Local Groups

Arty Avon is a not for profit, community group based in Bidford on Avon. We meet every Monday between 1-2.30pm. It's a relaxed, friendly group whose aim is to share the love and passion for arts and crafts of all types and reduce loneliness. No need to book - just pop along. All 18+ are welcome whether you're a complete beginner or an expert. Thanks to grant funding secured into early 2024 the group is FREE. Small donations towards group costs are always welcomed by those who are able to contribute and all money goes back into the group.

Each week group members have the opportunity to take part in arts and craft taster sessions or you’re welcome to bring your own projects you are working on. You can find out details of taster sessions and dates on social media or drop us an email (artyavon@gmail.com) to be added to our weekly newsletter.

Since December 2022 we have run Expert Sessions monthly. These are suitable for everyone including complete beginners. Local, skilled creatives come and work with the group to teach new skills. These sessions are often free or at a significantly reduced cost thanks to grant funding. Booking is essential for these sessions as places are limited. 'Re-explore' sessions (more on these later) always run concurrently so you can still craft away during these sessions if you are not booked on. Do sign up to our newsletter by emailing us at artyavon@gmail.com to be the first to hear about all upcoming events

Upcoming 2024 Events

January

• 8th - 'Re-explore' Session
• 15th - Taster Session - Tin Art
• 22nd  - Taster Session - Rubber Stamping
• 29th - Taster Session - Beeswax Candle Making

February

• 5th - Taster Session - Iris Folding
• 12th -  'Re-explore' Session
• 19th  - Taster Session - Macrame
• 26th - Taster Session - Wet Felting

March

• 4th - Taster Session - Make a Flower Fairy
• 11th -  'Re-explore' Session
• 18th  - Taster Session – Weaving

If you’d like to find out more or see pictures of what we do then head to the Arty Avon page on the Parish Council website here.

‘Re-explore' Session details - did you miss out on a taster session or want to practise your new skills? We'll have the materials for you to get creative and be on hand for help and tips. For more information please contact Amy and Lisa on Arty Avon social media channels or email us at artyavon@gmail.com.

Since then, more businesses and residents have come on board and, despite the COVID-19 circumstances, the team were proud to have 32 banners flying along the High St for summer 2020.

A great deal of work and effort goes into producing a single banner and the wonderful British weather certainly puts them through their paces, resulting in repairs & repaints for most of them. Still, the team is a hardy bunch and enjoys this annual challenge as well as preparing fresh new designs for the next summer. We are beavering away at new banners and repairing old ones, our aim is to have 50 in total along the High St, Icknield St and into Grange Rd, to fit in with our B50 postcode.  Look out for new designs in the summer months, from June to September.

For more information, please contact us via our Facebook Page (external link).

Or by email on B504CN@gmail.com

Bidford on Avon WI have a full packed calendar of events for all to come along and enjoy. We meet on the second Thursday of each month at The Crawford Hall in Bidford at 7.30pm for 7:45pm. Our 2024 programme is set out below. Apart from our monthly meetings we have an outings co-ordinator, who arranges wonderful trips out to shows or things of local interest in the area, go out for meals, participate in fund-raising for local charities and best of all we offer friendship and fun.

BIDFORD WI PROGRAMME FOR 2024

11th January - Our New Year Party (please phone the Secretary for more information) 
8th February - Allen Really, The Honey Man – Demonstrations and Tastings of Different Flavours of Honey. 
14th March - “The Life of a Smallholder” by Cymbre Baseley
11th April - “Cakes for Casualties” by Kath Ryan 
9th May - Resolutions Meeting followed by Cheese & Nibbles
13th June -“The Atlantic the Wrong Way” by Jean Myra
11th July - “The History and Development of Mountain Search & Rescue” by Vince Williams
August - Summer Outing (details to follow) 
12th September -“The Role of the Barber Surgeon” in the Wars of the Roses by Eddie Smallwood. This promises to be a humorous talk. 
10th October - “How to Prepare for a TV Programme” by Sam Green 
14th November - Bidford WI Annual Meeting followed by a Bring & Share Supper
12th December - Helen Cooper, The Butterfly Craft Lady demonstration

Come and meet Bidford on Avon WI and enjoy friendship in your own community. Have a night out with a variety of talks and demonstrations. You will be surprised - it's much more than just 'Jam and Jerusalem'. 
There is so much more to being a WI member than the monthly meetings. Looking forward to seeing you!

For further information about Bidford WI, please contact:

Ann Redmond (Secretary) on email bidford.wi_sec@btinternet.com.

The club is situated next to the Crawford Memorial Hall. We are looking to welcome new members. Come and join our small friendly club.

We have a very good bowling green and an excellent club house with well-appointed kitchen and bar. Good size changing rooms and all the facilities you may require.
The clubhouse is available for private hire.

The ladies' and men's teams have matches against other clubs, afternoons and evenings, home and away. There are also mixed matches in the afternoon. No bowling experience is necessary as coaching is available.

The club has many social events, coffee mornings, cheese and wine evening and bingo every Friday evening. It is a good way to make friends and keep fit. Please come and join us!

For further information, please contact Bernard Kendry on 01789 772592.

For coaching, please contact:

• Men's Captains: Mick Onions on 01789 720059 and Bernard Kendry on 01789 772592
• Senior (Mixed) Captain: David Penney on 01789 490291

Broom Women's Institute meets on the first Thursday of the month in Broom Village Hall at 7.30pm.
Our 2024 programme is set out below. In addition to our monthly meetings we are hoping to visit Vale Landscape Heritage Trust wildflower meadow in June and to have a trip on the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway in the autumn. Our annual croquet tournament will be held in August as usual.

BROOM WI PROGRAMME FOR 2024

• 4th January Scam Awareness by Bill Cowley of Home Instead
• 1st February Tai Chi with Fran Merrony
• 7th March WFWI Housing Association.  A talk by Jeryl Stone
• 4th April Vale Landscape Heritage Trust
• 2nd May Resolutions Meeting
• 6th June Evesham Street Pastors
• 4th July Garden meeting at the home of a member (please phone the Secretary for more information)
• August: no meeting
• 5th September Dogs for Good with Anne Prosser
• 3rd October Homeopathy and Allergy Testing & Treatment
• 7th November Broom WI Annual Meeting
• 5th December Christmas Workshop by Cotswold Mosaics making Christmas Decorations

For further information about Broom WI, please contact:
Mary Preston (President) on 01789 772890
Helen Powell (Secretary) on 01789 778254

Bidford Area Community Choir (BACC) is a popular and thriving group with members from Bidford and the surrounding area.

The main choir, has about 75 members aged from 11 upwards and includes a teen harmony group. The choir perform concerts twice yearly at the Barn on Waterloo Road.

Whenever possible, a donation is given to a local charity or good cause and the choir performs at a number of local events including The Bidford Light Switch on, The Dementia Cafe and The Jolly Teapot.

The choir is inclusive - there are no auditions and the choir is proud of the contribution that it makes to village life for both adults and teenagers alike.

Membership is £45.00 per adult for each concert run. Teen members are not charged.

Meeting times at the Bidford Primary school hall:

• Main Choir - Tuesdays 7.30 to 9.00pm
• Teen Harmony Group - Tuesdays 7.00 to 7.30pm

For further information, please contact:
Judy Smith on 01789 491313 or at bidfordareacommunitychoir@gmail.com
Also see our Website (external link)

"To promote and co-ordinate community resources that will enhance the quality of life for parents, families and residents in the Bidford-on-Avon parish and surrounding areas"

Bidford Community Group was founded by a number of young mothers with the aim of improving recreation and play facilities for Bidford children of all ages. Since its formation, the Group has broadened it horizons to include an interest in elderly, disabled and housebound people, and to work for improved lifestyles opportunities for villagers in these categories too. It has, nonetheless, continued its work for children and young people, pioneering the provision of youth meeting points in the village, and with its support for the Youth Club.

The Group has also extended its activities to include educational, social and recreational events, including excursions to places of historic and other interest, computer courses for retired people, and speakers on local history, travel and topical issues. When the Parish Appraisal was first mooted in 2001, Bidford Community Group gave its full support and provided workers at every stage.

For further information on Bidford Community Group please email B504CN@gmail.com.

Jolly Teapot

Bidford Community Group, which formed in 2001, runs “The Jolly Teapot” every Thursday morning at the Church Hall, opposite St Laurence’s Church in Church Street, Bidford. We are open from 10:00 – 11:30am and it is an excellent place to meet friends and make new ones. 

Tea and coffee are available, and all we ask is a donation towards hall hire costs.  There is also cake and biscuits for all to enjoy.  Everyone is very welcome.

The Jolly Teapot has proved so successful and popular that the “Tea Ladies” and cake makers have attended many Bidford functions over the past years, run by St Laurence’s Church and the Parish Council, amongst other community groups.

Contact info: Fiona tebaybuxton@hotmail.com  or Tereza B504CN@gmail.com

Bidford-on-Avon Flood Action Group is formed by a group of Bidford residents with the support of the National Flood Forum, to work alongside agencies to help reduce Bidford’s risk of flooding.

The Group will meet regularly with representatives from all the agencies involved in Bidford’s flood risk such as Warwickshire County Council, Stratford-on-Avon District Council, Highways, Severn Trent, Environment Agency.

At these meetings, it will have the opportunity of raising local flood concerns which will then have to be actioned by the appropriate agency, who will report back at the next meeting.

It is important to note that the Group represents the local community and will depend on residents to raise issues and suggest solutions, which may or may not be implemented, but will be investigated and a reason given why it cannot be done.

Chairman – Mrs B Edgerton
Secretary – Mrs E Uggerløse

• Bidford-on-Avon Flood Action Group Leaflet (pdf)
• Living on the Edge: A Guide to Riverside Ownership (Environment Agency) (pdf)
• Live Flood Warnings: River Avon at Bidford (external link)
• Live Flood Warnings: River Levels for Stratford on Avon Area (external link)
• Live Flood Warnings: River and Sea Levels for England (external link)

if you have any concerns, proposals, etc, please contact the relevant secretary by email below:

• Bidford Email
• Barton Email

The aim of the Society is to appeal to a wide cross-section of gardening ability, from the absolute beginner to the more experienced gardener, or even to people who have no garden at all but love to take an interest in all things horticultural.

The Society has been in existence since 1970 and has grown over the years to a membership of approximately 70.
The invited speakers talk on such diverse subjects as Plant-Hunting in China; History of Hidcote Manor Gardens; Vegetables; Pruning; Growing from Seed; Container Gardening; Wild Flowers, and Gardeners' Question Time, to name but a few. Many of these talks are accompanied by demonstrations.

There are two annual all-day coach outings, usually each visiting two gardens and incorporating a lunch-time pub meal, and a more local evening visit, also followed by refreshment at a nearby hostelry!
An Annual Show gives members an opportunity to display their own home-grown plants and vegetables, including a floral art section for those with flower-arranging skills.

Meetings are held on the third Thursday of the month in the Crawford Memorial Hall, Salford Road, Bidford-on-Avon at 7.15pm for 7.30pm.

Annual membership is £19.00, (visitors £4.00 per evening), including free refreshments.

See the Society's website for more information and details of forthcoming meetings.

Affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society

Upbeat Community Band was founded in January 2018. We are a friendly, welcoming and sociable group of singers and instrumentalists from Bidford-on-Avon and surrounding villages.

Our main aim is to share a love of music with the community and we are pleased to have supported local events, having played several times at Home Farm Trust, as well as in the High Street, on The Big Meadow and at the Christmas Lights ‘Switch On’ celebrations.

In addition, we have enjoyed entertaining at Crawford Hall, the Jolly Teapot and Lower Quinton Nursing Home as well as playing regularly at The Frog.

We practice on Wednesdays from 3.00 to 4.30pm in the church rooms during term time.

For information and future bookings, please contact us via email

Also see our Facebook page (external link)

Bidford Rubbish Friends are a group of likeminded people passionate about keeping Bidford-on-Avon free from litter for the benefit of the residents and wildlife.

Members enjoy working as a community and it's a great way to socialise, meet new people and get fit and active whilst also looking after the environment!

We organise group litter picks in the village where all equipment is provided.

Adults and children are all welcome. There is no charge to take part in a pick.

Please note: We are not a charity or registered group, all litter picks are taken at your own risk so please look out for yourself and others.

For further information, please contact:

• Jane or Laura by email

Also see our Facebook Page (external link)

We are part of the UK Scout Association, were founded in 1970 and are part of the West Warwickshire District, within the Warwickshire County Group. We run three sections – Beaver Colony (ages 6-8), Cub Pack (ages 8-10½), & Scout Troop (10½-14). Our members are boys and girls from Salford Priors, Bidford on Avon & surrounding hamlets.

Scouting exists to actively engage and support young people in their personal development, empowering them to make a positive contribution to society. We believe that through learning new skills through adventure, individuals are challenged to learn and experience new things that enrich their lives.

Would you like to volunteer and allow more young people to experience the adventure of Scouting? No previous Scouting experience is needed, just energy and enthusiasm are the qualities we are looking for. Whether you join us to directly support young people, or behind the scenes, as a volunteer in our executive committee, then we would welcome your support.

To register your child onto the waiting list, to become an adult volunteer or for enquiries please contact James Greenaway (Group Scout Leader) or Helen Lillington (Assistant Group Scout Leader) at: salfordpriors@westwarwickshire.org.uk

SJA Bidford-on-Avon All Services Unit are a part of St John Ambulance.

We have a Badger Unit for 7 to 10 years olds, a Cadet Unit for 10 to 18 years olds, and an Adult Unit for anyone over 18.

We support our local community by providing first aid cover for local evets such as The Vintage Gathering, Open-air Cinema, Duck Race, Christmas Lights and Italian Market.

We are available to give First Aid talks.

If you wish to learn to 'Be the difference between a life lost or a life saved' then come and join us We meet on a Thursday night, from 7.30 to 9.30pm at the Youth Club on Salford Road, Bidford-on-Avon.

If you are interested in learning First Aid and having fun - come along and meet us!

For further information, please contact:

• Unit Manager
  Jackie Williams
  07966 171270
• Cadet Leader
  Jez Bennett
• Badger Leader
  Rob Williams
  07824 369499

Bidford on Avon is twinned with Ebsdorfergrund - found close to Marburg in Rheinhessen, Germany.

Ebsdorfergrund is a beautiful part of central Germany, it is an area with much history, and is comprised of eleven villages, covering a large area. Our twinning history with Ebsdorfergrund is now over 25 years of age and frequent visits take place on an annual basis. This year we expect a party of 30 German visitors to come in late May 2006.

It was agreed at the 2004 Annual General Meeting that the Association be made open to all residents of Bidford on Avon. Anyone can participate. Notices of future events or visits are published in the Parish Magazine and also in the village library.

The concept of twinning, if new to you, is to develop and promote friendship and understanding between towns and villages in different countries. As you may know many towns have multiple twinning arrangements with different countries, but for the moment we are only twinned with Ebsdorfergrund - who themselves are also twinned with Linewo, in Poland.

The key of twinning success is friendship and understanding. Often when visiting or hosting our German friends we obtain a greater understanding of different traditions, life styles, folk law, etc. All of this is very important and particularly to younger people because you have the opportunity to live in another person's house for a short while and see how they live, what they hold as important or trivial, etc. As well as this, and very importantly, we have fun and it is really great to share the same sense of humour with people.

If you wish to know more then please contact Malcolm Dewsbury on 01789 772667.