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Parish Council
Contacts Rebecca Charley (Chair) Mrs Helen Dunn (Clerk) 23 Tennyson Road, Dursley, Glos GL11 4PZ OR phone Tel: 07941 171805 [email protected] for Warbler articles by email please send to: [email protected]
WEBSITE: www.wrpc.org.uk
Village Hall Please let the Parish Clerk know of any changes to contact details. All enquiries and bookings on 01453 759023
MONDAY — Taiji 37 short form 17.45 –19.15 Poh-Eng San 01453 297847 [email protected] Keep Fit 19:30 to 20:30 (Ring Lyn on 01453 766609 or 07773 493517) TUESDAY—Taijiwuxigong ( Qi gong) 09 15 am- 10.45 Poh-Eng 01453 297847 [email protected] Balboa for beginners 19.30 Intermediate 20.30—21.15. Phone Lisa 01453 752842 WEDNESDAY - Art Class 14:00 to 16:00 Yoga 18.00—19.00 Phone Beverley 07932 874172 Community Choir 7:45 — 9:15pm Nick Quayle 01453 752519 or email [email protected] THURSDAY — W&R Toddler Group 9:30 to 11:30 Phone Gemma on 07787 434765 Wives Group First Thursday in month 19:00 to 21:00 Parish Council 2nd and 4th Thursday in month 19:30 to 22:00
WHITESHILL ACTIVITIES
Large Print WaRblers ARE AVAILABLE ON REQUEST. PLEASE CONTACT THE PARISH CLERK ON THE
NUMBER ABOVE
Page 16
Scout and Guide HQ Please let the Parish Clerk know of any changes to contact details.
All enquiries and bookings for the hall contact Edd Brereton on 01453 762469
TUESDAY — 9.00—15.00 Whiteshill Playgroup Contact: 07717 874881 WEDNESDAY — 9.00—15.00 Whiteshill Playgroup Contact: 07717 874881 Whist Drive 19:15 Contact Ken Wood - 01453 764175
THURSDAY — 9.00—15.00 Whiteshill Playgroup Contact: 07717 874881 Beavers 18:00 to 19:00 Contact Rachael Gabb 07779 877292 email: [email protected] Cubs 19:15 to 20:30 Contact Nick Peet email: [email protected] 07733 067415 or Heidi Otter email [email protected] 01453 762948
ADVERTISING IN THE WARBLER Our charges are:
1 x advert price @ £25.00 2 x repeat adverts @ £42.50 3 x repeat adverts @ £60.00 4 x repeat adverts @ £75.00
To advertise your business in The WaRbler, please forward items
to Helen Dunn, Parish Clerk (see address under Contacts) enclosing a hard copy of the advert layout, order
and a cheque made payable to “Whiteshill and Ruscombe
Parish Council”.
Technical Spec: Ideally, wherever possible, a High Definition 300 dpi
PDF or JPG image needs to be emailed to [email protected] in
the exact size
WINTER 2015 Edition No 35
Winter 2015
Dear Parishioners Autumn is upon us and what beautiful colours we have had this year. They have been spectacular, so I do hope you have had the opportunity to enjoy the views over the valley at this time.
Many of you may have come to the recent Neighbour-hood Development Plan consultation day held at the village hall. This is the final stage of consultation that has to be undertaken before the plan goes before Stroud Dis-trict Council and has an official assessment to ascertain its suitability to be included as a statutory part of SDC local plan. There was a very good local turnout for this event, organised largely by Chris and Sarah King. The plan was clearly laid out for parishioners to view and comment on. Thank you to all those of you who took part in any of the consultations. Your input helps validate the plan and will enable it to be taken forward as part of the parish proposals.
Over the years we have installed dog poo bins around the village. They are well used, (better than leaving a mess on the road, pavement or playing field), and are emptied by Stroud District Council. Up until now SDC have under-written the cost of these collections, however, we are now being asked to help with this cost. To this end the Parish Council have offered a voluntary contribution of £133.85 (as advised by SDC) per year. We feel that this is right to come out of the parish precept because it is a local need and dog owners should be aware of the costs involved of managing their pets.
Staying on the cleaning subject, the Parish Council would like to organise a “village clean-up day”. We can supply bags, gloves and pickup tongs to collect any rubbish around the village and would welcome some parish-ioners coming out to help on the day. If you could give an hour or two it would all help to keep our village looking lovely. Watch this space for a date and please do come and join us.
Parish Council News 3
Autumn Festival Concert 4
Simon Says ... N Warden 5
W&R Writers’ Circle 5
St Paul’s News 7
Dorte Shelley recipe 7
Whiteshill Guides & Scouts
8
Small Grants available for Organisations
9
Help to Protect our local Wildlife
9
Carol Singing and Boxing Day Walk
11
Village Shop Christmas & New Year Opening Times
11
Report from Angela King, Village Agent & CAB
12
New Garden Waste Scheme
13
WaRbler Deadlines 13
Classified Ads 13
Highlights Inside
Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Council’s aim is to make the parish a pleasant place to live
From the Parish Council Chairman
FRONT COVER: If you have any seasonal, high resolution photographs of Whiteshill and Ruscombe for our front covers then please send them to [email protected] or to Helen Dunn on [email protected]. Thank you to Chris Tracey for the cover photo for this edition.
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Page 15 Classi f ied Ads
Page 14 Classi f ied Ads
Page 3 The WaRbler Par ish Counc i l
We have some tree works scheduled for the playing field. If you see a contractor working in the playing field taking down trees, please keep your distance whilst they are working. If there are small pieces of timber on the ground once the work has been com-pleted that you can carry away you are welcome to do so. If there is any piece that is big enough to create a play fea-ture we will look to do so.
The Parish Clerk has recently collated some data about the broadband speeds around the Parish. These are highly variable with one or two having very good connectivity but the majority having to struggle with very low and variable broadband speeds. We have sent these details to our MP Neil Car-michael and are now awaiting a re-sponse from him, as to what scope there is for improving the overall speed locally.
Recently, with a variety of building projects going on around the parish there have been a few issues regarding the size of delivery lorries using some of our very small streets. Please, please if you are expecting deliveries of any sort can you ensure that the driver is fully aware of the width of any road and that
they may consider using, and if necessary specify the need for a smaller delivery vehicle.
Happy Christmas to everyone and I look forward to seeing many of you when we have our Village Clean Up.
Rebecca Charley, Chairman of Whiteshill & Ruscombe Parish Council
Neighbourhood
Development
Plan As announced in the Autumn Edition of the WaRbler, the statutory consultation period for our Neighbourhood Develop-ment Plan ended on Sunday 25th October 2015. The final parish con-sultation event was held at the Village Hall on Saturday 3rd October and we were again delighted with the support we received from local parishioners.
The NDP Steering Group are now work-ing hard combining the responses from the events held in the parish, together with those we have received from the statutory authorities circulated with copies of our draft Plan. All these responses will be merged into a Consul-tation Statement detailing
(see over)
Cartoon from Russ our local Scribbler
Page 4 Community
Boy”. Richard Hensley’s thoughtful po-em “Colliding Autumns” set the mood perfectly for Schubert’s “Arpeggione Sonata” with its wistful Bohemian melo-dies and Hungarian dance breaks, mak-ing it a favourite piece for cellists. Its three movements follow a traditional sonata mould of an emotionally varied opening, a tranquil song-like centre, and episodic dance sets to close-. Pam Keevil’s “Five finger Exercise” evoked the colourful history of an old piano, with an “old pianist” illustrating its trav-els from scales to European classics, and New York nightclubs.
Mixed emotions, excitement, and nos-talgia, featured in Sarah King’s “Letter to my Sister” as she writes home from Africa, with Benjamin and Geoffrey creating an African opening environ-ment and close with Geoffrey’s own “Sunshine” from his Skally Skarekrow’s whistling book.
Richard’s scientific mind engaged the four note structure of D.N.A. to a four note pattern on Geoffrey’s “The Well” from Chinese whispers, with John Ireland’s setting for voice and piano for “I Have Twelve Oxen” (16th century).
The concluding piece was Schubert’s “The Shepherd on the Rock”, which fittingly brought the three musical per-formers together. A combination of three poems which sound best in the original German, and written to display the talents of an outstanding Viennese singer, which happily Juliet from Ruscombe, supported by Geoffrey and Benjamin delighted a very appreciative audience. Michael Bailey
how the various comments have been reflected in our final Plan document.
At the time of writing this announce-ment, it remains our intention to submit the Whiteshill and Ruscombe Neighbour-hood Development Plan to Stroud District Council on 30th November 2015.
Cllr Chris King (Chair, NDP Steering Group)
Autumn Festival
Concert
For the second event this year to cele-brate the Parish Church’s 175th anniver-sary, the Autumn Festival Concert and Tea was held on Sunday afternoon September 13th in St. Paul’s.
A programme of Music, Poetry, Histories, and Humour was presented by locally sourced talented performers.
Benjamin Dry (cellist), and Geoffrey Poole (pianist/composer) formed a duo to per-form Schumann’s three short fantasy pieces that use much the same ideas, but alter with increasing energy akin to vis-iting the same place in grey winter, then spring, and finally the glorious summer. Juliet Curnow (mezzo soprano) sang two traditional folk songs unaccompanied, ‘The Wee Weaver’ and ‘To be a Farmer’s
Photo courtesy of Caroline Hensley
New SDC
Garden Waste
Scheme
The district’s households can now sign up to have their garden waste collect-ed and recycled. As part of improvements being made to its waste and recycling services between now and the end of next year, Stroud District Council is introducing an optional, paid for service, which will allow residents to have their garden waste col-lected.
Subscribers to the service will receive a brown wheelie-bin for grass clippings, twigs, leaves, bark, hedge cuttings, flow-ers, plants, weeds, fallen fruit and small branches, which will be collected fort-nightly over the 10-month period from February to November. The annual sub-scription fee equates to a charge of £1.64 per collection. (£36 per year plus a one-off £20 for purchase of your wheeled bin per year.) The introduction of the garden col-lection waste scheme will see the current system, where paid for garden waste bags are used to collect garden waste and sent to landfill, come to an end in January. Residents can sign up online at www.stroud.gov.uk/gardenwaste or by calling the council on 01453 754424.
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Thank you to all our
Advertisers and
Contributors
"Wishing you a Happy
Christmas and a
Prosperous and
Peaceful New Year”
Please note that dates for receipt of copy are :
SPRING 2016 5th February SUMMER 2016 6th May
AUTUMN 2016 12th August
Page 12 County
from them and don’t let them come into your home. You can search the Consum-er Register online
There are a number of organisations who offer free debt advice, such as Citi-zens Advice: 0808 800 0510 and the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (now called StepChange Debt Charity): 0800 138 1111. Loan sharking is not a civil debt matter. Loan sharks lend with-out the correct permissions required by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Angela King (07776245791)
The Citizen’s
Advice
Bureau
Following pension reforms on April 6, people approaching retirement have greater freedom over how they can use their pension pots. Pension Wise is a new Government service designed to help people make sense of their pension options, and empower them to make the right choices for them. We are delivering face to face Pension Wise appointments, giving people access to free and impar-tial pension guidance in their local area.. The sessions last for 45 minutes and will be tailored to the individual, taking into account the value of their pension and their plans for retirement. To book a face to face appointment phone 0300 330 1001. Guidance appointments are also available on the telephone, delivered by the Pensions Advisory Service. People can also get information and general guidance online at www.pensionwise.gov.uk
News from Angela
King your
Village Agent
07776 245 791 THE LOAN SHARK PROJECT This is a national team covering England who will investigate, arrest and prose-cute loan sharks. The team can be con-tacted 24/7 on 0300 555 2222. If you think you have come across a loan shark and are worried, the team will take the case on. However, it is important that you report it quickly. The team have a dedicated West Midlands Police Officer who works with them. If you need to contact or discuss any potential cases please give their hotline a call or contact the LIAISE Officer
Chris Connor Tel 0750 0809341 [email protected] John Wiltshire [email protected]
Loan sharks are illegal lenders. They often target low income and desperate families. They will probably seem friend-ly at first but borrowing from them is never a good idea – even if your credit rating is poor or you only need a small amount of money for a short amount of time. The reality is, even if you do use them, any money you borrow will come at a high price.
The Office of Fair Trading’s Consumer Credit Register has a list of licensed lend-ers, as well a list of who has applied for a licence or has had one taken away or suspended. If a lender isn't listed as having a current licence, don’t borrow
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Simon
Says....
Simon Moulding Neighbourhood Warden (SDC) 07896690139
As the clocks have changed and the nights have drawn in and soon Santa will be on his way it is a good time to think of simple precau-tions that we all can take to prevent us becoming a crime statistic and spoiling our enjoyment of this wonderful fes-tive period. Here are some simple pre-cautions that you can do.
Don’t leave presents in full view ei-ther in your car or in your home. Lock them away in the boot and in the home keep presents out of sight
Always lock your vehicle whilst un-attended even for a few minutes and never leave it running to defrost the windscreen. It takes seconds to steal your car.
Don’t leave discarded packaging outside this just advertises what you have inside your property
Make it look as though someone is in at home if you go out at night leave lights on and pull your cur-tains.
If you go away over the festive peri-od ask a friend, relative or neighbour to keep an eye on your home.
Remember Christmas is a busy time for everybody especially the criminal so don’t let them enjoy Christmas at your expense. Simon Moulding
Whiteshill & Ruscombe
Writers’ Circle
Markers in Time I thumped the turkey down on the kitch-en counter. I’m sure it was sulking -if it is possible for a dead, featherless creature to have an attitude problem. But the way its shortened stumps of legs poked up was like a rude act of defiance. Stuff me? You’ll have a job, it seemed to say. It was right. I’d always been a bit squeamish about any food that had eyes, except for potatoes of course. Brian had always been in charge but this year he was sun-ning himself on a Caribbean island with the lovely (and hateful) Linda, on a per-manent sabbatical from our marriage. I switched on my laptop. There must be a video guide to help novices like me although perhaps it was time for a change. I waited for the wheezing machine to boot into life. This Christmas was already proving more stressful than moving house, getting married and giving birth to triplets, although I wouldn’t know about the latter as one at a time was my motto. And yet why? All I was doing was provid-ing one traditional stuffed turkey for ten people. Except this year my house would be silent. Instead I would be driving to my son and daughter-in-law’s home. I would be one of two grannies and the only single woman.
Page 6 Community
‘Lucky you’ people had said when they’d asked the inevitable question about how I would be spending Christmas. I wasn’t so sure.
The video looked easy enough to follow so I picked up some stuffing and stared at the gaping hole before me and paused. It’s funny how Christmases change as the years pass. First as a young couple, you trek to your parents or his, dividing the time between two families who often live miles apart and trying not to feel bilious as you force down another huge roast. There are the precious years with young children, counting the sleeps before the big day and getting the neighbours to keep their presents so that little prying eyes and fingers can’t find out what Santa will bring them. When they are older, it’s even more fun, sharing the task of dress-ing the lop-sided tree with a host of deco-rations made at school or bought in vari-ous craft shops on holidays around the country. When the kids morph into teens, desperate to be with their friends, Brian and I had been an unpaid taxi service providing the inevitable lift home from an endless run of parties. Eventually boy-friends, girlfriends and later partners all squashed into our house which rang with laughter and a few tears. Now their tots were teens, they wanted to stay at home. I didn’t blame them. I could remember that feeling; the excitement of going to a party at Christmas with the new boyfriend or without a boyfriend and wondering if you would meet someone.
I gazed out at the valley. Dawn was break-ing over Whiteshill; a spear of orange slashed the blue, chasing away the re-maining stars whose brightness cannot compete with the sun. Only one
remained in the sky above the distant hills and as I looked it too faded and the scene was flooded with golden light. The stuffing was still in my hand and the turkey untouched. I scraped the sticky mixture off my fingers and back into the bowl. ‘Well old thing, unlike your predecessors, you are spared this year. I’m going to make stuffing balls and bake them.’ I shoved everything back into the empty fridge. Who knows, I might even be able to start a new Christmas tradition for our family.
I filled the kettle and switched it on. Christmas marks out our life as regular-ly as the sun rises and sets. We can recall what we did last year, the year before that and probably as far back as our memories can stretch. I poured hot water over the coffee grounds and sniffed the pungent mix of chocolate, pepper and burnt wood. I checked my watch. The shops would be open soon. I really fancied a new dress and per-haps some killer heels for the big day. But what was wrong with that? Noth-ing, I thought to myself as I sipped my coffee and looked out at the day. In the New Year I’d book a holiday, with a spa. Perhaps I’m ready for a change too. Pam Keevil
Whiteshill and Ruscombe Writers’ Circle
Are you interested in creative writing?
We are a friendly, supportive, and well established writers’ group based in Whiteshill. Monthly meetings are held on the 2nd Thursday each month, (excluding August) from 07.30
Page 11
Village Carol Singing
Christmas is a time for carols and once again the impromptu group of carol singers will be out in Whiteshill and Ruscombe with their special blend of seasonal cheer. We will be singing along Field Road, Highfield, Lower Street and the Main Road. There will be the usual door-to-door collection for Longfield formerly Cotswold Care Hospice so please give generously when our col-lectors call. If you love singing carols and willing to brave the weather on a December evening please come along on Tuesday 22nd December. We will meet at 7.00pm by the War Memorial on the Main Road in Whiteshill and start by sing-ing carols around the Christmas tree at The Star before setting off along Field Road. The route takes a couple of hours but if you’d like to do just an hour or so, that’s fine. Carol books are provided but a lantern or a torch is useful. If you are not able to join us, please listen out for the carollers, you may even see Father Christmas! The evening will end with carols in The Star Inn after the carollers have had chance to have a well-earned drink. If you need any more information please give me a call on Tel: 758621. Maggie Booth
Community
WELCOME TO OUR
VILLAGE SHOP AND CAFE
To all our customers
CHRISTMAS OPENING
HOURS
Christmas Eve and New Year’s
Eve: 9am - 11am
Closed on Christmas Day,
Boxing Day and New Year’s Day
_________
We are Open Every Day
Monday to Friday
9am - 5pm
Saturday: 9am - 1pm
Sunday: 9am - 11am
We have freshly baked crusty white and brown bread. Fresh vegetables. Frozen meals including vegetarian Cakes — Sweets — Cards — Order
your Papers
Is there something you want us to order?
Take a break in our cafe, have a
light lunch, meet friends for a
hot drink and a catch up. Come
in and have a look around.
No alcohol and no money left on the premises at night.
We always value volunteer help if you have a spare slot in
the week? Why not pop in for a chat
and a coffee?
BOXING DAY
WALK You are welcome to join
us for a walk around the vil-lage. It takes about one and a half hours, meeting at 10.30am in the Car
Page 10 Community
county, if you would like to get involved please email Gloucestershire Toads on Roads; [email protected] 2. Make a wildlife pond in the garden with a hedge-hog escape ramp or half submerged big stones near the edge and keep the pond full to the brim. Make sure you break the ice on the pond during winter months, as ponds are an important water source all year round for many ani-mals. 3. DO NOT use slug pellets/pesticides. In-stead use beer traps, coffee grounds, sharp sand or copper bands, egg shells. If you personally feel it is essential to use pellets please put them under a tile or in a very small pipe and clear corpses daily. 4. Take care when digging the garden. Toads hide beneath plants in a little dip of soil and are highly camouflaged and still. 5. Check long grass and under shrubs for resting frogs or nesting hedgehogs before strimming or mowing. 6. Leave areas of garden wild and over grown and piles of logs / leaves / stones for habitat and to encourage beetles etc. 7. Move stored bonfire material to a new site before lighting in case wildlife have taken up residence, or preferably burn im-mediately on the day of making.
.8. Put clean water in a small low bowl in the garden for hedgehogs 9. Supplement hedgehogs' natural diet of slugs, snails, caterpillars, worms and bee-tles with a bowl of dried mealworms / tinned cat food / crunchy cat biscuits. DO NOT feed them bread and milk
10. Netting is a major hazard for hedge-hogs and other wildlife. If using netting / barbed wire, make sure it is at least a foot off the ground. 11. Pick up rubbish, especially food cans, yoghurt pots, plastic cups, 4 and 6 pack plastic ring holders and rubber bands, which are all serious hazards to wildlife. 12. Make C.D. sized holes in garden fenc-es or grow climbing plants up walls as a corridor for wildlife between gardens. 13. Compost heaps and bags can be hi-bernation sites for wildlife. Please re-move carefully and slowly when empty-ing. 14. Hedgehogs are nocturnal, so if you see one out in the daytime please imme-diately contact : Sally – 01453 751937. Carole – 01453 823871 or Annie – 07867 974525 with details of time and place. 15. To encourage other wildlife to Ruscombe and Whiteshill plant native flowering hedges instead of fences, to provide habitat, cover and food. Plant native nectar and pollen producing flow-ers for insects. Allow lawns to grow into wildflower meadows for habitat and food. Provide nesting boxes for birds, insects, bats and owls and also water and feeding dispensers for birds. These can be easily made (designs can be found on the internet). Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust are launch-ing a new campaign to get a picture of how hedgehogs are doing in Gloucester-shire. Please record any hedgehog sightings (dead or alive) using the follow-ing link;www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/seenahedgehog
Page 7 Community
to 09:30 pm and include writing exercis-es, readings, discussion, and also social events. Our aim is to help writers in all genres, to encourage their work and offer advice if wanted, in a creative environ-ment for current and aspiring writers.
If you would like more information, con-tact: Sarah King via Email: [email protected]. Please detail ‘Writers Circle Enquiry’ in the subject header or Tel: 07929 414601. Thank You.
St Paul’s
News
At the time of go-ing to press, the Gift Week total is not yet finalised, but a big thank you to all contributors, and also the volunteer deliverers of the letters.
Harvest Festival Sunday was well supported by all age groups, with a sup-plementary service for the School the following week. The Sunday service adopted the "Messy Church" format.
November will have seen the All Souls Remembrance Service at the Church of the Holy Spirit, when we remembered departed loved ones, and Rembrance Sunday with laying of wreaths at the War Memorial and the Service in Church with the Silence at 11.00 o’clock and Last Post.
Christmas will see the School's Presentation, the Christingle Service, and the usual services for
Christmas Day. Please see the Notice Board, or "Tidings" Parish magazine for timings. January 25th is the
date in the Church Calendar to celebrate the Conversion of Paul, and as the Parish Church is dedicated to St. Paul, there will be a Patronal Festival service on Sunday January 24th.
The Church committee (P.C.C.) are aware that the pavement on the Main Road and the wall are being damaged by the nearby trees, and parishioners' views on the possible removal of the trees is invited. The contact address for the Church office is in "Tidings", which can be delivered, or purchased at the Village Shop Michael Bailey
Dorte Shelley
recipe
Risotto 250 g rice (Any sort but not starch-free Basmati, ideally round grain pudding/Risotto rice, brown whole rice is very good but will take a little longer). One small onion finely chopped, 50 g butter or oil (or half and half) 1/2 litre hot vegetable or chicken stock (Cube) 30g grated cheese.
Steam the onion in the fat for a few minutes without burning it, add the dry rice and roast it for a few minutes stirring till it is translucent, add the stock and stir , put the lid on and sim-mer on lowest heat for about 20 minutes, stir once or twice. Test that rice is cooked, add the ched-dar or other strong hard cheese , add Parsley (optional). Serve with a green salad.
Page 8 Community
Whiteshill Guides &
Scouts N E E D Y O U! Do you want a rewarding and fulfilling role in the Whiteshill community?
Our Beavers and Cubs packs provide a variety of exciting opportunities, includ-ing camps and hikes, for both girls and boys. However, we desperately need a leader for Beavers and a Section Assis-tant for our Cub pack. All leaders and assistants are supported by our Execu-tive Committee, existing leaders and supporters. Being a Leader or Assistant offers a great opportunity to really make a difference in your local community. We are certain that many local resi-dents, or indeed current parents, would want our local Beavers and Cubs groups to continue. Please contact our Group Leader Michael Stevenson using the con-tact details below for further details.
We also have a number of other vacan-cies within Whiteshill Guiding and Scouting. The role of Scouting Executive Chairperson, who chairs and leads Com-mittee meetings six times across the year, will be available after July 2016. Also, following six years of dedication and commitment, our chair of the Sup-porters’ Committee has unfortunately had to step to one side. Our Supporters’ Committee have continuously arranged a whole host of different fund raising events to ensure that vital maintenance and improvements are made to the Guide and Scout HQ. While the Support-ers’ Committee’s valuable work will con-tinue, it would be exciting for a new chairperson to further develop our facili-ties for the benefit of our community.
We have recently held a fun Quiz Night with over 45 people competing and raising £106.00 each for both the HQ building and Longfield (Cotswold Care hospice). Also, we are looking forward to our next fund raising event, Christ-mas wreath making at the HQ on 5th December 2015 11am – 2pm. Please come along, enjoy our festivities and raise funds for the next phase of our improvement work.
Please feel free to contact either Jon Bell (outgoing Chair of Whiteshill Scouts) or Lisa Samak (former Chairper-son of Supporter’s Committee) if you would like further information about either Chair position.
Finally, if you would like your child to join Beavers or Cubs please contact Mi-chael Stevenson using the details below and on back page of Warbler.
Thank you for your continued support, Whiteshill Guiding and Scouting Lisa Samak: [email protected] Jon Bell: [email protected] Michael Stevenson:
Snow Warden
Cllr Chris Brian is the con-tact if we get heavy snow this year. He will liaise with Highways to ensure that grit bins are replen-ished and Volunteers are needed to keep the school clear so please let the Parish Council have your details if you want to help. Chris’s contact details are 01453 753101 [email protected] Updates will also be posted on the Parish website
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Small
Grants
available
for Organisations Every year Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish Council have some money to give out for grants for local groups who are carrying out projects. If you are a local group within the parish and are in the process of needing new equipment or undergoing small projects, please look at the parish council website (www.wrpc.org.uk) and click on the ‘Grants and Donations’ tab. Send back the forms to the parish clerk for con-sideration by the parish council. Helen Dunn (see page 16)
Help to
Protect
our local
wildlife Like all living organisms, toads, frogs and hedgehogs play key roles in maintaining the health and balance of the ecosystems upon which we rely – for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. The frogs and toads have a role in both the freshwater and terrestrial ecosys-tems. Toads and hedgehogs are in seri-ous decline not only in the UK but across the world.
Hedgehog-like creatures have been on the Earth for 15 million years and yet today in the UK there are less than one million hedgehogs struggling for survival. They are all three a gardener's best friend due to their diets.
This year, during the amphibian migra-tion from woods and gardens to spawn-ing ponds, Toad Patrollers in Ruscombe helped 113 toads, 222 frogs and 18 newts cross the road to safety, but while not on site 17 toads, 56 frogs and 7 newts were run over and maimed or killed. As we have managed to record over 100 toads Ruscombe can now be registered as an official toad crossing. This is in the process of being registered with the Highways Agency and we are hoping that Gloucestershire County Council will provide us with signs to put up along the road to warn motorists during the next spawning season to slow down for Amphibians. If you do see a toad (frog or newt) on the road please help it to cross in the direction it is trying to go.
Each spring a few hedgehogs from the local Help a Hedgehog Hospital are re-leased into Ruscombe to try and re-establish them in this area. Sadly this year's pair, Percy and Sugar, were possibly the two run over near the Star and the School, three weeks apart, after only four months living wild. Please drive slowly at night and help hedge-hogs across the road, as their natural instinct is to roll up when danger approaches rather than run for safety.
HERE ARE A FEW WAYS YOU CAN HELP US
1. Join a group of amphibian patrollers to walk around Ruscombe on February and March evenings, to help amphibians safe-ly cross the road to spawning ponds. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust co-ordinates toad patrolling across the
