ACE Andover Community Engage

01/10/2026

Tea drinkers in the Community Lounge will be pleased to hear that we’ve descaled the urn! Coffee drinkers, apparently blessed with no taste buds, may not have noticed, but the tea has been shocking since yesterday. ☕️😬

🙋‍♀️ I’ll hold my hand up: I’m responsible for this situation. 😬😢

To save every penny we can, ACE hasn’t had a cleaner this year. Tania and I look after the main areas, with Alex helping out in the Pantry during his shifts. Somehow, descaling the urn got missed off the cleaning schedule. 🤢

Can we call it a little extra calcium in your daily cuppa? 🤔😂

Anyway, all sorted now! 😊

30/09/2026

We’re going to have to advertise this as a street party soon, we’re running out of room! Time for a little re-jig of our space, I think 🤔

What a lovely problem to have 🥰😊😂

We love our seated exercise sessions! 💛

30/09/2026

Hi everyone, we could really do with this right now. If you have a spare 20 seconds to give us a vote, we’d massively appreciate it.

Thanks everyone. 🥰😘

https://hub.neighbourly.com/community-vote-form-oct-2026?fbclid=IwZnRzaAUqLAZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBwZG9mBWZkaWQWUPYkVwm8zSXBpsu-kNHxGHYt4bSzDXNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR6WYqntoKTX4Pz59sDsPNoJdkfWGZ5XxyWAvhWwks-F4Vry4u7m9wjCfgPD_w_aem_Pd3B1x0rSH13jI0F6GLcKg®ion=south-coast-wessex

Vote for a local good cause near you to win a grant from the Lidl Community Fund. Voting closes 7 October 2026.

28/09/2026

🎬 Silver Screen Social

🎥 This Week: The Devil Wears Prada 2

📅 Tuesday 29th September
🕛 Meet at ACE: 12pm
📍 Or meet us at the cinema
💷 Tickets: £2 (includes tea, coffee & biscuits)

The Devil Wears Prada 2

Miranda, Andy, Emily and Nigel return to the fashionable world of Runway nearly twenty years later.

💛 Don’t go alone – go together

We’ll meet at ACE at 12pm and walk down together.
Or you’re welcome to meet us directly at the cinema.

No booking needed with us.
Just pay for your ticket at the cinema.

25/09/2026

24/09/2026

Meet Aaron 🙄… or, more accurately, meet Aaron’s hands! He’s a teenager, so there’ll be no face shots on social media. 😉📱

Aaron volunteered with us over the summer after moving to the area. He had a few months to fill before starting college and didn’t know anyone locally.

I’ve no doubt many of you met him, he would have been the one with his nose buried in his phone, while working in the pantry. We’ve been encouraging the important life skill of being on your phone without anyone noticing, but he’s struggled to embrace the art. 😂

Anyway, he’s now gone off to college, although he still pops in to see us and help out. He had his salad exam today, and I’m proud to say he can confidently tell his julienne from his paysanne and the smug little so-and-so is already much better than me at making an apple swan! 🍎🦢

We’re incredibly proud of him and can’t wait to watch the rest of his journey.

Apologies to the Community Pantry… you’re two apples down, but look how cool they are! 😉🥰

24/09/2026

🧵 A huge thank you to Kimpton Patchwork Group for raising an amazing £200 for ACE! 🥰

They may be a small village sewing group, but they have a wonderful record of giving back and supporting their community.

We’re truly honoured to have been chosen as one of the charities to benefit from their generosity. It was also lovely to chat about the possibility of the group supporting one of our future projects .🪡

Thank you to everyone involved for your kindness, generosity and community spirit. 💜

24/09/2026

🌟 Meet Paula! 🌟

Paula is an absolute sweetheart and one of our wonderful collection volunteers.

Her role involves visiting one of our supermarket collection points and bringing the surplus stock they’ve kindly set aside safely back to ACE.

Our collectors are usually needed between 9am and 10am. You’ll need access to a vehicle and to be able to follow basic food hygiene procedures to ensure all donations arrive safely.

Could you volunteer like Paula?

Perhaps one morning a week, or whatever you can manage? Every collection makes a difference.
Message us or pop in for a chat.

If you’re going to be awesome, be awesome like Paula! 😉💜

24/09/2026

💜 A huge thank you to Andover Poundland! 💜

We are incredibly grateful for another wonderful collection of food donations for our Community Pantry, received through your ongoing in-store donation point. 🛒🥫

Funding for the Pantry ran out in March, and without the generosity of local businesses and members of our community, this vital service would simply have to close. Every donated item helps us to continue supporting local individuals and families who rely on the Pantry.

Thank you to the fantastic Poundland team and to every customer who has placed an item in the donation point. Your ongoing kindness and support genuinely help to keep our shelves stocked and our doors open.

We really can’t thank you enough. 🥰💜

24/09/2026

🌟 A huge thank you to Finkley Down Farm Nursery & Preschool! 🌟

This is the second time the nursery has generously supported our Community Pantry with a wonderful donation of food items. We were lucky enough to have some very scrummy little helpers bringing everything in! 🥰

It was so lovely to welcome the children to ACE and see them proudly delivering the donations themselves. What a wonderful way to teach kindness, generosity and the importance of supporting others in their community from such an early age. 💜

Every item will help local individuals and families using our Pantry.

Thank you to all the children, families and staff at Finkley Farm Nursery for supporting ACE once again. Your kindness really does make a difference and community spirit clearly starts young! 🛒🥫💜