Hawthorn Round-Up - June 2026

Welcome to the Hawthorn Round-Up

Let me introduce myself as the new Parish Clerk having started the role in March 2026. I live in Newton Hall near the Arnison Centre in Durham but I have connections to Hawthorn as I was baptised in St Michael and All Angels Church here in the village. My grandparents lived on the Village Green at the time - George and Doris Price and my Uncle Ken Price lives in Belmont Avenue. I currently work at Durham County Council in an administrative role and hold a BA (Hons) in Management, Business and Administration.

This Newsletter will be published every other month so please feel free to email me with any News items or items of interest for the readership

Parish Website

The website has had a refresh to include .gov.uk in it's title - this is receommended for a government body to enhance security. Parish Council email addresses have changed to @hawthornparishcouncil.gov.uk but email me in the first instance at clerk@hawthornparishcouncil.gov.uk if you cannot get hold of any particular Parish Councillor

Annual Meeting

At the Annual Meeting held on 18th May 2026 the following officers were appointed:

Chair - Sheila Irving

Vice Chair - George Vest

Parish Councillors - Robert Adcock-Forster, Alan Askew, Barry Curran, Sheila Wilson, Carolyn Winter

Agenda and Minutes of all meetings can be found on this new website but feel free to attend any of the scheduled meetings - the public are very welcome

Hawthorn Community Recognition Award

As mentioned in our February Round-Up Lesa Blenkinsopp was the recipient of the Award for 2025/26 and she was presented with a plaque and certificate by Sheila Irving, Parish Council Chair at the meeting on Monday 16th March 2026. She was commended for her work, often unseen, by the Parish Council and Cllr Alan Askew took a photograph. Lesa thanked the Parish Council and commented that she is part of a team at the Community Centre. See more here

PACT (Police and Communities Working Together)

Durham County Councillor Julie Griffiths attended our May monthly meeting and she agreed to try and speak to the Police to re-establish PACT meetings as part of the monthly Coffee Mornings at the Community Centre. Coffee Morning are held on the last Saturday of every month.

Bellway Housing Development

Bellway have made an appeal