The Abingdon Horticultural Society spring show will be open to the public from 2-4pm at the NorthCourt Centre, with prizegiving and raffle at 4pm.

On Saturday 20 April at 5pm, Harmony InSpires ladies a capella choir will be returning to St Michael’s Church with ‘Harmony in Springtime’, a concert of 4-part harmony in a wide variety of styles from musicals, pop classics and ballads. There will be a guest appearance from Caritas Children’s Choir, a charitable venture of the Wantage and Grove Christian Aid Group.

In their 80th year, The Abingdon Drama Club’s production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead runs from April 17th to 20th at the Unicorn Theatre in Abingdon. This is a backstage view of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, following the perspective of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, two minor characters who find themselves increasingly confused by the events unfolding around them.

Only one day remaining (matinee and evening) for 9 To 5, the current production of the Abingdon Operatic Society.

The sun was out today for The Easter Eggstravaganza, a free fun day held on Abingdon Market Place.  There were Easter crafts, as well as local food stalls, live music,

and performances by local dancers.

The Easter egg hunt trail was a free activity that took place around the town centre. The trail was also an egg-cellent egg-scuse to crack out some egg puns. Competitors had to write down the colours of the twelve eggs and the puns

and return to the BH&O stall in the Market Place to claim a chocolate egg prize.

Mothering Sunday is a day that used to be more about religion. People would visit the church where they were baptised. Now it’s more about celebrating mums in general. At Trinity Church today, the junior church helped make and give out flowers to the women in the congregation, and to men to take home to wives or mothers.

They had extra flowers to share with people who can’t come to church.

As part of her efforts to help local people dealing with domestic abuse, Councillor Gwyneth Lewis OBE, the Mayor of Abingdon, organised a free film night, showing the 1944 film “Gaslight”. The film depicts an example of coercive control in marriage. The term ‘gaslighting’ became known as a form of psychological abuse.

This film was shown on International Women’s Day. According to The National Centre for Domestic Violence, 1 in 4 women are affected by domestic abuse in their lifetime.

Before the movie, there were presentations by people from local organisations that can help with domestic abuse, including police, lawyers, and charities, and talks by people who had experienced domestic abuse. Afterwards, people asked questions and suggested ways to improve the support and safe spaces available. The Mayor will continue with a working party taking these idea forward to make Abingdon a safer place. She previously worked for the World Health Organisation on Women’s Services and was National Clinical Director for Maternal Health at the Department of Health.

One organisation involved is the Mayor’s Charity, Reducing the Risk. They offer support to victims and survivors, and also train professionals and volunteers who help people in abusive situations, and have a network of friends.