ADVERTISER CLUBS & SOCIETIES

Canoe club Coffee morning

Our latest Picture of the Week was taken by regular contributor Alan Frew and shows just a few of the stunning crocuses currently on show in the grounds of Rhu and Shandon Parish Church, a favourite with many local photographers at this time of year. Thanks Alan! If you have any images of the Helensburgh and Lomond area’s stunning scenery you’d like to see featured here in a future issue, all you have to do is email them to editorial@helensburghadvertiser.co.uk with brief details of when, where and by whom they were taken. Alternatively you can join the ‘Helensburgh Advertiser Camera Club’ group on Facebook, if you haven’t already, and share your images there. Happy snapping!

As usual, the talk will be held at the Guide Halls in John Street, with a 7.30pm start. All are most welcome to attend.

THE next talk in Helensburgh Canoe Club’s winter programme takes place at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club in Rhu on Wednesday, March 20.

Geoff Riddington will give a talk, postponed from earlier in the season, on sea kayak sailing.

The talk will discuss the recent advances made to add wind power to paddle power and the resultant costs and benefits. It will include video clips and photos from local trips.

The talk starts at 7.30pm. Admission is £3 for members and £6 for non-members and includes tea, coffee and biscuits.

THE Lochside Churches Guild are hosting a coffee morning in Cove Burgh Hall on Saturday, March 23 from 10am until 12 noon.

Teas, coffees, scones and pancakes will all be available as well as home baking, bric-a-brac and book stalls and a raffle.

Admission is £3 and all are welcome.

Community orchestra

THE Lomond and Clyde Community Orchestra is inviting people in Helensburgh to join them at their next concert on Saturday, March 23.

Featuring music for all the family from films, TV and musical theatre, the programme includes Also Sprach Zarathustra, The William Tell Overture, a selection of 1920s jazz songs, the beautiful slow movement from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto featuring Cian Miskelly as soloist, the Waltz from the Shostakovich Jazz Suite, and a medley from The Phantom of the Opera.

Entry is free and there are raffle prizes to be won as well as coffee and home baked cakes. The concert takes place at the Victoria Halls at 11am.

Orchestral Society

THE Helensburgh Orchestral Society’s next concert will be at the Victoria Halls on Saturday, March 23 at 7.30pm.

The varied programme will feature a performance of works by Sibelius, SaintSaens and Edvard Grieg, including the Nerwegian composer’s much-loved Peer Gynt Suite.

Tickets (£12.50 for adults, £6 for students) are available from orchestra members and can also be bought at the Scandinavian Shop and Destination Helensburgh in Sinclair Street, while accompanied children under 12 and young cello players under the age of 16 go free.

Friends of Geilston

THE Friends of Geilston are holding their AGM and open meeting at Cardross Golf Club on Monday, March 25 at 7.30pm when NTS regional manager Ian McLelland will give an update on progress on the development of Geilston House and historian Ruth McKechnie will speak about the Friends’ exciting Memories Project.

There will also be a chance to hear about what has been happening at Geilston Garden over the past year and about the Friends’ plans for the 2024 season.

Then, on Wednesday, March 27, the Friends are holding a ‘spring tree identification sesson’ with Helen Hazlett from the Woodlandwise Forest School.

It’s a chance to enjoy a purposeful walk round Geilston’s beautiful woodland and learn not only how to identify trees but so much more including their uses throughout history and their place in folklore.

There will be summer and autumn walks in June and October and although attending all three would be three times as good, each walk is complete in itself.

The walk costs £7.50. NTS garden entry fees also apply. For further information and to book, email geilstonfriends.events@gmail. com.

The garden is now open daily for the season from 10am until 5pm every day (last admission is at 4pm).

Admission is free to National Trust for Scotland members and £8.50 for adult non-members. For full details of admission prices see the garden’s page at the NTS website (nts.org.uk).

Table top sale and fun day

BOOKING is now open for Hermitage Academy PTA’s table top sale and family fun day at the school on Saturday, April 27 from 11am-3pm.

Tables can be booked on Eventbrite - see tinyurl.com/hermitagePTAtabletopsale - at £12.50 for a single table or £25 for a corner table (plus booking fee)

The PTA event is a great mix of stalls selling everything from cupboard clear outs to handmade artisan crafts. With over 60 stalls under one roof, there’s something for all tastes and budgets plus lots of family fun, including bouncy castles, fairground games, and candyfloss.

Entry is free. Table hire proceeds will go back to supporting school clubs. Contact ptahermitageacademy@gmail.com for more information.

Village hub in Cardross

THE Village Hub is on at Cardross Parish Church Halls on a Monday and Wednesday from 10am till 2pm.

Please pop in for morning coffee/tea and home-baking or at lunch time for homemade soup and a sandwich.

It is a warm place to meet and make new friends, and there is a library of books to swap and read. All are welcome.

Ceilidh and sequence dancing

CEILIDH and sequence dancing classes run by Helensburgh couple Sue and Jim Browne take place each Monday night in St Patrick’s Church Hall, Strathleven Place, Dumbarton from 7.30-10pm.

Everyone will be most welcome to this long running group.

Do come along and bring your friends and make new ones while keeping active and having fun, or just relax, enjoy the music, watch the dancers and have refreshments at the bar.

For more information, contact Sue and Jim on 01436 268236 or 07990 578912.

Lunch club

THE Helensburgh Lunch Club is urgently in need of volunteers to help run the vital community service.

The lunch club is supported financially by Argyll and Bute Council and meets in the United Reformed Church hall in West Princes Street, serving a two-course lunch to service users every Monday and Thursday and soup and a sandwich on a Friday.

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, either cooking or serving, either on a regular or occasional basis, and on any or all of the three days, contact Marjory Barrington on 01436 820484.

Tartan Harmony

IF you like singing, why not join Helensburgh’s own Tartan Harmony choir?

The group is a ladies’ a capella (unaccompanied) choir and sings in four part harmony. Rehearsals are held every Thursday from 7.30-9.30pm at the Helensburgh Parish Church Hub in Colquhoun Square.

For more, email tartanharmony@gmail.com or send a message to the choir’s Facebook page (facebook.com/TartanHarmony).

Book Nook at the Hub

THE Book Nook at the Helensburgh Community Hub is open on Mondays from 2-5pm, Tuesdays from 10am-2pm, Wednesdays from 10am-4pm and Saturdays from 10am-1pm.

There are lots of books for children and adults as well as jigsaws with plenty of great bargainsto be had. Donations of books and jigsaws in good, clean condition are also welcome.

All funds raised from item sales go towards the Dolly Parton Imagination Library programme, which gifts free books to children in Helensburgh from 0-5 years each month, as well as the upkeep of the Hub and the development of future projects, activities, and events.

Call 01436 678088 to find out more or see the ‘Helensburgh Community Hub’ page or the‘Book Nook at The Hub – Helensburgh’s secondhand community bookshop’ page on Facebook.

The column for clubs and organisations across Helensburgh and Lomond. Email details of your group’s regular or occasional events to editorial@helensburghadvertiser. co.uk. Deadline is 1pm Monday.