WEST BERKSHIRE EDUCATION BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP WORK EXPERIENCE CELEBRATION

I always look forward to attending functions which celebrate young people’s achievements and the West Berkshire Education Business Partnership (EBP) work experience celebration evening at the Arlington Arts Centre at Mary Hare School was a splendid event. EBP which is based at New Greenham Park organises work experience placements from West Berkshire schools to local firms and businesses for a week to give them a taste of what it is like to work in the business community. Every year, EBP organise hundreds of placements each year and in addition to their work experience, students are asked to complete a log book in which they give their comments on their placement. Employers are asked to give their own comments on each student and these plus the students’ log books are evaluated and the best are then invited to the celebration evening for the prize giving.
On arriving, I was met by Corrie Barker, one of the EBP team who introduced me to a number of the students, teachers and employees who had taken part in the placement programme. I was pleased to see David McGall from St Bartholomew’s School who is one of the senior physical education teachers who was attending with several of his students. He has given great support to the Town Council’s sponsored 6 a side annual cricket competition. Park House school was also represented at the presentation. I looked at a number of the log books completed by the students and I was impressed by both the quality of the log books and by the positive comments included.


Amanda the Chief Executive of the EBP introduced the Celebration Evening by congratulating the students who had reached the finals and thanked the schools, employers and their staff for making the efforts in taking students in on their placement. The organisations participating were many and varied; they included The Berkshire Arms, St Gabriel’s School, High and Mighty, Downlands Surgery, Integrated Design Consultants, Ashford Hill Primary School, and Woolworths. She then asked me to present certificates to the finalists which was followed by a presentation by Ottavio Columbro of Park House School and then by Nicky Hiller, one of the employees, High and Mighty who gave a short resume of their experience and reactions to having students on placement. Amanda expressed her thanks in particular to the School Co-ordinators who had helped in getting the students for the attachments and gave each of them a gift in appreciation. After that, three students from St Bartholomews School spoke about their own experiences of being given placements and they were all very positive and confident.
I was then asked to present prizes and certificates to the runner-up, Jessica Adler from Theale Green School and the winner from John O’Gaunt School at Hungerford, Connie Tuttle.
It was a splendid evening which I and everyone present enjoyed enormously and I would like to praise the students for their achievements and I have no doubt that they will all be successful in their future careers.

HMS TIGRIS MEMORIAL SERVICE

The annual service to commemorate the loss of the submarine HMS Tigris on 27 February 1943 was held at the Corn Exchange on Sunday 24 February 2008 and I and the Mayoress Mrs Edwina Cooper attended. The standard bearers from the Royal British Legion, including those of the Royal naval Association, paraded and went onto the stage at the beginning of the service while the first hymn was being sung. The service was conducted by Rev Elizabeth Stone, the Branch Chaplain. I read the first lesson which was followed by the hymn, the seafarers 23rd psalm. The second lesson was read by Michael Westropp, the President of the Royal British Legion and David Stone, the Rector of St Nicolas Church gave the address. Following the address, we sang that wonderful hymn of Seafarers, Eternal Father strong to save, whose arm hath bound the restless wave.
The emotive part of the service was when David Bellamy read the names of the 63 submariners who perished on that fateful day. This was followed by the Exhortation, Last Post, One Minutes Silence and the Reveille .
During the last hymn, Abide with Me, a collection was taken for the Royal Naval Association.
At the end of the service, I was able to speak to some of the Royal Naval Association and Royal Marines standard bearers, some of whom had come from other parts of the south of England. We then went to the Royal Air Force Association Club for a ‘tot’ and refreshments.
Thanks go to the Royal British Legion and the RNA for their organisation of this annual service of dedication.

NEWBURY TWIN TOWN ASSOCIATION ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

I was invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Twin Town Association at the Town Hall Council Chamber on the evening of Saturday 23 February. On arrival I was met by Garry Poulson the Chairman, and a number of members whom I had met while at Bagnols.
As the Hon. President, I welcomed the members to the meeting and then handed over to Garry for the other business. Having the Minutes of the last AGM approved, he gave his report in which he expressed his gratitude to the Committee members for their hard work in making the year a success. He singled out Cath Osborn the Bagnols Secretary for organising the November reunion and for the French lesson given by Amelie Rousset at Park House School prior to the visit. Garry announced that he was standing down as Chairman after many years but would be continuing a as a Committee member. He then called on the Committee Secretaries for their reports.
The Membership Secretary stated that there were now 37 family members and 24 single members which was slightly down on the previous year. Elizabeth Anfield, Cath Osborn and Jim Turner gave reports on Braunfel, Bagnols and Eeklo respectively while Stuart Durrant gave an account of a football tour and Watership Brass visiting Feltre. Phil Barnett, the deputy Mayor had visited Kiskunfelegyhaza last year; this is a Hungarian Town an hour away from Budapest and linked as a Twin Town with Braunfels and Feltre. Mrs Gill Jessop reported on the social activities during the year which included a quiz, a garden party in July and a battlefield walk organised with Dave Stubbs in September.
Jim Johnston gave his financial report which showed a surplus of £14,472 but 7252 Euros repayment was still outstanding. It was agreed to keep the subscriptions at the previous years rates.
At the election of officers, Ian Haslam was appointed Chairman. He announced the 2008 activities which included the visit to Braunfel in Germany.
The penultimate business was to make a minor amendment to the Constitution to rename the post of Hon. President as Patron, which was agreed.
The AGM was followed by refreshments which gave me the opportunity to speak to the Committee and members before leaving, and wishing the Twin Town Association a successful year.

NEWBURY CRAFTERS IST BIRTHDAY

I was invited to attend the 1st birthday celebrations of the Newbury Crafters at Speen Parish hall on the afternoon of Saturday 16 February so I arrived at the Hall at 3 p.m. to be greeted by Albert Moss the Chairman of the Crafters. We had met a number of times from when the crafters had been located in a rather wet tent at the Fringe Festival and at other events locally. I also met his wife Linda who is also very active in the Crafters and at one time recalling when she was on a loom creating wool from a sheep’s fleece. This time they were celebrating their first birthday of the Crafters. They meet every other Saturday afternoon at the parish hall and have a range of crafting skills to practice. Today they were practicing silk painting and I have to admit I was very intrigued at how it was done. Under the watchful eye of a lady instructor (I think her name was Dee), they were all given a piece of Chinese silk, pots of silk paint of varying colour and a special type of brush which instead of bristles, they had small sponges attached. The idea was to either roll the folded silk around a glass or something similar and paint bands of colour vertically onto the silk. After each band has been painted, you continue the process along the silk with different colours until the silk is covered. You then unfold the silk which by then the colour will have permeated the entire length of silk and you have bands of colour top to bottom in rows. You then shake salt onto the silk which then allows the colours to ‘wander’ into the neighbouring colours. Once this is dry, you iron the silk and the painted silk is complete. There were some intersesting patterns created but you can have no control over what the pattern might be. I could not let this opportunity of creating my own painted silk.
The first thing I did was to put an apron on and I was given the silk, 3 pots of differing colours and some sponge brushes. I followed all the instructions and before long, I had made my first silk painting. I have to admit it was not anything like the others which I had made but at least I tried.
The tea and birthday cake arrived and I was asked to cut the cake which I did with a little more skill than with a paintbrush!
I did manage to get talking to some of the ladies there and they were all regular members with a keen interest in crating and had been there on many occasions doing a variety of crafts. It was an enjoyable afternoon and I would recommend it to anyone whether they had crafting skills or not. Before I left, I was told I could take the silk I had painted with me and they also presented me with a silk painted tie, which I was delighted with.
Following my visit, I gave the painted silk as a scarf to Edwina Cooper the Mayoress who said it was very nice. However, I have yet to see her wear it. I wonder why?

MAYOR’S CHARITY BALL

After several months of planning with Joyce Lewis, the Civic Manager and Molly Millhench of the Chequers Hotel, the Mayor’s Charity Ball was held on Saturday 9 February. It was a formal dinner jacket occasion with a drinks reception, a three course dinner, a speech by myself and dancing afterwards.
At 7 p.m. the guests arrived and I and the Mayoress, Edwina Cooper greeted them before moving into the function area to a champagne reception and listening to the Wade Trio from St Bartholemew’s School. They provided an excellent musical interlude, with Suzy Holmes on the piano, Chris Wade, violin and Lottie Baikie on the cello. These three young musicians were under the tutelage of Clive Grant, the Head of Music Department and they were a real credit to the school.
The guests then went into the dining room to an excellent three course meal and they were entertained by a rather special person, by name Judge the Poet. He went from table to table asking for a couple of random words from which he would compose an immediate poem. It was quite a remarkable achievement and one which everyone applauded. During dinner, raffle tickets were sold for a wide and varied number of raffle prizes which had been given by 30 local sponsors and a competition to guess the name of a very large and cuddly teddy bear. At the end of the meal and the loyal toast to the Queen, I gave a short speech in which I thanked the guests for coming, the sponsors for their very generous donations for the raffle, the hotel staff and the MC for the evening Brian Sylvester who is also the Town Crier.
After the raffle and the teddy bear winning, the disco provided by Neil – the Pink Elephant, started up and the dancing began. After a short period, it was so popular it was difficult to find room on the dance floor. All too soon, the evening came to an end at 1 a.m. with Auld Lang Syne and the National Anthem. I think everyone enjoyed the evening, we certainly did and we will remember it for a long time to come.
I must record my thanks to the Civic Manager, Joyce Lewis for her immaculate planning and attention to detail and to Molly Millhench, the General Manager of the Chequers Hotel for ensuring the smooth running of the Ball. I am also grateful to Sue Page our Administrative Officer for her excellent colourful and well designed programme for the Ball.

NEWBURY AND DISTRICT CANCER CARE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

I was invited to attend the AGM of the Newbury and District Cancer Care Trust on Wednesday 6 February at the Town Hall Council Chamber. When I arrived, I noted that the Mayors of Hungerford and Thatcham had also arrived, as had Andrew Rowles, the Chairman of West Berkshire Council. I met with Helen Milroy, the Trust’s Executive Officer who I understood was also standing in as the Hon Secretary. I was then introduced to David Ball, the recently elected Chairman of the Trust. He is also the Chairman of the Newbury Magistrates.
The AGM followed the usual procedures of welcome, agreement of the last year’s AGM minutes, and the Chairman’s wide ranging report on the year’s activities. He paid tribute to the Trust’s Committee members and the volunteers who made such a difference in ensuring the success of the Trust’s work. He mentioned the well attended and successful Carol Service last December in which a total of £17,000 was raised which was split between the Trust and the Macmillan Cancer Support. He also mentioned the Rainbow Rooms at the West Berkshire community hospital, which the Trust supports and which provides such wonderful comfort for terminal patients and for their close families.
His speech was very upbeat and I have no doubt that the Trust will be very successful under his chairmanship.

PANCAKE RACES – NEWBURY MARKET PLACE

One of the great fun days in Newbury is the annual pancake races organised by the Soroptimists on Shrove Tuesday, which fell on 5 February this year.
When I emerged at midday from the Town Hall in my robe and chain, the Market Place was already crowded with competitors some in fancy dress, stewards, officials and seemingly hundreds of spectators. It was my duty to start each race and so it was that there turned out to be 17 teams which would be split into four separate heats with 4 in each team. I was delighted that the Town Council entered a team. Having competed last year as a member of the Greenacres team, I know that it is not easy to run with a frying pan and a pancake let alone tossing it at the tossing point so I had sympathy with anyone who dropped a pancake, the frying pan or both. We were ready to start and I was about to get the first heat off when it was noted that the pancakes had not materialised. It was one of those moments when you feel for the organisers who having thought of everything else but had forgotten to get the most essential items. Fortunately, this was not the case and the pancakes were brought out of the organisers’ tent. I managed to get the first race under way and there were fortunately no casualties and everyone completed the circuit. The second heat produced the first casualty when one competitor, whose team were in the lead, lost her pancake onto the ground and the delay in having to recover it resulted in them losing that heat. The third heat was somewhat more spectacular. The cleric’s team, short of one competitor, had a lady dressed as a bunny girl inserted into the team, which on reflection, was somewhat bizarre. It proved even more incongruous when, on coming down the home straight, the somewhat ill-fitting costume could not compete with gravity and one of her vital assets broke loose near the finishing line. A gasp and a cheer went up but the offending asset was popped back in quick time. Regrettably, the cleric’s team did not win as no points were awarded for the added spectacle.
The final heat went unscathed and a great performance was put up by the eventual winners, Newbury College, whose turn of speed made some wonder if they had been practicing during their cookery classes.
The presentation of awards was made by John Hampson of the Newbury Weekly News who presented a frying pan and the Soroptimists Gold Cup. There were some splendid costumes worn by some contestants; these included a St Trinian’s hockey team, and the Newbury and District Agricultural Society whose costumes resembled rather outlandish farmyard animals. Nevertheless they won the best dressed team as adjudicated by the Mayoress. The best tosser of the pancakes came from the solicitors Charles, Lucas and Marshall. It will take him some time to come to terms with that award!
After the races we retired to the grounds of St Nicolas Church for the old tradition of throwing pancakes to the children from the tower of the church. Reverend David Stone did the honours and I could not resist going up onto the roof to help. The first salvo of pancakes in their brown paper bags did not hit their intended target due to a high cross wind and some went into the canal and but fortunately, none of the children from the Rocking Horse Nursery tried to recover them. The swans must have thought it was their birthday! The rest landed at the foot of the tower and the children were suitably pleased. We then went into the church hall for a lunch of pancakes which went down well.
It was a great event and I must thank the ladies of the Soroptimists for organising the event which raised a great deal of money for the RNLI; to the competitors for their efforts; to the stewards and helpers who did a great job and to the spectators who must have enjoyed the races. I look forward to next year when I will be able to take part.

211 SQUADRON AIR TRAINING CORPS OPEN DAY

Each year the 211 Squadron ATC hold an open day and this is designed to give parents and friends the opportunity to look around the Centre and to attend the prize giving which happens at the beginning. The Mayoress and I arrived and were greeted by one of the Cadets. We then met Flight Lieutenant Simon Craggs who is the Officer Commanding and two officers from the US Airforce based at RAF Welford. The Earl of Carnavon was also there to present one of the cups and Reverend David Stone who is the Chaplain to the ATC.
The cadets were on parade and Simon Craggs read the citations and presented some of the cups. One of the US Airforce officers presented a cup as did the Earl of Carnavon. I presented the Mayor’s Cup to the best cadetand then the parade was dismissed and everyone was then given the opportunity to go inside the Centre to view the various displays which illustrated the variety of activities open to the cadets. We went into one room where there was a display of photographs showing cadets learning to fly gliders and small fixed wing aircraft. The cadet we spoke to was around 17 years old and already had his glider wings, which indicated that he was qualified to fly solo. Meanwhile outside there was a display of drill and marching to music and there was also a small indoor range for shooting practice. In another room there were photographs of cadets learning to build a hide in woods during a survival course in which they were taught how to snare, kill, skin and cook rabbits. They are also keen on physical activities and they have a football team which competes locally and within the ATC organisation.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and it was good to see how much the young cadets, both male and female, enjoy the ATC and what is offers in character building, self reliance and self discipline.

NEWBURY YOUNGSTARS PRODUCTION– CAPTAIN HOOK’S REVENGE

I was invited to attend the YoungStars latest production Captain Hook’s Revenge at the Arlington Arts Centre at Mary Hare School on the evening of 1 February and, having been to a previous production, I was delighted to accept. Edwina Cooper and I arrived and met Sarah Scott-Cound, responsible with Ann Harris for the Front of House operation. We were shown to our seats and Act 1 began with the Pirate Ship with six pirates singing, appropriately enough, “What shall we do with the drunken sailor” They looked very much the part and Captain Hook came on, complete with a hook and a patch on his eye. I knew then that this was to be a great show. There was a total of five scenes in the act and there some great songs including Never smile at a crocodile and jokes which included one aimed at the Mayor of Newbury. I didn’t think I was one of the baddies. One joke I do remember was of the cannibal who went on holiday and when he returned, he had only one leg. On being asked how he had lost it, he replied that it was a self-catering holiday! I shall move on. After the interval, Act 2 began and there were four scenes in it. The plot of course was all about Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. In addition to the pirates were the Darling family, comprising Dotty Darling, Wendy and Michael, the latter who gave a strong performance of a public school boy; two rats, bubonic and plague ; eight redskin squaws including Running Water, Owlhooter and Waftfeather; three redskins, Passingwater, skunkfeather and slugbucket ; and I must not forget the crocodile and the Old Crone. The costumes were wonderfully created and colourful, the singing and acting were polished and confident and the whole production was very funny and entertaining.
We thought it was a great evening and all credit goes to the entire cast, the Director, Choreographer, and the Musical Director as well as the front of house staff and those volunteers and parents, who in their own way helped to make this a splendid evening. I can hardly wait for their next production.