British Heart Foundation wants more collectors3 May 2008

The British Heart Foundation would like to recruit more collectors in this area for the "Help a Heart" campaign. Collectors' packs will be distributed this month. It should involve no more than 2-3hrs in total to distribute/collect envelopes for a road. Volunteers can name whatever length of road they feel they can handle - whether it is the road they live in or one close by. If you'd like to Help a Heart, call Clive Lewis on 0208 398 2000 for more info or call BHF direct on 0845 241 0976, or email helpaheart@bhf.org.uk. Last year Clive, a BHF door-to-door collector for the last few years - and a London to Brighton BHF cycle rider for 15 years before that - netted £100 from his two-hour collections.

Go on, you've got a heart: show it!

SW Trains cuts time of stationmaster attendance17 April 2008

South-West trains are cutting costs at Thames Ditton station by reducing the hours Stationmaster Ron Cox will be in attendance. Henceforth: 06.30 to 10.30 on weekdays.

New opening hours in our Library9 April 2008

Residents' County Councillor Councillor Peter Hickman reports that proposed changes in library opening hours (more hours across the County) were agreed last year and they are now to be implemented:

From 6 May 2008:

Sunday and Monday - closed Tuesday 09.00 - 19.00 Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday - 09.00 - 17.00

Gardeners wanted, paid part-time, to help the vulnerable4 March 2008

Elmbridge Borough Council is helping to develop a gardening service for older/ disabled people. The service aims to tidy gardens for people who cannot do so themselves or who cannot afford to pay commercial rates (there will however be a lower charge). As well as the visual benefits to the area, tidier gardens may result in less vulnerability to bogus callers. Police note a direct link between overgrown gardens and bogus callers: the average victim is aged 81, white and female. The life expectancy of a victim is 12 months after the burglary.

The Council is funding the cost of the co-ordinator to visit clients, recruit gardeners and place them with clients. As clients are by definition vulnerable, the co-ordinator will also be monitoring gardeners (a police check is undertaken)

The scheme is being put into effect through MDHS Household Services but before it get under way gardeners are required! This is paid work and would suit retired / semi retired people or parents at home during school hours. You will need your own gardening equipment i.e. lawn mower, strimmer, shears and suitable transport to carry out basic gardening tasks.

For more information please call Carolyn Smart on 0208 398 8493, email mdhshouseholdservices@btinternet.com or write to:
MDHS Household Services,
The Newlands, Weston Green Road,
Thames Ditton KT7 0LA

Running for your money4 March 2008

Thames Ditton resident Shaun Wolfe is running back-to-back marathons in London and Paris this April in aid of Christies Cancer Hospital and Get Kids Going. You can sponsor him online here. Back-to-back marathons within one week is quite an arduous undertaking!

Exploring Surrey's past3 March 2008

Created by Surrey Heritage (part of Surrey County Council) and its partners, a new web site makes available thousands of records related to Surrey's history and archaeology.

The website has information about archaeological sites, chance finds, historic buildings and landscapes, taken from Surrey's Historic Environment Record. You will be able to search the archive collections of Surrey History Centre, which hold information on a huge variety of businesses, institutions, families and individuals. Several museums are also making information from their collections available on the website, some including images of their objects. There are articles written by local people, pictures of 'then' and 'now' and details of famous people who have lived in Surrey. You can also have your say. The website invites you to add your own local knowledge, pictures and memories to help build the website up.

Molesey and District Antiques Society11 October 2007

We have instituted a separate page on this web site for thriving Molesey and District Antiques Society, which will be kept updated by the equally thriving Mrs. Gerry Mitchell! The page is located here, and if you want to find it easily on future visits please visit our 'groups' page (main navigation menu) and a link to the MADAS page will appear in the top right box there.

We are happy to host pages for local community clubs or groups provided that they are responsible for updating them!

Hopin Needs You!28 September 2007

For over twenty years now Dittons and Weston Green Neighbourcare, otherwise known as Hopin, a group of volunteer drivers, organised by our duty telephone operators, have been offering lifts to the people of this area, who for good reasons cannot organise their own journey to doctors’ surgeries, dentists, hospital appointments and to the shops.

The need is great for a service like this and we already have almost 60 drivers and almost 30 telephone operators. But our client list is increasing all the time and we really need some more volunteers so that our already efficient service can maintain its high standards.

As a driver:

• Our clients can all walk to the car unaided, so no help is needed other than an occasional guiding hand
• You can choose a date a month in advance when you are available to drive, or you can go on to a list to be called when you are needed
• You can always say “no” to a request if you can’t manage it
• You can claim petrol expenses
• You will meet some amazingly interesting people and enjoy each outing

As a telephone operator:
• You are on duty once a month, from 9 to 12 noon
• You work from home by diverting calls to your home number
• You are given training so you can be confident about the paperwork

So if you can spare just a little of your time Hopin would love to hear from you. Contact details here

Information for clients:
• Our drivers and operators are experienced and efficient
• We take all steps to ensure our drivers are of the highest calibre, and that they comply with all legal requirements
• Each driver wears an identity badge with a photo
• The driver has a collecting box for donations towards the expenses of the charity. Guidance can be given for a “suggested donation” for each journey

If you need a car to take you to an appointment just ring 020 8398 8600 any weekday between 9 and 12 noon, and.... hop in!.

Thames Ditton street sweeping

All too frequently street cleansing (a mix of mechanical and manual sweeping) cannot be carried out properly because of difficulties caused by parked cars. These are supposed to be removed. The problem is particularly acute in the High Street and Ashley Road.

On the day before the next scheduled cleanse of these roads, Elmbridge will attempt to place a leaflet on parked cars to request that their owners make alternative arrangements whilst the cleanse is taking place. The Cleansing Supervisor at Cleanaway will review the success or otherwise of this measure and, if necessary, take further action on the following cleanse, such as coning off sections of the road, to ensure the road is cleansed to an acceptably good level. Further - and more draconian - measures may follow if co-operation is lacking.

To help you to know when street-sweeping is coming next to your road in Thames Ditton, we have installed a schedule on the database which you may view here.

Email addresses please

We are making more use of email to communicate matters of relevance to residents: for example, advance details of meetings, and local planning issues. Email will be used on a highly selective and relevant way and we promise not to clutter up your inbox. You may also ask to be 'unsubscribed' from email communications from the Association if you later decide you don't wnat to be informed in this way. If you have not sent us your email address along with your subscription. please email it to Membership Secretary Peter Haynes, whose details are on the contacts page. Thank you.

New Lolipop person wanted!

We still badly need a sterling person to cross mothers and children over Station Road, Thames Ditton, on schooldays. Splendid coat and lollipop provided! Two short sessions per day, hourly rate, very worthwhile service to the community and not without occasional excitement and adventure. Please contact Sally Burns at the Infants' School office - 0208 398 5842.

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.