What we could NOT fit into the March Magazine
CATS PROTECTION, BASINGSTOKE DISTRICT BRANCH
SPONSORED WALK ON THE BASING HERITAGE TRAIL
Saturday 30th April 2011
Starting 9.30 a.m. to 10.00 a.m.
We’re looking for participants, helpers and supporters for this event in the Spring, the day after the Royal Wedding which hopefully will have brought us all some sunshine!
Our branch consists entirely of volunteers, like all other branches of the Cats Protection across the country we do a wide range of things in order to protect and help cats. Our most obvious and most frequent task is taking in unwanted cats or kittens from owners who can no longer care for them, and any funds we raise will go directly towards these expenses.
We will be walking the Basing Trail, which is an attractive circular walk and we will make our start from The Millstone pub. We will then go past Basing House and its civil war site, through Eastrop Park to Basingstoke, through the War Memorial Park, past Black Dam ponds, through Crabtree Plantation then back across to the picturesque village of Old Basing, Oliver’s Battery, then lastly through the Mill Field Nature Reserve back to the start point.
This walk is estimated at 7 miles, but there are two points where short cuts can be made, which would allow walkers to choose smaller circuits if they didn’t want to do the whole thing. It is a mixture of walking on footpaths, roads and grassland.
There is car parking at the Millstone, and dogs and children are allowed in. There are at least two public toilets on the route. There is only a small stretch where dogs are not allowed, (on Old Basing Recreation ground) this can be walked around easily for anyone wishing to take dogs. There are a couple of places where ducks can be fed, if anyone with children wishes to stop for this sort of recreation, and I spotted a picnic table in the Crabtree plantation.
This walk will take around 3 hours at a leisurely place, and would therefore bring walkers back to the Millstone pub for a convenient well earned rest at lunchtime. Even allowing for a couple of distractions en-route most people should be back for some form of refreshment, unless you’d rather bring your own picnic. If it’s a hot day, bottles of water maybe a good idea anyway for during the walk. If you wish to reserve a table for lunch please ring The Millstone on 01256 331153 to arrange.
I can provide sponsorship forms immediately, maps and full instructions will be provided nearer the time.
Please let me know if you’d like to come along, and in which capacity;
Walker or Helper.
Please respond to me:
Anne Taylor (Treasurer), either by e-mail or telephone:-
annie_taylor@tinyworld.co.uk
Home telephone (evenings & weekends) 01256 331344
Mobile: 07763 342360
(leave a message on the answerphone if you wish)
For more information on our branch please go to: www.basingstoke.cats.org.uk
Basingstoke Lions Charity Fundraising Events
On the 5th of March, we’ll be holding our annual Swimathon at the Sports Centre in Basingstoke Town Centre. This is an exciting event which we have been running for over 20 years. It is supported by groups, families, schools and businesses.
The idea is that teams of up to 6 swim laps (2 lengths of the 25 metre pool) in relay for 30 minutes. Trophies are awarded to the teams which swim the most laps and raise the most money by sponsorship. The teams are allowed to nominate an alternative charity to the Lions Club to receive up to 50% of the money they raise.
The Lions Club provides the venue, organization, sponsorship forms, lap counters and record keeping. It is a super event conducted with great good humour and in a wonderful atmosphere. If anyone would like to join us or find out more about it contact Barry Morgan on 01256 358008 or go on line to swimathon@basingstokelions.org.uk
On the 26th March we are having our 39th Quiz Night at the
Cliddesden Community Hall. These are fun evenings. We have teams who have been
attending these evenings since we started them 20 years ago.
We ask 10 rounds of 10 questions each on a variety of subjects. The aim is to
ask 50 “easy” questions, 30 moderately difficult questions and about 20 real
stinkers. (Of course they’re all easy if you know the answers). To stir the pot
as it were each team is issued with a JOKER which they can opt to play before a
round starts if they think they are knowledgeable on the subject. The score they
achieve for the round is then doubled.
Between rounds we have the “spot question”. To answer it you drop your answer
with your name and table number on it and 20p into a bucket. The first correct
answer drawn from the bucket wins a prize.
Our bar serves beer, wine, soft drinks and sandwiches at “club” prices. A team
consists of a maximum of 4 people at £5 per person. The most we can take is 25
teams so it is advisable to book early.
If you’d like to give it a go contact Maurice Hockley on 01256 421867 or book on
line at mauricehockley@hotmail.com
On the 2nd April – 7 for 7.30pm we’ve organized a Jazz Evening
at Harriet Costello school on Crossborough Hill. The Grahame Hewitt 7
man High Society Band plays and sings a wide selection of jazz type music but I
believe the main emphasis is on the styles of Aker Bilk, Monty Sunshine and
Louis Armstrong.
Our bar will be serving wine, beer and soft drinks at our usual low prices and
ice creams will be on sale at the interval. It has also been suggested that
there might be room for a bit of a dance if you are so minded. Tickets are £10.
For fuller details and to book your place contact John Lincoln on 01256 325280
or email jomolincoln@btinternet.com.
This month, around 100 local children from across Basingstoke, including Old Basing, will be coming together to celebrate the 25th anniversary of “L’école Maternelle”, the local independent French playgroup.
Linguatastic, the foreign language school which has grown from the original “L’école Maternelle” is planning a show of music, dance and theatre at Everest Community College on Saturday 26th March 2011, 14:00-16:00.
Not only will the show offer the children the chance to show off some of what they know in the different languages they are learning (those being French, German, Spanish and Italian), but it is hoped that the event will also prove to be a celebration of community, promoting inter-cultural understanding.
Money raised at the event will be donated to “Save the Children” and Linguatastic should like to thank the Old Basing Carnival Committee for contributing some funds from last year’s carnival collections to support it in organising this event.
For further information on this or other Linguatastic activities, please visit: www.linguatastic.com, e-mail: info@linguatastic.com or tel: 811100.
We’re all going on a summer holiday!
Age Concern has just announced details of its holiday for local older people to the Russell Hotel in Weymouth.
The trip offers accommodation with en-suite facilities on a half board basis, coach travel to & from Basingstoke, local trips and travel insurance for the price of £249 per person.
Travel dates are
Monday 29th August to Friday 2nd September.
For an application pack please call Age Concern on 01256 423874.
Volunteers
accompany the group to help everything run smoothly but it is a requirement that
all holidaymakers are self-caring.
Age Concern Hampshire in Basingstoke usually runs one holiday a year for people aged 60 and over.
This months article can be found here.
Who is SSAFA ? and what does it do? SSAFA stands for Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen Families Association. It was founded 125 years ago and after WW1 the Airmen were included when the RAF was formed. SSAFA Forces Help is a national organisation dedicated to helping serving and ex service men and women and their families who are in need or distress.
Locally, SSAFA F H has a team of trained caseworkers who are able to visit ex service men and women and offer assistance in many ways. Sometimes the need is to replace a piece of household equipment or help with special medical aids or a much needed holiday. There are so many ways in which we can make life a little brighter for people who have given so much for us.
Anyone who has received at least one day’s pay in Her Majesty’s Services as a regular, reservist or national serviceman is qualified to seek assistance from SSAFA. Forces Help. SSAFA FH has some 7,000 volunteer workers through out the United Kingdom and on most service bases, there are also SSAFA caseworkers in Europe where there are ex patriot communities.
Being a caseworker is a voluntary job to undertake at times to suit the
volunteer, qualification is by attending a residential course and working with
other trained personnel for an induction period.
If you feel that you would be able to give a few hours per week to undertake
this very rewarding work please contact SSAFA Forces Help on 0118 981 3700
News From Whitchurch Silk Mill
This news item can be found here.
At
a time of rising energy prices on-line comparison can help you save money.
Switching energy supplier on-line is easy. A switch usually takes effect within
6 weeks and can result in annual savings of up to £100 a year.
Switching supplier makes no difference to the actual gas or electricity you receive. The big six providers share the same supply infrastructure. However, customer service, payment options and price do vary significantly.
Comparison sites can help you compare customer satisfaction ratings, penalties for leaving contracts, capped price options and dual fuel discounts. A green electricity tariff is the best for the environment and usually costs extra.
To switch you need to know the name of your existing supplier(s) and either the cost of your energy for the last year or (for improved accuracy) the number of kWh used.
You won't be able to change suppliers if you are in debt to your present supplier. The Home Heat Helpline on 0800 33 66 99 can help in this situation.
Even if you are happy with your current supplier, you may still be able to
save money by moving to direct debit and on-line account management.
For more information visit
www.cocoonyourhome.co.uk/saving
Easier council contact for deaf and speech impaired people
A new system has been introduced to make it easier for deaf, hard of hearing and speech impaired residents to get in touch with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The council is adopting BT Text Relay to help people who struggle to use a telephone in the traditional way. The change stops the need for a separate number, with textphone users just adding a prefix - so they would ring 1800101256844844 with no gaps.
Currently the council’s customer contact centre has a text phone minicom system in place but this has to have a separate number, causing confusion with some telephone callers using that by mistake, and requires the resident to have special equipment. The new service means that people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired without a textphone can download an application that enables them to use their computer to make text calls.
Using the new system, callers can communicate with the council’s contact centre or other officers in the council using normal phones as relay assistants provide a text-to-voice and voice-to-text translation service.
The council also has an short message service (SMS) where anyone can send a text message from their mobile phone to the council on 07797 877006.
Cabinet Member for Education, Performance and Partnerships Cllr Karen Cherrett said: “Residents need to be able to get in touch with us in a way that meets their needs. This new service is easier to use and much more flexible for our customers who want to use the telephone but have hearing or speech difficulties. New technology allows us to offer much more flexibility in the ways that people access our services and we are also working to make more payments, bookings and applications available online via our website so they can do this at a time that suits them.”
Residents wanting more information about the service should see the website www.textrelay.org
For further information please contact: Sara Shepherd, Communications and Media Manager, on 01256 845493 or email sara.shepherd@basingstoke.gov.uk.
Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @twitter.com/BasingstokeGov
BASINGSTOKE CIVIL SERVICE RETIREMENT FELLOWSHIP
On February 2nd. We had another talk by Geoff Lunn – ‘Wildlife on your Doorstep’. When a boy he had been given an airgun but soon exchanged it for a camera which he much preferred. He used it to produce charming slides of animals in local fields and made hides in order to get close-ups of birds such as Kingfisher, Flycatcher, Wheatear, many Waxwings this winter .
There were also pictures of nesting birds. He took his camper van to Yorkshire and the Farne Islands, home of many seabirds, the attacking Terns and his favourites the Puffins.
Other locations were Scotland and Wales near to Llandrindrod Wells. We
have a proposed holiday in this area ( see below) which is one of natural
beauty.
Outings to come - 14th April Bowood House,
Wiltshire 11th May Exbury Gardens
Proposed holiday 11th – 17th June Llandrindrod Wells, Wales
£319 with excursions. We cannot go ahead without enough people so please
,if you are interested, give Connie Hall a ring on 781 261
All retired civil servants and their partners are welcome at our meetings held on the first Wednesday in each month at 10am at Brookvale Village Hall, Lower Brook St, Basingstoke. Coffee, tea and biscuits are available.
Joyce Neville Tel. 357932