IT has been another busy year in Malvern and we are proud to have brought you all the biggest stories alongside helping with fund-raising appeals and shedding a spotlight on community campaigns along the way.
The year began with a bang as Malvern Theatres was awarded £20million in levelling up cash to transform it into a world-class venue.
This year was an exciting one for the theatres as it opened its £2.25million extension in July.
Those impressed by Malvern Theatres and wanting to take a crack at running one themselves can now lodge bids to take over the town’s ‘world’s smallest theatre.’
The unique Edith Walk Theatre, which entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 2002 as the world’s smallest commercial theatre, has been closed for six years.
The year’s best-read story was a bittersweet one but one which showed Malvern at its best, as over £2,000 was raised to fund the funeral of Christopher McCabe, who sadly lost his life in Upton-Upon-Severn in October.
This was one of many campaigns the Observer backed in 2023, with one of the most remarkable being Marilyn Bushnell’s campaign to walk up the Malvern Hills a year after fracturing her spine.
The incredible 72-year-old, who loved walking up the Malvern Hills since childhood, raised over £1,000 for spinal cord injury charity Aspire.
As always, there was a lot of interest in the crime stories we have kept you up to date with.
Malvern was awash with fantastically quirky stories in 2023, with perhaps the most brilliantly barmy one coming in October when people were flabbergasted to see a shopping trolley hanging from a car park lamppost.
Town pensioner Keith Owen grabbed the Christmas headlines with his spectacular festive lights display outside his house on Penny Lane.
The 78-year-old decked the halls to raise vital funds for Dementia UK.
Rob Chatley has an argument for being Malvern’s athlete of the year after he represented Britain in the Timbersports World Championships last month.
We covered the pomp and circumstance of celebrations in Malvern for the coronation of King Charles III in May.
It was a double royal celebration in Malvern as the town’s Citizens Advice Bureau was treated to a royal visit from Princess Anne last month.
And if you want to start the New Year by raising awareness about global warming, pop down to the steps opposite Malvern post office where a Buddhist minister is leading a daily public prayer in the town.
Minister Satya Robyn, of Malvern’s Bright Earth Buddhist Temple, began holding two prayer readings a day in September.
We want to wish our readers a Happy New Year and we look forward to bringing you more news, sports and features in print and online in 2024.
