Sheila Maddock 01453 758232 ORGANISERS of this year’s Goodwill Evening on Friday, December 5 are keen to hear from musicians, entertainers and singing groups who would like to take part in the procession or entertainment. There will be various busking spots around town with 20-minute slots for those who would like to take part. Participants are welcome to collect for any charities or good causes. Organisers are hoping to make this a really special event with an emphasis on participation and family entertainment. If you would like to take part, call Made in Stroud on 01453 758060.

The shoeboxes being crammed with Christmas goodies for needy children are apparently so popular that they start falling apart, so there is a new appeal to make ‘shoe-bags’ to keep the children’s treasures in later on. If you can make a few decorated drawstring bags, take them along to Cotswold Sewing Machines in Lansdown where they will be sent to the headquarters of Operation Christmas Child.

Two flower artists combine for an exhibition in the Sub Rooms from Saturday November 22 to Saturday December 6, open from 10am to 5pm except during events. Botanical paintings by Sally Birch and photographs by Barbara Manzi-Fe explore the secret character of the floral world.

Stroud Choral Society under their conductor Benjamin Nicholas present The Messiah on Saturday November 22 in Subscription Rooms at 7pm. Tickets cost £12, u-16s £2 on 01453 760900.

The Fabulous Old Spot Theatre Company comes to The Space with its tour of The King of Spain’s Daughter on Saturday November 22. Billed as a ‘comical-historical-pastoral romance’, it tells the story of how the Spanish Armada nearly came up the Severn and how Florence becomes Queen of England. Performances at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, book on 01453 760900.

Tickets are also on sale in Stroud Tourist Information (01453 760900) for the next production by the Cotswold Players. A Few Good Men by Aaron Sorkin is a classic courtroom drama about US marines charged with murder at the now infamous Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 1986. It runs from Tuesday to Saturday, November 25 to 29 at the Cotswold Playhouse.

Five Valleys Drama hold a workshop for adults at all levels of experience on Sunday November 23 from 2pm to 5pm at The Space. Cost £10/£8, for more information ring Helen Wood on 07811 427462.

The next free drop-in family fun day in Stroud Museum is on Sunday November 23. With the help of Mark 2 artist Hilary Baker and using materials from the park, you can make your own rayograph photo. Drop in between 11am and 3.30pm. The exhibition of art produced by pupils from Tredworth and Coney Hill junior schools, Mark 2, continues until November 30. After the summer exhibition ended, some of its treasures were left on temporary display, including a 1940s parachute silk wedding dress, an elegant 18th century dress from Painswick, a black ostrich feather fan, a rare example of 18th century wallpaper, a splendid top hat made from beaver pelt and an awesome prickly puffer fish. The museum will be closed in December except for the Victorian Christmas weekend on December 6 and 7, re-opening on January 1.

To have your loved one remembered with a light on the Cotswold Care Hospice Tree of Light, and their name entered in the book of remembrance, return the form in Stroud News & Journal by November 24. The Stroud service is in Merrywalks shopping centre at 7pm on Monday December 1.

The third in a series of family history study days with Sue Stafford takes place in Stroud Museum on Tuesday November 25 from 10.30am to 3.45pm. Entitled Oliver Twist and All That – The Workhouse and the Poor, it costs £20 and must be booked with Gloucestershire Archives on 014523 425295.

Ian Mackintosh gives a new illustrated talk on Stroud in 1848, based on Alfred Newland Smith’s painting, Stroud from Rodborough Fort. Book your ticket for the event in Stroud Museum on Thursday November 27 at 2pm, on 01453 763394.

Stroud Businesswomen’s Network meet again in the Star Anise Café in Gloucester Street on Thursday November 27 from 9.15am to 11am.

Stroud Valleys Project’s next walk for visually impaired people takes place on Thursday November 27 from 10am-12noon, visiting the tranquil Arundel Mill Pond. The walk will start and finish at Waitrose car park and will be less than one mile long. With the support of Fair Shares volunteers, transport to and from Stroud could be arranged. Stroud Valleys Project are also looking for new volunteers to train as sighted guides to help with these walks which vary from wild daffodils, snowdrops and bluebells to bats, beech woodlands, ponds and limestone grasslands. Free training will be given on a weekday, with a morning of learning about visual impairment and then trying out sighted guiding in the countryside in the afternoon. For more information please phone Ivi on 01453 753358.

GOPA (the Gloucestershire Older Persons’ Assembly) aims to enable the over 50s to have an active voice in improving their health and well-being. Membership is free and open to individuals and groups. They hold forums and visit communities to find out what older people want, and pass on views to health and social care providers. You can find out more at a special meeting with Marjorie Corley in St Laurence church hall, the Shambles, on Thursday November 27 at 3pm.

The Stroud launch of the New Green Deal will be in the Sub Rooms at 7.30 on Thursday November 27, sponsored by the Gloucestershire Green Party. Colin Hines, author of Finance for the Future, will be speaking about the report he co-authored with a panel including Green party leader and MEP Dr Caroline Lucas, SolarCentury boss Jeremy Leggett, Guardian Economic Editor Larry Elliot, and former Friends of the Earth chief Tony Juniper.

Stroud Film Society screens a touching story set in Algeria, Keltoum’s Daughter, on Thursday November 27 at 8pm at the British School, Slad Road. Guest tickets must be pre-booked on 01453 823551.