Howard Garden Social Centre sits in the heart of Letchworth, looking out over the bowling green in Howard Park.

This year's Christmas Fayre is more than just a festive event – its a celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Centre's life.

 Those 70 years have seen many people come to the Centre to meet and eat and find new friends. The Centre has helped combat isolation and given the older people of North Hertfordshire a warm and welcoming place of their own.

Which is why the 2023 Christmas Fayre is a special event - it's both a fundraiser and a 'birthday party'. The Christmas Fayre runs from 10am to 2pm, on Saturday 9th December. There will be a variety of craft stalls, tombolas and a raffle with prizes donated by local organisations and supporters. Teas, cakes and coffees will be served in the dining area – which has a picturesque view of Howard Park. It will be a traditional fair, in a historic location in Letchworth – the first community park in the first Garden City.

" We're excited about the Christmas Fayre – it's an event that our members look forward to, and it's been part of the Centre's community life for decades. This year we want to make it extra special. We want to invite everyone to visit and experience the warm welcome that awaits at our 70 year old Letchworth charity", said Hilary Kemp, one of the charity's trustees.

For those interested in the Howard Garden Social Centre's history, key moments are captured in the Garden City Collection. This extensive online collection of photographs, press cuttings and archive documents is a unique resource that documents the world's first garden city. It's managed by the LGC Heritage Foundation. The collection contains photographs of the opening of the Howard Garden Social Centre in 1953. The archive collection even contains a poem to the Centre, from 1956, whose first two lines describe the setting – which is still recognisable in 2023:

" Surrounded by trees both stately and tall,

Lies the Norton Way S. Bowling Green,

Where Bowlers resort in season to roll,

All the woods to the Jack they are keen,

And there, in that space so wondrously fair,

Stands a Centre, both modern and clear,

Whilst those over 60 find fellowship there,

All the week through the whole of the year." 

By the enigmatic poet, N.M.W . If you know who is person is, the Centre would be interested to find out – especially if they were once a member or volunteer.

There is also a fascinating press cutting of a model of the building from 1956, which was made at Norton Secondary School. The Centre would love to hear from anyone who remembers making this model.

The Centre's history has also seen it used as the backdrop to 'The World's End' film. This event took place ten years ago, when much of Letchworth's town centre became a film set. Night filming took place at bowling green, bowls club and Howard Garden Social Centre – see if you can spot the scenes when you next watch the movie.

In another article captured on the Garden City Collection website, the opening in September 1953 was announced. In the clipping it stated that the original Centre cost £3000 to build and equip. That money came from grants and many years of fundraising by local people. It's the same story today – the Centre is a charity run independently, and is dependent upon fundraising income to keep it open.

It's for this reason that the members, volunteers, staff and trustees of the Centre would like as many local people as possible to visit the Christmas Fayre. Their wish is for more Letchworth residents to become aware of the work of the centre, its central location and well equipped facilities. The rooms are available to hire at weekends and in the evening – with every hiring fee going to fund the upkeep of the building. And every donation, raffle ticket, purchase of a tea or coffee at the Christmas Fayre will help secure the Centre's future too.

Support your local community events, like this 70th anniversary Fayre at Howard Garden Social Centre on Saturday 9th December, and these special places may be there in another 70 years time.