Work should begin in a few days' time at St James's Church on the long-awaited 'Facilities Project' which will include a toilet with disabled access, a meeting area in the baptistry and an enlarged area for social events towards the back of the church. Fundraising has been so successful that only a few thousand pounds remain to be raised to reach the £40,000 needed. This includes a £10,000 donation from the Friends of St James's Church and has been boosted by more than £1,200 received from sale of the pews taken out to create the necessary space.

West Malvern now has an official archivist. The appointment of Lionel Butcher - already well known as chairman of the Garden & Nature Club - was confirmed at this week's parish council meeting. Lionel hopes to collect information of all kinds about the village, such as family records, information about properties, recollections and pictures of village life and personalities in past times. He plans to set up the archive in the lower room of the village hall (hopefully to be refurbished). It is planned that the information collected will be available on request to interested parties. Please contact Lionel on 01684 560098 if you have any suitable material.