

2010-11-03T08:56:00.011Z

During half term lots of children baked at home to provide wonderful Halloween food for the VIC and what a spread they produced! Thanks to Lesa for organising the catering and to Flo for these photos!.

Hubble, Bubble, Toil.....where's Trouble?

MacMillan Annual Appeal

2010-10-07T18:33:00.003+01:00

The proceeds from the VIC on Sept 23 were donated to the MacMillan 'World's Biggest Coffee Morning' Appeal and a total of £227 was raised for this excellent cause. A big thank you to everyone who supported this special event. Thanks to Flo for these pictures

The Daily Telegraph visits!

2010-09-16T08:27:00.002+01:00

A reporter and photographer from the Daily Telegraph visited The Vic to see what we do and how it is benefiting the local community. It is due to be included in an article on Saturday 18 September.

At last some sunshine!

2010-09-16T08:23:00.001+01:00

Paul enjoys some late summer sun and extends the Vic to the green outside.

Birthday Celebration!

2010-08-26T10:26:00.006+01:00

The VIC celebrated its first birthday in style with a party. The photos show face painting, community art in action as well as the many people who came along to support this special day. A big thank you to everyone who has helped to make the VIC's first year so successful and memorable.

Birthday Surprise

2010-05-27T19:42:00.002+01:00

Not only was today special with a range of Continental cakes and biscuits on offer at the Vic but it was also a very special day for John who was celebrating his 80th birthday.

Many happy returns, John.

The Vic goes Continental!

2010-05-27T19:37:00.004+01:00

A wonderful array of cakes, pastries and biscuits from across Europe. A big thank you to everyone who scoured the cook books and created a new treat for the Vic.

Local cheese on sale at the VIC

2010-05-20T18:06:00.003+01:00

The produce table has been laden recently with plants, rhubarb, mint and baked items but today a new table was set up to sell cheese. Tricia from Shap brought her range of cheeses from their organic dairy herd and many people went home with slice of something interesting to try.

Smart new sign!

2010-04-29T17:55:00.002+01:00

The VIC has a proper sign now to advertise itself to everyone passing by. How professional is that!

Cumbria Life

2010-04-25T18:39:00.001+01:00

In the new issue of Cumbria Life (May 2010), there is a very interesting and informative article about Culgaith. The VIC is mentioned at length and there is a picture to accompany the article.

Quiz Night

2010-04-25T14:28:00.002+01:00

The VIC hosted a St George's Day quiz night with Mike Salkeld in the chair. His quizzes are always great fun and appeal to everyone, not just the keen Quiz league types! The evening began with a Pie n' Peas supper with the pies from Cranstons going down very well with the 50 people attending. After 4 rounds of quizzing plus a 50 question paper quiz the winners emerged, the topically named 'That Icelandic Volcano'. An even greater round of applause though went to the gallant booby prize winners, The Loose Women. The VIC is much indebted to Cranstons and Mike Salkeld without whose help the evening would not have been the great success that it was. More than £300 was raised towards the cost of new chairs for the Victoia Institute. The order should be going in shortly so that customers of the VIC can enjoy an even more comfortable afternoon at the cafe.

The VIC shortlisted for an Eden Local Heroes Award

2010-04-06T13:49:00.004+01:00

The VIC was nominated in the Community category of the Eden Local Heroes Award. It is awarded to the outstanding individual or group undertaking a project in their local area/community. The VIC has been shortlisted and the winner will be announced on Friday 30 April. Let's hope the VIC can bring home the award.

April Fools Fun Day

2010-04-06T13:46:00.003+01:00

The VIC could not let slip the opportunity to do something special on April 1st. Paul organised a challenging but enjoyable quiz for the adults while there was also an Easter Trail for the children with a cream egg for everyone taking part. The produce table was especially well stocked with donations of Simnel Cake, garden plants and other Easter goodies. A big thank you to everyone who donated items.

Sport Relief Mile

2010-04-06T13:38:00.008+01:00

On Thursday 18 March the VIC staged its own Sport Relief Mile from Culgaith Village Hall to Cross How and back. Twenty three people including five children – and two canine competitors! - many of them VIC regulars – took up the challenge and completed the mile long course.
£121 was raised for this worthwhile cause by the milers and the VIC’s generous customers.
A big thank you goes to all those who completed the course and all those who made donations.

On the same day a Fair Trade stall was set up by Joan and Ray Wager and it is hoped that this stall will become a regular monthly feature of the VIC. They offered a wide range of groceries from pasta to chocolate, muesli to toilet rolls.

Men in the kitchen

2010-04-06T12:59:00.002+01:00

On March 11 the men of Culgaith took over the VIC and did a wonderful job of preparing all the food and drinks, serving and clearing up afterwards. There was an excellent turnout to witness the hard work of the men and their efforts were much appreciated.

The Great Litter Pick

2010-04-06T12:48:00.006+01:00

On Thursday 18 February twenty volunteers of all ages took part in this big clean up around Culgaith. The event was supported by the VIC and Eden District Council and all the litter pickers were rewarded with complimentary refreshments at the VIC afterwards.Eighteen bags of litter were collected from the verges and roadsides around the village – a very successful day but a sad reflection on the attitude of some local road-users.

2009 Events at the VIC

2010-04-06T12:30:00.006+01:00

In 2009 the newly opened VIC held two memorable events. Halloween was celebrated in October with pumpkin soup and scary cakes and biscuits. At Christmas, Culgaith School pupils and staff came to the VIC where the children sang Christmas songs to the delight of the huge number of people attending. Everyone emerged to the start of the snow which contiued well into the New Year causing the VIC to be cancelled on one occasion due to burst pipes and problems with the heating system.

The story so far

2010-04-05T16:42:00.004+01:00

The VIC is Culgaith's community cafe and it first opened its doors on August 20 2009 following weeks of planning and preparation by the eight trustees. The VIC can be found in the Victoria Institute in the centre of Culgaith and is open every Thursday afternoon from 2 till 4pm.
From the first day, the cafe has been very well supported not only by the residents of Culgaith but also by the wider community. The VIC offers excellent quality Farrer's tea, coffee and homemade cakes, scones and biscuits at very reasonable prices. The success has enabled the trustees to gradually buy a number of items to help the VIC to run smoothly and to enhance the experience for its customers.

The soup kettle has made it easier to offer hot soup during the winter months.

New crockery was bought with the help of a grant from Cumbria County Council and it has replaced the old mix of cups and saucers for the benefit of all users of the Victoria Institute.

The ceiling was painted with the help of a grant from Cumbria County Council thus improving the feel of the hall.
More recently a freezer and microwave have been bought to make for easier catering in the months ahead. As money becomes available in the future the VIC hopes to acquire new tables and chairs, more tablecloths and a better system for providing hot water.
The VIC welcomes all members of the Culgaith community and the wider area. There are toys for young children to play with, a book stall selling books, magazines and DVDs, a produce stall selling an enormous variety of items from vegetables in season to Simnel Cake at Easter, plants for the garden and even puddings and main course dishes. It is a hive of activity and a great place to be on a Thursday afternoon.