A WHOLE host of arts and crafts activities are taking place at a popular society in Stoke Heath.

Avoncroft Arts Society members come together for a whole range of activities including folk dancing and it has groups which meet to do pottery and clay modelling, drawing and painting, textiles crafts and calligraphy.

The group welcomes new members and is interested in helping people develop new activities and initiatives.

Drawing and painting classes run mornings and afternoons between Mondays and Wednesdays. There are tutored and untutored classes that cater for all abilities from beginners and returners to leisure painters and improvers.

Tutored pottery classes run on Mondays and are open to potters of all levels of ability who can join in a two and a half hour session at a time of their choice. There is also a Thursday morning class for potting and clay modelling.

Untutored textile classes cover traditional textile crafts and contemporary textile art such as patchwork, quilting and fabric dying.

A mixed self-help group of calligraphers meets on Wednesday mornings from beginners to those with significant experience.

Another class is contemporary hand craft printing which is based on traditional methods with a modern twist.

The artist-led group works at residents' own pace covering a wide discipline of printing methods for people to experience and develop.

A new group is also being launched this month which is a pre-school creative workshop for children up to four-years-old. This is led by an experienced artist and teacher. It is for parents and children to get creative together and experience many forms of arts and crafts. The weekly group will cover such things as casting, sculpture and recycled art.

Avoncroft Arts Society, which is a registered charity, also has two autonomous groups - Bromsgrove Photographic Society and the Avoncroft Folk Dance Group.

The society also manages the community arts centre site which contains a number of buildings ranging from the main hall with its stage, sprung dance floor and seating to a range of smaller rooms and a walled garden, which are all available for hire. For information contact the society at Stoke Heath Community Art Centre, off Redditch Road, on 833829.