The Big Help Out Part One  

They turned out with wheelbarrows and stout hearts, and together they built a brilliant new terrace for Ilmington Community Café! The 20 or so village volunteers weren’t put off by a bit of Bank Holiday drizzle: they laboured and shovelled, levelled and learned all sorts of new skills. We were lucky that professional builder Jim Groves freely gave his time to oversee the volunteers as part of the nationwide Big Help Out. From the youngest helper, Henry Salt-Forster, aged seven, who lifted stones and put sand into wheelbarrows, to the oldest – 86-year-old Irene Sabin, who helped to lay a slab of her own – it was a multi-generational effort. There was Joan who personally handled every single slab in the terrace, to make sure each one was correctly placed. And Wilf, a web designer, who had his first encounter with a cement mixer. “It’s brilliant,” said Wilf. “I’m game on for cementing my whole life. I could be moving into the construction business!” There was a kitchen team serving hot drinks, homemade cake and chilli jacket potatoes. There was community spirit, a CWR radio interview and a massive sense of achievement. Thank you to everyone who took part: we hope you got as much out of the day as you put into it! Coronation Terrace will be officially opened soon and put into excellent use as part of the Community Café.