Upcoming events, things to do and businesses to support in Lymington and the New Forest
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Beat the January Blues
Well, 'Blue Monday' in the New Forest may have been a largely grey wet day but it certainly ended with a colourful flourish! For many of us this will have been our first ever sighting of the Northern Lights, and how cool to see them from home!
The canoeing photo above from New Forest Activities is a reminder that as long as we wrap up appropriately, a river paddle even in midwinter can bring smiles to our faces. Or escape gloomy days by planning for the brighter ones: New Forest Activities is also inviting us to book our summer adventures now, at Early Bird prices - including seasonal Easter activities and Mother's Day Paddle to the Pubs. If you book before 28 February for activities after 1 April, everything is 15% off. Click here for details.
You could also consider booking now for a wonderful half day cruise on the Solent including lunch or dinner with Escape Yachting this summer. Or if that sounds too long to wait, Lymington-based Escape also offers fabulous holidays in the Channel Islands, Sardinia, Croatia, Canada and the Caribbean, and now Columbia too. Click here.
Beat the Blues with Winter Love
A rather more enticing prospect than cold water might be the hydrotherapy pool. Celebrating the romantic season leading up to Valentine's Day, couples are invited to unwind together with a shared spa escape and a chance to relax, reconnect and recharge. 'Winter Love' includes 10% off two of the bestselling spa packages and gift vouchers at SenSpa Careys Manor, including their wonderful Wellbeing Spa Day which includes not only use of the award-winning SenSpa Hydrotherapy and Health Club facilities but also a 2-course Thai lunch at the Zen Garden Restaurant and your choice of a relaxing 30 minute massage or facial. Find details and offer codes below...
VALENTINE'S SPA OFFERS AT SENSPA
Beat the Blues with Dance!
You can't beat dancing for blues-beating! And New Forest Academy of Dance offers "Dance for Every Body, Age and Stage" (that means all ages from 2 to 102!) at the New Forest’s longest running dance school in Lymington Community Centre. And whilst half term workshops for children of various ages have just been added to the Events Calendar and the Diary section below, tomorrow's Heels Dance Workshop is for adults, and no previous dance experience is required! Heels are optional – the focus is on confidence, expression, performance quality and enjoying movement!
CHECK OUT DANCE CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
A Thank You from Oakhaven
Good news and a big 'thank you' from Oakhaven Hospice to everyone involved. Its inaugural Christmas Treecycle collected more than 200 trees and raised an impressive £5,000 for the hospice, with costs having been covered by generous sponsors Heppenstalls Solicitors and New Forest Escapes. Thanks are especially due to the enthusiastic team of 30 volunteers, including staff from several local businesses - some of whom clearly had fun helping! The plan is to cover even more postcodes next Christmas, so watch this space...
And the Recommendation is: Vote Yes
Over 300 people attended the recent Lymington Society Public Meeting held in the fabulous space of the Lymington Baptist Church, about the Neighbourhood Plan Referendum next Thursday 29 January. Don Mackenzie, Chair of the Lymington Society and Ex-Mayor & Pennington Councillor Jack Davies (who had led the Steering Group on the Town Council finalising the Neighbourhood Plan now approved by NFDC) set out the background and explained the key points of the Plan. It is essentially about getting a bigger contribution back for the town from developers - 25% of the levies they pay - when future planning projects are approved. There was then a lively Q&A session. And the key message is: vote yes next Thursday!
Banish Blocked Ears!
Following last week's introduction to Woodlands Financial Planning, this week a shout out for another of our brilliant local businesses: Ear Clinic Lymington. It's the region's leading ear clinic, with impeccable standards of care and equipment. If you have ever had a blocked ear for days, maybe even weeks on end, you will remember how intensely unpleasant it is, and the incredible sense of relief when it is cleared. The lesson I learned recently was: act sooner rather than later: when you feel wax building up, before it gets totally blocked. Rather logically, the clearing is completed more quickly and with no discomfort whatsoever.
As Kevin says: "Many people try to manage excessive wax problems themselves, then require urgent appointments because their ears suddenly become completely blocked. Why not stop spending on oils and drops and instead take full control of your health at minimal cost?" It's just £59 per visit (one or both ears), for complete and instant relief. You can even if you wish watch the before and after on the clinic's large integrated screens - it's all pretty impressive!
DETAILS AND BOOKINGS: EAR CLINIC
And Finally...
Don't forget this coming Sunday's New Forest Volunteer Fair: the big opportunity of the year to chat with a wide range of organisations and charities seeking volunteers for a similarly wide range of roles, and find one to suit your experience, skills and positive intentions!
Sunday is also Burns Night; there's no reason why New Foresters shouldn't celebrate this Scottish tradition with a haggis, neaps n tatties washed down with a wee dram, and if you're feeling brave you can enact the birthday boy's Address to a Haggis too. Or maybe simpler: join the Turfcutters Arms tomorrow evening for its own Burns Night Supper!
Have great blues-beating weekends everyone!
Best wishes Jane
Read the rest of this week's newsletter here
And check out What's On in the Diary of Upcoming Events!
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