The last weekend of August saw children from the 1st Mortimer BP Cub and Scout Group head off to Rushalls Farm, Bradfield to take part in 'Camp Eagle Eye'. The weather was very kind and meant that all the cubs attending could achieve their Athlete badge which involved meeting the criteria in a variety of running, jumping and throwing activities.

The annual Mortimer 10km run, 8km charity walk and 3km run for under 16's took place on Sunday 29th September 2013. 343 runners completed the 10km race - the full results can be seen here: http://readingroadrunners.org/Mortimer/10kresults29-09-2013.pdf

A HUGE thank you to you all for helping out with our latest Bag2School collection and for all the households in Mortimer that had a grand sort out. This was our biggest ever collection! We collected a grand total of 2187kg which has raised a total of £1093.50. This will be split equally between Mortimer St Mary’s, Mortimer St John’s schools and the MVP.

A good number of people gathered today, Sunday 3rd November, to hear the results of the Scarecrow Trail. About 800 trail maps were sold and all week people were tramping round the village to see the 35 scarecrows even though the weather wasn't brilliant. Every scarecrow received some votes but these were the top 5 in each category:

Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas! were Santa's last words as we saw him mounting his sleigh on top of the Methodist Hall in Mortimer last Saturday. Over 70 children visited Santa in his magical grotto, whispering their wish lists with quiet hopefulness.

St. John's Hall rang to shouts of "Behind You" and "Oh, yes, he is!" when a professional performance of Dick Whittington took place on 21st December.  This was MVP's first foray into promoting a pantomime and from the amount of noise - from big 'kids' and small alike - I think that it was safe to say that everyone had a great time.

Thank you De Vere Venues, Wokefield Park and BMW for a wonderful Christmas gift for our community! 

This production by Strangeface at St John's Hall on Wednesday 21st November kept the audience totally engaged with their energy, ingenious set and brilliant acting in the Commedia Dell'Arte style as they romped through an adaptation of the original Pinocchio story.

A large number of people gathered on Sunday to remember those who fought and died for our freedom. The Scouts led the parade which included Cubs, Guides, Brownies and Rainbows as well as members of the Fire Service and Police. After Rev. Paul Chaplin read the bidding prayers, the Last Post was played by Mr. Paul Chapman and the Exhortation spoken by Air Vice Marshal Newton.

After nearly 25 years at Mortimer Common Post Office, Val Pickett (formerly Drake) is retiring as Postmistress on 7th November. She and her late husband Laurie ran the business for 20 years before he sadly died and she has run it ever since. She says "I should like to thank all my customers and staff for their loyalty and support all this time.