9 November 2026

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Community & Charity

All the latest community and charity news from across Bedford Borough. Everything you need to keep you up to date with what’s happening in Bedford Borough on your mobile or desktop via the Bedford Independent.

The Bedford Independent was founded to provide the people of Bedford Borough with a modern news desk that would give them easy access to genuine and unbiased Bedford news. We are independent in ownership and opinion.

Our mission is to inform and inspire the people of Bedford. To do this we will work hard to bring them the news that matters to them from our town centre to the most rural of the Borough’s villages.

Our editorial team are NCTJ trained and follows a standards code set out by the independent press regulator IMPRESS Standards.

“Don’t let their efforts go unnoticed” it’s time to nominate a Bedford Borough everyday hero

The search is on for Bedford’s Everyday Heroes, as nominations continue to come in for the 2024 Bedford Independent Everyday Heroes Awards, celebrating those who go...

Higgins hosts exhibition and festival to celebrate LGBT+ History Month

A thought-provoking exhibition display and festival are part of this year's LGBT+ History Month celebrations at the Higgins Bedford this February. This year’s theme, “Activism...

Food etc named charity of the year by family run kitchen company

Food etc, a Bedfordshire-based charity that helps people cook tasty, healthy, and affordable meals, has been chosen as the charity of the year for 2025 by famil-run kitchen company...

Christmas Tree-cycling scheme raises over £22,500 for Sue Ryder charity

An eco-friendly fundraising initiative has raised thousands of pounds for Sue Ryder, the national healthcare and bereavement charity. This year's Christmas Tree-cycling scheme, which collected real Christmas trees in exchange for an...

Volunteer sets up GoFundMe campaign to save World War Two museum in Bedford Borough

A volunteer at a museum dedicated to remembering the important role of United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) bombers that took off from an airbase in Bedford Borough during...

Bedford Christmas Tree Festival raises a magical £23,000 for two local charities

Thanks to this year's fundraising total of £23,000, Bedford's annual Christmas Tree Festival has now raised a quarter of a million pounds for two local charities over the last 25 years. Each year, the festival in St Paul's Church raises money...

New chair for Bedford Giving’s next chapter

Bedford Giving, a transformative place-based giving movement to support children and young people in the borough, has appointed a new chair, Bedfordian John Lehal. John runs his own consultancy and...

Bedford charities supporting diversity and victims of domestic violence to share grant from House of Industry

Two charities that have been set up to support diversity and victims of domestic violence will share nearly £17,000 following their successful bids to the House of Industry, which a Bedford Borough Council...

Local Bedford artists launch new online store

A group of local artists have launched a new online shop called The Arty Girafffe - A Really Friendly Shop to share their work with a wider audience. Each of the artists has a learning disability and/or autism and the launch of the online shop...

Tributes paid to former newspaper editor and “brilliant journalist”

Tributes have been paid to Sarah Cox (now Colley), the last editor of the Bedfordshire on Sunday (BOS), who died on 18 December after a 'courageous battle with cancer', just days before...