Quick links

Hawstead on film:

To watch a short video made by Andy and Janet Taplin in support of our bid for Suffolk Village of the Year (2014), visit our Picture Gallery page. 

Village information:

Visit our Documents page where you'll also find previous copies of the Village Voice and its predecessor, The Hawstead Journal.

Upcoming parish council and community council meetings. For all other village events and updates, take a look at our Events page.

Parish council meetings: 

Parish Council meetings are held on the second Thursday of January, March, May, July, September and November in the village hall at 7.30pm. The agenda will be posted here a few days before each meeting   

Please note that archive material posted onto the website before 25 May 2018 may include limited personal data for which consent to publication has not been given.

This website is maintained by local volunteers, for which thanks.

Any enquiries regarding this website can be addressed to Hawstead Parish Council.

E-mail

clerk@hawstead-pc.gov.uk
 

Also on the Contacts page you'll find MAPS!

About the community council

Hawstead Community Council organises various social events throughout the year to encourage villagers and other locals to meet and form friendships.

We try to target activities towards different sections of our community, from Christmas wreath making, holiday cookery and craft groups for the children, to adult quiz nights and lunches for the senior members of our community.

There are also a number of family events for everyone, including our themed supper nights, our annual village fete in September and our annual summer village BBQ. Some of these events are opportunities to fundraise for the village, while others are run at cost or are funded wholly by Hawstead Community Council to maximise participation.

Hall hire

Part of our role is also to manage the hire of our beautiful village hall (www.hawsteadvillagehall.co.uk). It was totally rebuilt in 2008 and offers a high vaulted ceiling and exposed oak beams in the main hall. It’s a unique local venue, and its location on our protected village green and adjacent to our soft play area adds to its appeal.

The hall is available to hire for all sorts of events, from corporate meetings to birthday parties, weddings to naming ceremonies. And there’s a special hire rate for residents, enabling villagers to benefit directly from this wonderful village resource.

Play an active part in our community

For those who wish to feel part of village life, we are very welcoming. And there’s no better way of becoming part of our community than to join with us at any of our social events, ideally as a helper! We’re always keen to involve as many villagers as possible in all our activities… many hands make light work.

So, please come along to our next social event and say hello. We’ll be delighted to welcome you into our village community and become part of your new life in Hawstead.

Hawstead Fete

You may remember that the fete took place on Sunday 10 September and was well attended by villagers and other guests.

This event is a mix of fundraising and giving residents yet another social opportunity for getting to know their neighbours.

As always, we offer a grateful 'thank you' to the many villagers who helped on stalls and with event set up and tidying away.

This year the event raised £623.23, which will go towards funding the upcoming 'Triple-20s' Christmas lunch, the gifts for village children from the Christmas Elves, and the New Year's drinks party (date tbc).

ShantyFolk Shindig

On Saturday 21 October we welcomed the (fairly) local sea shanty group, ShantyFolk, to the village hall for an evening of song and socialising. About 40 residents came along and enjoyed a relaxed evening, including a trip to the licensed bar and some hearty singing of choruses.

Our thanks to Tam Alexander for organising the event, and we look forward to a repeat session in the future. Our thanks too to villager Chris Shipley, who was the first to recommend them to us upon hearing them at an NHS event. If you come across a good local group/band, do let us know!

The ShantyFolk members obviously enjoy singing together and getting others involved in the merriment, but their main focus is fundraising for the RNLI. They keep a small amount of their appearance fee to cover travel costs, but the remainder is donated to the RNLI.

We also ran a raffle on the evening, the sole beneficiary of which was the RNLI. So the ShantyFolk were able to add a further £147 to their RNLI donation. Our thanks to those who donated raffle prizes and the many villagers who bought raffle tickets.

Events organised by Hawstead Community Council

• Children’s craft mornings – funded by Hawstead Community Council
• Quiz Nights – fundraisers
• Supper Nights – at cost/fundraisers
• Music Nights – fundraisers
• Hawstead Summer BBQ – fundraisers
• Hawstead Village Fete – fundraisers
• Hawstead Produce Show – part of the village fete
• Seniors Christmas Lunch – funded by Hawstead Community Council
• Christmas Craft Fayre – supported by Hawstead Community Council
• Christmas wreath making for children – funded by Hawstead Community Council
• Village Christmas Drinks Party – funded by Hawstead Community Council
• Christmas/New Year Pantomime – children’s tickets funded by Hawstead Community Council
• Selected Charity fundraisers – supported by Hawstead Community Council

Want to see more social events in the village?

If the answer's 'Yes!', then please step forward and get involved. Your current Community Council is eight members strong, but there's space for one more on the Management Committee. And we are happy to work with any villager who has an idea for staging a village event.