The schools are closed, the days are long, but Love’s Farm House is open to keep you and your family entertained!

St Neots Library is bringing its Baby and Toddler Rhymetime sessions to Love’s Farm on alternate Fridays  (28 July, 11 August & 25 August at 10.30am. Ages 0-2, £1 per family). They are also running an Animal Agents Craft Morning on Friday 4 August from 10.30-11.30am, where children can drop in to make some crafts based on this year’s Animal Agents Summer Reading Challenge (50p per child, you don’t have to be participating in the Summer Reading Challenge to attend).

Limelight Entertainment’s workshop this summer is inspired by Ariel from The Little Mermaid, with crafts, dancing and fun for ages 3+ (workshops on 7 and 14 August, 10am-1pm. Tickets cost £15 and places must be booked in advance as numbers are limited. Contact amy@limelightentertainmentuk.com or 07825 331453 to book your space). Tiny Tots Dance are running workshops for ages 1-4 (older siblings welcome). The theme on 26 July is Magic & Potions, and on 9 August it’s Rainbows & Unicorns, and as well as dancing there will be games and a craft to take home (11am-12.30pm, £6 per child / £2 per additional sibling, places are limited, visit www.tinytotsdance.co.uk to book).

For older children there will be a Children’s Theatre Workshop on 24 August for ages 5-8 years. They will use masks, physical theatre and ensemble voice work to create a living story (10am-12noon, £3.50 per child, contact annac@hartbeeps.com or 07903 142133 to book your place). All of this is in addition to our normal programme of events – from Breakfast Church to Circuits classes to Karate to Zumba there’s something for everyone!

Switch Cafe is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 10am until 2pm for light lunches and freshly prepared cakes, and the Micro Library is well stocked with books. And don’t forget the Farm House Bar is open every Friday evening from 7.30pm, with a rolling programme of Cocktails & Karaoke (4 August), St Neots Film Club (18 August), the Love’s Farm Quiz (25 August), and the whole family can enjoy our inaugural Family Games Night on 11 August beginning at the earlier time of 6pm.

You can find details of all of our events on our What’s On Page or our Facebook Page. We’re looking forward to a summer of fun on Love’s Farm!

We’ve got lots of exciting new groups recently launched or coming soon to Love’s Farm House. Get in touch with the group leaders to book your place.

Zumba
Monday 12 December, 7-8pm

Zumba is a Latin-inspired dance fitness class. Cardio-based workout with sculpting exercises designed to burn calories and tone the entire body. The first class on 12 December is a free taster, with weekly classes starting on 9 January. £5 per class or £25 for a block of six. Contact Nicola Ashby on 07912 442622 or nicola_ashby7@outlook.com.

Jess and Jules’ Interiors Workshops
5, 7, 12 December, 25 January 2017

Make a Lampshade Create a bespoke lampshade with professional tuition from Jules Woodmore. Workshops on Wednesday 7 December and Wednesday 25 January 9.30am to 12pm. This one-day workshop costs £39 to £47 depending on your choice of lampshade kit.

Transform Your Dining Chairs for Christmas Join the interiors experts at Jess and Jules on a two-day course dedicated to giving your dining chairs a makeover ready for Christmas. Their professional tuition will take you through the process of stripping down your chair, preparing and painting woodwork and then reupholstery of your chosen fabric. Monday 5 and Monday 12 December 9.30am-12pm. £99 for the two-day course.

Visit www.jessandjules.co.uk or or email studio@jessandjules.co.uk for more information and to book.

An Evening of Burlesque
Friday 2nd December, 8-11pm

Join K Dance and Fitness at Love’s Farm House for a night of dress up, giggles and seductive dance moves. Learn two Burlesque dances and some cheeky Burlesque techniques. Dress to impress: corsets, stockings and heels (or whatever you feel comfortable in). No experience required but you must be female and over 18 to come to this event. Tickets must be bought in advance at classes or by emailing kdanceandfitness@gmail.com.

Women’s Institute
Wed 18 January, 8:30-10:30pm

The Love’s Farm Ladies is Love’s Farm’s new WI group, meeting on the third Wednesday of the month at 8:30pm. Come to make friends and do something new. Contact Phyllis Brooks on 01480 380240 or email phylbrooks@live.co.uk for more details.

Your Time to Grow — The Bird Table Taster Sessions
Wed 14 December, 7:30/8:30pm

Give yourself two hours a month to think, to have space to air your ideas and concerns, to learn about your strengths and motivations, all in a safe, non-judgemental environment. Charlie will be leading two 60-minute Bird Table taster sessions, providing an opportunity to progress your thinking on a current business idea or career-related challenge or opportunity. Special price for the taster session is £20. Call 07791 767654 or email charlie@yourtimetogrow.com to book.

St Neots Sewing Club
Monday 12 December, 7-9pm

A fortnightly club for enthusiastic sewers of all abilities who would like to learn more about their sewing machines, or just come and share their expertise. The group meets 7-9pm every other Monday at Love’s Farm House. Bring whatever project you are working on. £4 per session payable on the night. Places are limited so please call Jonathan on 07827 819639 or message www.facebook.com/stneotssewingclub to book.

Brain Up Abacus Mental Maths
Mondays 5pm-6pm

Brain Up is a unique mental maths programme offering to help children excel at mental arithmetic. It uses both traditional and multimedia teaching methods in order to stimulate both sides of the brain using visualisation of the abacus. Tuition is in small groups and the programme is suitable for children aged 5-13 years. Contact Abi Bodede on 01234 930160 or info@brainup.uk for more information and to book.

It’s already a year since the launch of Love’s Farm House, and what a year it’s been! Our community centre is run by local volunteers, and we’ve lined up some exciting events throughout half term week to mark the occasion.

Back to the 80s

Sat 22 October, 7:30pm – 12:30am

Put on your dancing shoes, back-comb your hair and get ready for a night of 80s party classics. Tickets are £5 in advance * and that includes a free garish 80s cocktail. Over 18s only.

Dotty the Dragon

Monday 24 October, Performances at 11:30am and 3pm

Blunderbus Theatre brings its acclaimed production to Love’s Farm. Dotty is a baby fire dragon who loves to gaze down and watch the children playing in the orchard. One day, she decides to pay them a surprise visit. This clever new show comes to life with an irresistible blend of live music, fabulous puppets and high-energy storytelling. Tickets are £5 in advance. *

This event is kindly supported by St Neots Slings and Your Time To Grow.

Creepy Crafts Workshop

Wednesday 26 October, 10:30am-12pm

Illustrators Marion Lindsay (Ready Steady Ghost!, Bella Donna, Maisie Hitchins) and Jo Clark (hehehe hyena) will be helping children to make Halloween animal masks and spooky dreamcatchers. Ages 5-10 (accompanied by a parent or carer). 50p per child, payable on the door.

This event is kindly supported by Friends of St Neots Library.

Community Champion Awards & Quiz Night

Friday 28 October, 7pm

Join us for the Oscars of Love’s Farm, also known as the Love’s Farm Community Champion Awards. We will be honouring people who have gone the extra mile to help others or who are the essence of community spirit. Alongside the awards, we are holding an extra special quiz with fabulous prizes and we will elect the officers of Love’s Farm Community Association and the trustees of Love’s Farm House.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Love’s Farm Community Association and Love’s Farm House, and perhaps getting involved, this is a great time and place to start.

Halloween Disco

Saturday 29 October, 6pm-10pm

Get ready for an evening of spooky fun and ghoulish goings on at the Haunted Farm House. There’ll be games for younger children from 6pm and a chance for kids and adults of all ages to strut their freakiest moves from 7pm. Fancy dress encouraged but not essential. Tickets £2 in advance. *

* Tickets are on sale in person from Love’s Farm House (open 9am-12pm Mon-Sat), or you can make a bank transfer and we’ll post or hold the tickets for you – call 01480 262626 or email bookings@lovesfarmhouse.co.uk to reserve yours.

Under-18s must be accompanied by a parent or carer for all events.

There’s lots going on over summer to keep you and your children entertained. We really hope you can join us!

School’s Out For Summer

Saturday 23 July, 3-7pm
Free entry

Get into the summertime vibes with our family fun day.

We have loads of activities lined up including arts and crafts, cake decorating, games, a treasure hunt, baby play area, face painting, sponge tossing, Lego club, prizes to be won, jugs of Pimm’s on sale and a barbecue in the garden.

Library at Love’s Farm:
Super Happy Magic Launch

Monday 25 July, 10-11am
Free entry

Meet Matty Long, author of Super Happy Magic Forest and winner of the Cambridgeshire Libraries’ Read it Again Picture Book Award, and enjoy a fun session of drawing and storytelling.

The Library and Love’s Farm is a micro-library located in the foyer and café space at Love’s Farm House. It will be available for anyone to pop in and borrow a book to read here or take away with them, and there will be newspapers and magazines available too.

This launch event is kindly sponsored by Friends of St Neots Library.

St Neots Film Festival:
Video Production Workshops

Saturday 13 August, 10am-1pm & Saturday 10 September, 1-4pm
£5 per family (ages 7+) per session

Fancy making your own film? Want to see it on the big screen at Cineworld St Neots? St Neots Film Festival is joining forces with Love’s Farm Community Association to stage two video production workshops that will help take your project from concept to finished film.

The first workshop (13 August, 10am-1pm) will focus on planning and shooting. The second workshop (10 September, 1-4pm) is all about editing. Both are designed to be informative, inspiring and most of all, fun! They’re aimed at families (with children aged 7+) or groups of friends (aged 18+) and cost £5 per session per family or group.

The workshops will reveal what’s involved and provide lots of tips and tricks. Each family or group will then be supported as they work on their film in their own time. We’ll help you get your film finished in time for submission to St Neots Film Festival, which runs from 7th-11th November at Cineworld St Neots and Love’s Farm House. Deadline for submissions is 30 October. The first eight families/groups to sign up to both workshops will receive free software worth £33. Please email ben.pitt@ourlovesfarm.co.uk or call Love’s Farm House on 01480 262626 to book your place.

Switch Café

Thursdays and Fridays, 10am-2pm

Switch Café will be open throughout the summer holidays, serving a delicious selection of cakes, drinks, sausage rolls, salads and cheese toasties. Switch Café offers meaningful work placements and supported training for young adults (co-workers) with additional needs, to help progress them towards paid employment and more fulfilling futures. Any profits made are reinvested to support our co-workers development.

Farm House Coffee Shop

Tuesdays from 16 August, 9am-12:30pm

The Love’s Farm House volunteer team will be serving up home-baked cakes, luxurious hot chocolate, speciality teas and coffees on Tuesday mornings.

We’re taking a short break at the start of the summer holidays and will be open again from 16 August.