Ready for snow?3 February 2012
With the Met. Office now forecasting substantial snow now for Saturday night, are you and your neighbours sufficiently prepared to keep your pavement clear of snow and safe to walk on? Residents already in one of the Association's 26 Snowman groups will be doing their bit. If you would like to form your own Snowman group (~10-20 households), the RA can provide you with a heavy-duty snow shovel and also information leaflets for your neighbours. Contact Peter Haynes (Tel. 8398 6019, e-mail: membership@residents-association.com) with your name, address and the house numbers you'd like to have in your group.
Fed up with cars speeding in your area?2 February 2012
The Elmbridge Community Safety Partnership invites
residents to volunteer for Community Speed Watch (CSW). Members of the community, with
the support of the police, are trained to use handheld radars to monitor speeds at spots thought to be troublesome. Owners of vehicles caught speeding are sent letters - with the aim of changing their
behaviour.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please contact the
Neighbourhood Policing Team direct on 101 or the Community Safety
Partnership on 01372 47 4399. You may like to do this particularly if you live in a road where residents believe there to be persistent speeding problems and need to establish the facts indisputably. At the periodic police panel meetings held before our Open Meetings, residents can ask the Neighbourhood Police team to give some priority to such roads but they need residents' help to monitor speeds there for a suitable period of time.
Want to be a local Olympics Ambassador? read on...26 January 2012
During the summer of 2012 over a million people are expected to visit Surrey to watch the Olympic events that pass through the County. To make people’s visit to Surrey exceptional and memorable Surrey are recruiting up to 450 local people to volunteer as Surrey Ambassadors on the four days that the Olympic events pass through Surrey.
The Surrey Ambassadors will be responsible for welcoming spectators to the Olympic events and will provide interesting and useful information about the local area. The Surrey Ambassadors scheme will not only be a great benefit to spectators in Surrey but will provide a unique experience and opportunity to the volunteers themselves. Each volunteer will benefit from the experience of working directly with the public, meeting people from all walks of life and learning valuable people-related skills. Volunteers will also receive a uniform and a half-day of training before the Games and after the London 2012 Games will receive a certificate of thanks.
SCC are looking for people who:
- have excellent people skills
- have a knowledge of and passion for their local area
- Can commit to at least two days of five hours on any of the following dates:
- Friday 20th July (Torch relay)
- Saturday 28th July (Men's cycle race)
- Sunday 29th July (Women's cycle race)
- Wednesday 1st August (Time Trial)
You can download the role descriptions and application form here and email your application to Elizabeth Owen at surreyambassadors@surreycc.gov.uk
Note that the closing deadline was 31 January (given on their website) but it has now been extended - as presumably, not enough suitable candidates have put themselves forward.
Wembley to Soweto - to Weston Green26 January 2012
"Wembley to Soweto" an international photographic exhibition that premiered on London’s South Bank last year, is coming to All Saints Weston 28 January – 25 February will be the first church to ever host the exhibition. Over 40 images taken by 8 disadvantaged teenagers from the townships of Johannesburg, against the backdrop of the South African World Cup, will be on display in the Church free to view.
Championed by Nelson Mandela’s grandson Kweku, the exhibition is produced by Wilton Pictures and several of the photographs can be viewed online here.
Under the guidance of actor and producer David Westhead the teenagers were trained to use a camera in less than 5 weeks by International Photographer John Cole. The aim of the project was to ‘feed a family with a camera.’
Three of the photographers were recently afforded the opportunity to come to the UK to not only attend their own London exhibition but to work with the Tutu Foundation and share their experiences with other disadvantaged youngsters from London’s East End. Subsequently they were invited to the charity gala of the Harry Potter premiere in London, to photograph both Professor Green in concert at Somerset House and Hugh Masekela and his band at the Hackney Empire, asked to photograph numerous celebrities - including Alan Rickman, Richard E Grant, Emily Watson, Tamzin Outhwaite, Tamsin Greig, Gina McKee and Bill Nighy - as well as attend the Queen’s Garden Party at Buckingham Palace.
The Wembley to Soweto exhibition is now embarking on a UK-wide tour and teaching programmes are being initiated in regions where youngsters, who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend photographic courses, can learn how to take pictures that tell their stories as well as be offered the opportunity to ‘feed their family with a camera.’
Comments: Actor Bill Nighy, recently nominated for an Oscar in Le Carre's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" remake: ‘ This project is exemplary. It’s beautiful. It’s simple and it’s necessary.’
Rev Phillip Johnson of All Saints Weston: “I have always believed in creating opportunity. Given the community focus of ‘Wembley to Soweto', it fits perfectly with the ethos of our church and our plans for 2012.
A gala reception evening is planned for the Church on 18th February. Photographs and books will be available for sale at the exhibition and all the profits will continue to help disadvantaged youth. For further information contact Susan Morton, Event Producer on susan@mortonpr.co.uk. (07810 648 035). Download pdf flyer.
Get your local business listed
Six in every ten people search online for local information every month. Over fifty percent of local searches are for a restaurant or some other entertainment, and most of the rest are searching specifically for a business phone number or address. People searching online locally are also motivated to take action. Studies indicate that nearly forty percent of searchers then contact a business online, while just over forty percent then make contact with it offline. You can get your local business listed in our new business directory free if you have advertising in Thames Ditton Today; or for a mere £10 (payable to the RA) if you don't. The more businesses are listed there, the more it will be used.