If you have visited Barton recently you will no doubt have seen or heard about the Barton Village Fund activities that have been taking place over the last two years.

If you have yet to visit Barton you don’t know what you are missing!

We may be a small South Warwickshire Village with around 90 inhabitants but there is a thriving community centred about our village hall, also known as 'The Cottage of Content'. Actually it’s a pub, but it is also our meeting place where young and not so young gather regularly for arm extension exercises, grey-matter challenges and to learn how to walk home in a straight line!

Beneath the sleepy exterior there is a hot bed of activity. Once a month several local ladies meet at different locations to discuss the reasons why they have spent hours reading a book of someone else’s choice. Truthfully this is a veiled attempt at disguising their wine tasting and gossip club.

Meanwhile, co-incidentally once a month, a gathering of men frequents the village hall to talk about their fantasies, sorry Fantasy Football teams performance, what they cooked themselves for dinner and why there seems to be an outbreak of raucous laughter from someone’s house.

And then there are the activities to raise money for Charity. Hardly a day goes by without a request for ‘something for the Tombola’ but in just under two years this tiny village has raised over £11,500 for various charities including Macmillan Cancer Support, Acorns Children’s Trust and the Warwickshire Air Ambulance. In a recent auction of promises, 6 of Julia’s Cornish pasties raised £205 from eager bidders. Where else would you see that happen?

The BVF committee meets frequently to discuss a range of events designed to build the community spirit in Barton and to have fun whilst doing something really worthwhile. So far the village has held a Summer Fete, two car treasures hunts, several quiz nights, two walks where people could be sponsored and a Christmas Market. Our website has a number of photos so please take a browse though them to see what we get up to.

Our village hall ‘Landlord’ Richard Armstrong and his team have been committed to the community since arriving in September 2007. They have really embraced village life and are constant supporters of the BVF and its activities. The Pub’s recent Fun Day raised over £700 for the NSPCC and a further £1400 for the village charities fund.

So there you have it, we may be a small village but we punch well above our weight when it comes to helping others.

We hope to see you soon.

Keith Goodchild
Chairman

Barton Village Fund
The current committee is as follows:

Chairman Keith Goodchild
Treasurer Charles Husbands
Secretary Kay Atkins
Committee Karen Brebner
Harry Knight
John Tschbenko