September 2026

The Feoffees and Thirteen of Tetbury

Firstly, I would like to congratulate Feoffee Will Cook, who was recently recognised at the Gloucestershire Volunteer Awards with their Lifetime Achievement Award for 2026.  This award is a well-deserved acknowledgement of his hard work to save and develop Tetbury Goods Shed – congratulations Will.

As the summer draws to a close, we are hoping for a warm autumn with lots of events for us coming up this month.

We will be starting on Friday 4th September with our Annual Community BBQ on the Millennium Green.  This is a free event for all residents (donations welcome) please just bring your picnic blanket or chairs and drinks and come along to meet with friends old and new – we do hope that any new residents to the town will come along.

Then on 12th September, during Heritage Weekend, we will be opening the Feoffees committee room in the Market House.  Here there will be a display of the history and work that the Feoffees and Thirteen do in the town and an opportunity to meet members.

Finally, we have the Annual Beating of the Bounds on September 19th, where we will meet under Bath Bridge at 9.30am and walk the boundary of the town, with stops at historic points. We finish at the Market House, where the Feoffees will present their annual accounts.  If you haven’t ever taken part in this interesting walk, please come along, it takes about 1 ½ hours, wear appropriate footwear (we will cross the Recreation Ground) and everyone is welcome – including dogs!

Grants to groups and individuals in Tetbury is one of the ways we support residents and our community. Over the summer we have supported the new Junior Parkrun with a start-up grant of £1,000.

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town. If you would like to volunteer to help us in our work, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

An important date for noting in your diaries now is the annual Christmas Light Switch On, which will take place this year on Friday December 4th – the Feoffees will once again be decorating the Market House, making it a focal point for the town celebrations.

Lance Vick – Chairman

July 2026

The Feoffees and Thirteen of Tetbury

Summer is here and work has been taking place in our open spaces around town - grass cutting and lots of tree work, including the removal of dead ash trees along the Tetbury Trail, to keep everyone enjoying this area safely. Watch out in Preston Park, as by the time you read this the cows should be back in the field keeping the grass down for us, please be careful when walking through and keep your dogs on a lead.

Last month Feoffees Tony Walsh and Will Cook visited the Probus Club in Sherston, where they gave a talk on the History of the Feoffees and the work that they have done and continue to do in Tetbury. If you are a member of a group who would like a talk, please do get in touch.

As there will be no Tetbury Advertiser in August, I want to remind you all about the Community BBQ which we will be organising for all residents on Friday 4th September from 6pm on the Millennium Green. This BBQ is free of charge and please just bring a chair or picnic blanket and a drink and join your friends old and new catching up and hopefully enjoying the late summer sun.

Please look out for these community events in the coming months:

·       July 11th – Tetfest

·       September 4th – Annual Community BBQ – this is a free event for all residents

·       September 12th – Heritage Weekend at The Market House

·       September 19th – Annual Beating of the Bounds

·       December 4th – Light up Tetbury

Grants to groups and individuals in Tetbury is one of the ways we support residents and our community. In the last month we have supported

·       Local Plumbing Apprentice - £300 towards tools

·       Tetbury Nursery Playgroup – The Ferns – support in developing their outside area over the summer.

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town.

If you would like to volunteer to help us in our work, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

Lance Vick – Chairman

June 2026

The Feoffees and Thirteen of Tetbury

By the time you read this, summer will be upon us and the hanging baskets which adorn the Market House will have been installed. Many thanks again to Feoffee Will Cook for his repairs of the hanging basket brackets over the winter, so that we can have our wonderful display again.

We have been delighted to receive a donation from long standing resident and ex-mayor Pam Sims, of a beautiful painting by local artist Barry Barnes of the Market House. Please look out for this when you take the opportunity to view the Market House and the Feoffee meeting room during Heritage Weekend on 12th September.

Please look out for these community events in the coming months:

· July 11th – Tetfest

· September 4th – Annual Community BBQ – this is a free event for all residents

· September 12th – Heritage Weekend at The Market House

· September 19th – Annual Beating of the Bounds

· December 4th – Light up Tetbury

Grants to groups and individuals in Tetbury is one of the ways we support residents and our community. In the last month we have supported

· Tetfest – Gold Sponsor - £1,000

· Tetbury Bowls Club - £204.98 for the purchase of large wedges to be used by both the junior and adult players

· Education Grant of £300 to a local student undertaking a Graphic Design Course.

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town.

If you would like to volunteer to help us in our work, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

Lance Vick – Chairman

May 2026

As the spring moves into summer Tetbury will be coming alive with events and beautiful open spaces for our residents to enjoy.

We hope that you and your families will make the most of the open spaces that we own and maintain for the benefit of all, including Herd Lane, Berkeley Wood, Preston Park and the Tetbury Trail – please enjoy these areas responsibly, be mindful of your dogs, particularly if they are off the lead and please pick up any mess, placing in the bins which are readily available.

Some of you will have noticed the recent work to clear up the silt which has gathered in the pond on the Millennium Green, thanks to Jeff Crew who undertook this work for us.

At the Market House, we have recently suffered damage to the building, when a large lorry negotiating around the building collided and damaged one of our buttress stones. We hope that you also noticed the changes in flag flying during April – 23rd April for St Georges Day and 25th April for ANZAC Day – the ANZAC flag is old and very special, it was given to the town by the Australian & New Zealand Air Corps when they left Tetbury.

We hope that you and your families will make the most of the open spaces that we own and maintain for the benefit of all, including Herd Lane, Berkeley Wood, Preston Park and the Tetbury Trail – please enjoy these areas responsibly, be mindful of your dogs, particularly if they are off the lead and please pick up any mess, placing in the bins which are readily available.

Please look out for these community events in the coming months:

· May 25th – Woolsack Day

· July 11th - Tetfest

· September 12th & 13th – Annual Beating of the Bounds

· September 19th – Heritage Weekend at The Market House

· December 4th – Light up Tetbury

Grants to groups and individuals in Tetbury is one of the ways we support residents and our community. In the last month we have supported

· £1,000 - Tetbury Rugby under 11’s – tour to Copenhagen

· £1,000 – Tetbury Woolsack Races to help with security and the PA system

· £ 300 - local student to assist with the purchase of a laptop

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town.

If you would like to volunteer to help us in our work, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

Lance Vick – Chairman

March 2026

By the time you read this, spring will be well on its way, with longer days and signs of life throughout our community – snowdrops, daffodils and crocuses appearing in gardens and community spaces throughout our town. We are particularly fortunate to have Tetbury in Bloom, who keep our town looking at its best, and we are delighted to be able to financially support this volunteer group in the special work they do.

Grants to groups and individuals in Tetbury is one of the ways we support residents and our community. In the last month we have supported the Chess Club with a grant of £125 to allow them to purchase digital clocks so that the club can sustain and establish a league team in the North Gloucester Chess Association. If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town.

After such a wet start to the year, work will also soon be starting for our allotment holders at Herd Lane. Following a quiet winter, vegetables and fruit will be planted and tended for the new season and the rewards reaped as the year goes on. In addition, we are delighted that Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust will be surveying and sampling all open spaces owned by the Feoffees and we are excited to see what animals and habits are present throughout our town

Tetbury is a vibrant community, and my thoughts turn to some of the events due to take place in the coming year, please look out for:

Save the Date

· May – Woolsack Day

· July - Tetfest

· September – Annual Beating of the Bounds

· September – Heritage Weekend at The Market House

· December – Light up Tetbury

Finally, Feoffee Will Cook is currently busy arranging new fixings for the 19 hanging basket brackets on the Market House, this work will allow the beautiful baskets of flowers to hang safely this summer, making this iconic building the jewel in the crown at the Market Place – thank you Will.

If you would like to volunteer to help us in our work, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

Lance Vick – Chairman

February 2026

Whilst Christmas seems a long way away now, I would like to firstly wish you all a very Happy New Year and I hope that 2026 brings us all peace, health, happiness and prosperity for our local businesses. I would also like to thank once again the Feoffee & Thirteen and Tetbury Plumbing & Heating team who put up and took down the beautiful Christmas lights which adorned the Market House and the trees kindly donated by the Lowsley-Williams family.

Over the years the Tetbury Trail and Preston Park have developed and become a wonderful community green space for all out residents – human and animal. Could I please take this opportunity to ask you to respect this area, take home any rubbish you may have and pick up any dog mess and place in the appropriate bins - not in the hedgerow or trees, where bags are a danger to the wildlife. And if we are lucky enough to have snow, please remember that you sledge the tempting hills at your own risk.

The weekly event along the Tetbury Trail and through Preston Park is the popular Saturday morning Tetbury Goods Shed Parkrun. Every Saturday morning runners, walkers and volunteer marshalls meet for the 9am start – I noticed reports that 358 people took part on Christmas Day and 219 people on New Years Day. You don’t need to be a runner; you can also walk the 5km route or become a volunteer marshall, please check them out if you are interested.

Finally, I am delighted to confirm that we gave the following grants this month:

· £300 to a local university student

· £6,500 to Tetbury Area Youth and Community Trust for holiday provision for the young people of Tetbury

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town.

Finally, if you would like to volunteer to help us, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

December 2025

As Christmas approaches, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all residents and traders in Tetbury a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2026.

I would like to also thank the members of the Feoffee & Thirteen and Tetbury Plumbing & Heating, who decorated the Market House with our Christmas Lights and the two beautiful trees, kindly donated by the Lowsley-Williams family at Chavenage. The Market House is the jewel in the crown at Christmas and the focal point for the Light Up Tetbury event on Friday 5th December – well done to all those, led by Tetbury Town Council, involved in creating a wonderful, seasonal community event for us all.

Work continued over the autumn with Feoffee Will Cook and his team of volunteers from the Thirteen planting a new hedge along a section of the Tetbury Trail.

Don’t forget that the Christmas Tree Festival at St Saviour’s Church will be taking place from Monday 1st December – Friday 2nd January, where groups and organisations will display their trees and on Saturday 6th December at 5pm in St Saviour’s there will be the annual Christmas Tree Festival Carol Service – please do go along, wrap up warm and enjoy community carols followed by a mince pie and mulled wine.

Finally, I am delighted to confirm that we gave the following grants this month:

· £8,000 to St Mary’s Primary School for their Trim Trail

· £1,500 annual donation to Tetbury in Bloom to support their work around the town

· £300 for a Swindon Town youth player towards a football tournament in Barcelona

· £300 towards an international Girl Guides trip to Croatia in 2026

· £300 for local competitor towards competing at the British Equestrian Vaulting Championships in Cheshire

· £300 towards the Tetbury Town Council crowdfunding campaign to upgrade the playpark at Suffolk Close

· £300 towards a Christmas meal for the Monday Club in December

· £300 towards the craft club at Tetbury Library to assist with materials. – this group is open to the public and run by volunteers.

· £150 towards the Poppy Appeal.

· £75 towards the Tetbury Town Council Christmas grotto at the Light up Tetbury evening

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town.

Finally, if you would like to volunteer to help us, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

November 2025

I am delighted to confirm that the installation of a defibrillator has now been completed under The Market House, we were delighted to be able to provide with this lifesaving piece of equipment for our residnets in the town centre and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cotswold District Council for their grant of £625 towards the total cost of £1,400. Our thanks also go to Feoffee Vice Chair Dave Hicks, who was instrumental in ensuring that this project was successful.

In addition, I am pleased to confirm that we gave the following grants this month:

· 3 x grants of £300 for University Students towards equipment/studies

· 1 x grant of £300 to a Trainee Barber towards equipment/studies

Date for your Diary

Saturday 8th November - Tetbury Fireworks

Friday 5th December – Tetbury Christmas Light Switch On

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town. Finally, if you would like to volunteer to help us, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

October 2025

September started off with the annual historic Beating of the Bounds and presentation of the accounts and work of the Feoffees and Thirteen. We were delighted with the number of friends old and new, who took the time to come with us on this circular walk of the town, and to be able to welcome our new Rector the Revd. Sarah Heywood, who led the prayers and hymns. Our thanks go to Revd. Heywood, Feoffee Jim Pearce for leading this walk, Pam Bird, who provided a welcome refreshment stop in her beautiful garden halfway around and to the members of the Thirteen who organised the coffee and tea once everyone was back at The Market House. If you missed us this year, look out for the date next year – this always takes place in September and is a great way to learn about our very special Town.

We are pleased to advise that plans to install a defibrillator at The Market House are almost complete and soon we will have another important, lifesaving piece of equipment in the town centre.

Finally, many of you will have seen that we have resurfaced our land at Combers Mead on London Road, to provide additional private parking spaces, joining our spaces at the bottom of Gumstool Hill and The Chipping Car Park. These are currently all let, however, if you would like to join our waiting list, please contact us via our website.

Date for your Diary

Friday 5th December – Tetbury Christmas Light Switch On

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town. Finally, if you would like to volunteer to help us, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

September 2025

I start my September article with a tribute to Campbell Higgins who sadly passed away over the summer and was a devoted Clerk to the Feoffees for many years – his experience, contribution and knowledge was appreciated by us all. Our sympathies go to his wife Margaret and the family.

September is a busy month for the Feoffees and Thirteen as we hold two historic events:

Firstly, at 9.30am on Saturday 6th September we have the Beating of the Bounds. We meet under Bath Bridge and around 1 hour or so later there is the presentation of the Feoffee annual accounts in The Market House with coffee and biscuits. This is an opportunity for members of the community to come to inspect the annual accounts and hear about the work that the charity has been undertaking over the year.

The following week on Saturday 13th September there will be a display of the Feoffee & Thirteen in the Committee Room in the Market House. This is part of the national heritage weekend which is taking place around the country.

Towards the end of the school year, we were delighted to provide the financial support for and open the new sensory room at Sir William Romney’s School – this was an important opportunity for our charity to support the education of young people in Tetbury.

As autumn approaches the trees in the community orchard at Herd Lane should be full of apples, you are welcome to help yourself to enough apples for you and your family to enjoy, but please ensure that you leave enough fruit for everyone. Please be careful if you visit the community orchard as the ground under foot is uneven.

Grants over the summer have included:

· 2 x grants to local students at University

· £8,000 to St Mary’s Primary School for their new trim trail

· £1,000 for equipment to Tetbury town football club.

Date for your Diary

Friday 5th December – Tetbury Christmas Light Switch On

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town. Finally, if you would like to volunteer to help us, please get in touch.

Lance Vick

July 2025

At the time of writing, we are making our final preparations for our annual Community BBQ at the Millennium Green and if you missed it this year, please look out for the date next June. This is a free community event for all and a great place to meet friends new and old.

As summer arrives, the Market House is looking splendid with the hanging baskets and planters full of colourful floral displays. Our thanks go to Tetbury in Bloom and their volunteers, who work tirelessly throughout the town to ensure that Tetbury looks its best and to Tetbury Plumbing and Heating for installing and maintaining the watering system for the baskets.

We continue to look to develop our markets under the Market House. Whilst currently we do not have any vacancies under the Market House on Saturdays, we do have availability on Wednesdays and the upstairs is also available throughout the week. If you are interested in booking a stall or the main Market House upstairs, please call into Scentiments on Church Street where you can book your place – we look forward to welcoming new traders.

I am pleased to advise that this month we were once again able to support the important Holiday at Home event with a grant of £1,500. This is an important community event, tackling isolation and ensuring that those members of our community who do not have the opportunity to get away can have a ‘holiday’ here in their hometown.

Dates for your Diary

· Saturday 6th September at 9.30am – Annual Beating of the Bounds – meet under Bath Bridge and followed by the presentation of the Feoffee accounts in The Market House with coffee and biscuits

· Saturday 13th Sunday 14th September – Heritage Weekend – The Market House will be open with displays

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town. Finally, if you would like to volunteer to help us, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

May 2025

Big News is Preston Park this month – many of you will know that we have recently completed the circular paving in Preston Park, allowing access to more of our residents and making the walk down the muddy hill much safer.

We would like to thank Geoff Turbott for his continuing support and hard work in helping us to make this a reality – his commitment to the charity and to this area in Tetbury is greatly appreciated – thank you Geoff!

Finally, I am pleased to advise that the following grant was made this month:

·       £400 to the Friends of Tetbury Hospital, covering the costs for producing leaflets for their Open Gardens Fundraising Event in June.

Dates for your Diary

·       Monday 26th May – Woolsack Day and Races - where there will be a display on the Feoffees and Thirteen

·       Saturday 14th June at 6pm – Feoffee & Thirteen Community BBQ – this is a free community event

·       Saturday 6th September at 9.30am – Annual Beating of the Bounds – meet under Bath Bridge and followed by the presentation of the Feoffee accounts in The Market House with coffee and biscuits

·        Saturday 13th/Sunday 14th September – Heritage Weekend – The Market House will be open with displays

If you think we may be able to help you or if you are a member of a group who could be helped with a grant, please visit our website - www.thefeoffeesoftetbury.co.uk – where you can also find out more about the work we do in our town. Finally, if you would like to volunteer to help us, please get in touch or speak to one of our members.

Lance Vick – Chairman