Wellesbourne in Bloom

have had a very busy month. The bulb planting is starting in earnest with local groups and individual volunteers helping us. “The St. Peter’s Church Project” has lift off as they say. We have had our first delivery and we are planning the programme for all the different aspects of the project, the first of which will be the hedge planting, filling in the gaps and then it will be the laying of the new access paths to the church centre. The new planters for the church centre will also be arriving soon we hope. Special thanks must go to Julie at the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust who has put in so much work, and Alice Macdonald who liaises with us on the church's behalf: they were both as excited as me when our first delivery arrived - it was like Christ­mas. The delivery driver, bless his heart, took it all in his stride.

Now that Autumn is here, there is the perennial problem of leaves and debris no more than at the church. Wellesbourne in Bloom are pleased to liaise with the Community Pay Back Team at the Probation Service for the church. They have agreed to clear the church paths, trim, and tidy around the memorial for “Remembrance Sunday”. This is a mammoth task and we are pleased to say that we now have a system in place where when work is needed at the church such as hedge cutting etc the Probation Service do the work for us and Michael Twite Landscapes kindly take the trimmings and clearings away for us. We are pleased to say that Parish Councillor Geoff Blundall has been very busy on our behalf setting up the Wellesbourne in Bloom web site. Our portfolio and the judging sheet for this year's entry are on the web site and it makes very interesting reading. We are so grateful to Geoff for all his hard work: it is very much appreciated.

This month we have received a generous donation from “Munster's Joinery” which is very handy as we did not receive our usual grant from Stratford District Council. Many thanks to them. We have just received the judges' comments for our 2010 entry. The judges commented on how Wellesbourne has been transformed over the last five years that they have been judging. Special mention was given to planting at Chestnut Square (thank you Councillor Tony Copeland), the Police Station, the Dog Beds on the corner of Newbold Road and the Co-op Store. The churchyard was very well maintained. The bulb planting had also made a major impact. In the “Community Participation” category the amount of money and donations was described as immense and the whole community supporting us was also mentioned. In “Areas for Improvement” it read “None - keep up the good work”. Like we always say “We could not do it without you”. Huge thanks to all those involved.

Heather Sims, Chairman, Wellesbourne in Bloom

The C.A.B.

A SAFE HAVEN FOR THOSE IN DISTRESS

Local people with a myriad of queries, concerns and issues are beating a path to the door of the Citizens Advice Bureau in Stratford upon Avon in ever increasing numbers, according to Manager Sue Green whilst addressing the charity's recent Annual General Meeting. “In the 12 months up to the end of March this year we dealt with some 4000 clients and gave advice on over 14,500 separate issues”, she confirmed. “Although we provide confidential, impartial and non-judgmental advice on a huge range of issues, there are two areas of our activity in particular which demonstrate how vital our service is.

“Firstly our court desk, where we support defendants in arrears who are in danger of losing their homes, helped 59 households save an average of £16,500 each in costs last year. That's a total saving of well over £900,000 in public funds alone. But what you cannot quantify is the reduction in emotional and psychological damage to the families affected by a potential repossession that we facilitate through our intervention.”

The other common problem handled by the CAB is debt. Sue Green again: “Last year we helped 127 vulnerable households with debt problems, which involved managing and re-negotiating the repayment of over one million pounds of debt. Without our intervention these families would have been in dire straits. “We know from research that 97% of the population know about the work of the CAB and in fact 50% of them will actually make use of the CAB at some stage in their lives, so there is clearly a huge need for our services,” says Sue in conclusion.

I hope your Christmas preparations are well underway. The Lions are really looking forward to meeting you all when we go out and about around the District with ‘Santa’ and this year’s Christmas floats. We will be collecting for local charities – We are starting on the evening of Monday 6th December for a fortnight. Sleighs operate between 6pm and 8pm and the programme for Wellesbourne can be found on page 3.

We have been involved in two very successful events – An evening of magical mayhem with local magician Mel Harvey, held on 23rd October at Kineton Village Hall. Over 80 people enjoyed the evening which raised £1,133 for Shakespeare Hospice & other local charities. On the 6th November the ‘old folks’ of the district were treated to an afternoon of entertainment. Over 120 attended and had a wonderful afternoon.

Before I finish I would like to report some final fundraising figures – This year's raft race yielded over £8,500 for Air Ambulance and local charities. £1,404 was raised from the ‘mini prom’ in aid of Myton Hospice and local charities and £760 for Lions Club International Fund for the flood victims in Pakistan. Thank you all for your wonderful support.

All that remains is for me on behalf of all the lions is to wish everybody a merry Christmas and happy new year.

Lion Andy Stokes

Santa rides in safety

Even after countless years, Santa still merrily rides his sleigh — safe from any other traffic. In the real world today we enjoy a high level of safety inside our cars, thanks to more and more safety features. Cars are tested for passenger safety (up to 5 stars) and pedestrian safety (up to 3 stars). Safety sells cars now, whereas it was hardly mentioned a few years ago. If you drive, how do you select your car?

Here are some of the best safety features available today, arranged in random order. Which three would you choose?

• climate control (electronically controlled air conditioning)
• swivelling headlights (to shine around corners)
• electronic stability control (“best lifesaver since seatbelts”)
• seatbelt pre-tensioners (to minimise whiplash)
• lane-keeping alarm (in case you drift or don't signal)
• beep if speed limit is exceeded
• active head restraints (move forwards in a crash)
• radar to warn against tail-gating and impending collision
• digital speedometer
• headlights that don't dazzle or fail

Food for thought? Enjoy a safe Christmas.

Graham Stephens

The Annual General Meeting of the Wellesbourne Women's Institute was held on 10th November when the committee reported to members on a successful and enjoyable year's events. It was good to know that membership has increased this year.

After thanks to officers and others who have helped during the year control of the meeting was handed over to Ruth McCartney, WI Adviser, for the election of a new committee. Anne Hepworth, this year's retiring President, was re-elected as President for the coming year.

Business completed, members were treated to a tasting of various tempting hot soups prepared by committee members. This was a particularly popular activity on such a cold autumn evening.