There was a distinctly festive feeling in the air at the Fernhurst Hub last Saturday (November 26) as village residents supported local suppliers and flocked to the hub’s Christmas fayre.

This annual event is a treasure trove of novel and affordable gifts and cards, and all stallholders are from the surrounding area.

The hub was transformed into a winter wonderland of stalls selling, among other things, hand-made silver jewellery, scarves, toys, local honey, beauty products from the zero waste Green Boutique and a range of gifts from Petworth’s Red Card gift and stationery shop.

Hub manager Liz Rawlings said: “We are delighted to see so many people shopping locally and supporting this wonderful community hotspot. Our volunteer team do a great job in the café and the gift shop every day, but we are especially busy in the run-up to Christmas. Plenty of people like to drop by and see what’s new and then relax with a coffee during what can be a stressful time – we all need to take time out occasionally.”

Fernhurst Scouts was on hand to promote its Christmas card delivery scheme. For the ninth year running, together with the Liphook Scouts, the group will offer hand delivery of Christmas cards in the local area for just 25p.

Any card can be ‘Scout posted’ at the big red box in the Fernhurst Hub or on the corner outside Crossways Fruiterers for delivery by Sunday, December 18.

Scout leader Sue Gibbon, from Fernhurst, said: “There will be no postal strikes in our hand delivery scheme – I’m sure that will encourage people to use us even more.

“Last year the Liphook and Fernhurst Scout groups delivered more than 2,500 cards, raising funds for their groups and having fun at the same time. The scheme covers deliveries to the whole of Fernhurst and Liphook and the surrounding area – that’s not bad for 25p a card.”

From now until Christmas, the hub will be well stocked with presents, including Christmas cards of village scenes, paintings and prints by the artist Wendy Richards, and the 2023 Fernhurst calendar.

Anyone who would like more information about the Christmas Scout post scheme or the many courses and events at the Fernhurst Hub should visit www.fernhursthub.org.uk