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Army HIVE Christmas and New Year Closures

The majority of Army HIVEs will be closed after duties on Fri 19 Dec 25 and will reopen on Mon 5 Jan 26. There may be localised variations to these dates for individual HIVEs.

Army HIVE HQ is also closed during the festive fortnight, so any enquiries submitted via the ‘If you need further information’ MS Forms function on our UK, Cyprus or Overseas blogs will be answered when we return in the New Year.

We will periodically cover private messages on our Army HIVE Facebook platform (and X/Instagram where possible) whilst we are closed. However, this will not be 24/7 and should not be relied upon for anything that requires an urgent response.

To support our customers with more immediate requirements however, the Army HIVE HQ email will provide a comprehensive out of office autoreply, detailing points of contact that are either 24/7, emergency providers, or open over the festive leave fortnight. To receive this autoreply, please email:
RC-Pers-HIVEComms-0Mailbox@mod.gov.uk

Individual HIVEs will also provide localised contact details for Christmas and New Year cover wherever possible in their automated replies. Therefore, if you email your closest HIVE, which you can find on HIVE’s page on the Army website, their autoreply may be of additional assistance.

Army HIVE wishes all of its Service community customers, and our internal and external stakeholders, a very happy Christmas and New Year. We look forward to continuing our support and engagement in 2026.


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December 19, 2025

Dorset: Kid's New Years Eve Party (Wool village)

 


At Wool Royal British Legion, Colliers Lane. BH20 6DJ

Information provided by Bovington HIVE

Blandford: Mr Merlin festive family show - Mon 22nd Dec

 

Festive family show starring Mr Merlin and Okey Dokey the Dragon at the Corn Exchange, Market Place, Blandford Forum. DT11 7AG

Book tickets HERE for either:
10:30am-11:15am OR 11:45am-12:30pm.

It is open to all and is free to attend. However, one ticket per person must be booked to ensure that we remain within capacity of the Corn Exchange hall.
Children must be accompanied by an adult for the duration of the 45min show.

Refreshments - teas, coffees, cakes and cold drinks - will be available from the Corn Exchange kitchen, raising funds for the Mayor's Charities.

DK Sweets will also be there, with a great selection of sweets!

Information provided by Bovington HIVE

Blandford: Garrison christmas carol service - Wed 24th Dec



Christmas Eve Carols by Candlelight Service 1600hrs

A magical service for families and the Garrison community to celebrate together.

🎵 All are welcome! Let’s come together to spread festive cheer.

Information provided by Bovington HIVE

Blandford: Garrison shop festive closure notice

 


The Costcutter shop will be closed from Sat 20th Dec until Mon 5th Jan 2026
Please note the shop will close at 4pm on Friday 19th December. 

Information provided by Bovington HIVE 

December 18, 2025

Wiltshire: December recycling newsletter including Christmas tree collections in January

 

Welcome to the special Christmas edition of Wiltshire Council’s waste and recycling e-newsletter!

This issue is packed with jolly tips and clever ideas to help you reduce waste, recycle right, and keep your celebrations green and bright. Let’s make this Christmas magical for you and sustainable for our planet!

This festive edition includes:
  • Household waste, recycling, and garden waste collections over Christmas
  • Garden waste collections pause over Christmas
  • Recycling centre opening times over Christmas
  • How to recycle your real Christmas tree
  • Still shopping? Sustainable shopping tips for last-minute buys
  • Make sure you’re on the nice list by recycling right this Christmas
  • Let’s sort advent calendars
  • Festive monthly myth buster

Please click here to read this edition online

Information provided by Colerne & Lyneham HIVE

Mission Motorsport – Christmas message and December newsletter

The Mission Motorsport team have the following Christmas message, which includes a link to the Dec newsletter:

As 2025 comes to a close, we’ve been reflecting on another successful year of recovery sport. It has been a year packed full of events, some long-standing favourites and some exciting new additions to the calendar. This year saw a trio of exceptional Race of Remembrance events and alongside incredible fundraising for the #YourRoR campaign. Thank you everyone for your outstanding support and commitment. It has been truly wonderful to share so many memories with you all, and we hope you have enjoyed our activities as much as the team has enjoyed delivering them.

Enjoy a read of December's Newsletter as we look over Race of Remembrance, recovery motorsport, some incredible fundraising and ways to get involved with Mission Motorsport in the new year. There is the exclusive first access to the link to sign up to the National Transition Event 2026.

Our staff will be taking some well-earned Christmas leave, and we will be operating with reduced numbers between 22nd December and 2nd January. If you can’t reach the office by phone, please note that the team@missionmotorsport.org inbox will be checked regularly. If you are struggling over the festive period, you are not alone, and we know that reaching out for support can be a big step but there is always an option Mental Health — MISSION MOTORSPORT.

Finally, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to all of you, beneficiaries, volunteers, sponsors, partners, and supporters for your continued commitment. We truly couldn’t do it without you. We’ll be doing it all again in 2026, so keep an eye out for next year’s calendar of events, which will be published soon!

We’d like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Shropshire Veterans Clinic 2026 - 21 January 2026


 Please book via QR code

Information provided: Central HIVE Hub

Shropshire Armed Forces Outreach Events - January 2026

Information provided by Central HIVE Hub

Give Us Time - 2026 breaks are live!

Give Us Time first breaks for 2026 are live on the website now – there are dates in March and April across the UK, in both glamping pods (which sleep up to 4) and holiday lodges (which sleep up to 6). There are two new locations this year as well, at Malvern View in Herefordshire, and Glendal in Cumbria.

As always, the criteria for breaks is here https://giveustime.org.uk/what-we-do/faqs/ and the registration form is here https://bookings.giveustime.org.uk/login

Breaks are accommodation only – Give Us Time do not cover the costs of travel, food, or entertainment as part of the break.

Breaks are booked on a first come first served basis and they ask families to wait 2 years between bookings, but will always consider exceptional circumstances.

More dates for the rest of 2026 will be added soon – announcements will be made on Give Us Time socials here https://www.facebook.com/GiveUsTime and https://www.instagram.com/give_us_time/

New Awards Made under The Armed Forces Families Fund: The Early Years Programme

600K Early Years Funding Supports Youngest Service Children

Speaking at the SciP Alliance conference in November, Minister for Veterans and People Louise Sandher-Jones reminded attendees that “Service is rarely an individual act. It’s a collective commitment shared and shouldered by a wide network of people who themselves have to develop the same qualities of strength and resilience that we ask of those family members serving in the military.”

But how does this translate to our youngest service children aged 0-5 years?

In the latest round of the Armed Forces Families Fund: Early Years programme, The Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust (the Trust) has awarded 11 projects a share of just over £600,000 to tackle this challenge.

From SEND support and sensory spaces that build emotional wellbeing, to creating stimulating outdoor spaces that extend the learning environment for young service children at childcare settings. The Fund has once again shown the breadth of work taking place to ensure service children get the best start, despite the challenges of being part of a military family.

Getting out and active

Supporting service families at various sites across the country including RAF Valley, RAF Honington and RAF Shawbury, RAFAKidz is the largest provider of early years childcare to the RAF. They’ve received three awards in this latest round of funding to transform the outdoor learning environment at their settings - something they have recently received a National NMT Nursery Award for their Medmenham site in High Wycombe.

Josie Mapes, Executive Director of RAFAKidz, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the AFCFT and the MOD for awarding us these generous grants. We’re dedicated to creating environments where the children we care for can grow, play and thrive, and this funding will help us do that. We know from our other settings that having access to outdoor spaces is vital for children’s development and for teaching them about the natural world. RAFAKidz Valley and Shawbury are relatively new to the RAFAKidz family, so we’re thrilled to have the opportunity to enhance the outdoor spaces at these settings, giving our children space to enjoy outdoor play.”

Supporting military families ‘needs