Around town magazine rayleigh edition august 2015

August 2015 Edition 21 Delivered to 15,000 Homes & Businesses in Rayleigh aroundtownmagazines.co.uk

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... Around Towners to YOUR Rayleigh community magazine!

Summer has well and truly arrived!

The kids are off school and we hope you’re enjoying some well deserved time off work too.

Whether at home in the UK or far away in foreign climes, please enjoy, stay safe and have fun.

Maybe you’re looking to move home or get some work done around the house or garden – our trades section is filled with qualified professionals, who’ll be more than happy to help you in whatever your needs.

‘The Cook Report’ is back and delivers an informative piece on the new Rayleigh Town Museum (P18) along with the usual suspects delivering news from around our great town.

With this and a whole lot more inside, please read on and enjoy!

For More details on all the Around Town titles, check out our website www.aroundtownmagazines.co.uk Until next time...

Enjoy the Summer.

From the Around Town Team

Features 7 Mark Francois Political Update 10 On Your Plot Gardening Tips 13 Know Your Tradesmen D.J Andrews 14 - 15 Martin Lewis The Money Saving Expert 17 Nature Notes EWT Volunteer Neil Sumner 18 The Cook Report Rayleigh Town Museum 20 A View from the Church Rev. Mike Lodge 23 Rayleigh Lions Club / Rotary Club of Rayleigh Mill Organisations ‘Around Town’ 24 Around Town Sports Focuses on Athletics 27 What’s On When & Where...

27 Useful Numbers

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We hand deliver 15,000 copies every month to homes and businesses covering the whole of Rayleigh. This includes several thousand copies available from venues throughout the town and an online edition.

To Advertise Contact our details below.

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Copyright 2015. Around Town Rayleigh is an independent magazine and does not endorse the products or services that appear in the magazine. Opinions expressed in Around Town do not necessarily represent those of the editors of Around Town Magazines. Around Town Magazines are published by Black Square Print Media Ltd produced by Black Square Litho Ltd.

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A BUDGET TO SECURE THE RECOVERY In

July

the

Chancellor

of

the

Exchequer, George Osborne MP,

system to make sure that work pays, introducing a national living

delivered the first budget of the

wage which will start at £7.20

new

Conservative

I hope this will be to the long term benefit of my constituents, including the townsfolk in Rayleigh.

Government.

and which we expect to reach £9

We were re-elected on a manifesto

per hour by 2020. We are also

Finally, as a former Minister of

to clear the deficit, and we need

continuing to invest in key public

State for the Armed Forces, I

to see this through and get this

services, including putting an extra

country

£8 billion into the NHS.

was also very pleased to see the Government commit to spending

‘back

Fortunately,

in

Britain

the is

black’. now

2% of our national income on

the

fastest growing advanced economy

There are still difficult decisions to

defence, meeting the NATO target

in the world and that growth is

be taken but we are determined to balance the books and to continue the process of economic recovery.

and thus helping to keep us safe.

helping to create more jobs, in turn generating more taxes. We are raising personal allowances again (to £11,000 next April) thus allowing people to keep more of their hard earned cash. We are also further reforming the welfare

MARK FRANCOIS

Conservative Parliamentary MP for Rayleigh & Wickford

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on your

PLOT

Start them young!

Would you like to see your youngsters spending more time outdoors and get them eating healthy foods too? Then what better idea than to involve the kids in growing their own?

I was an incredibly picky eater as a child. I remember wanting to like tomatoes because they were such a lovely bright colour but still I wouldn’t eat them! It was only after my mother started growing them at home that I finally plucked one straight from the plant and popped it, warm from the sun, into my mouth - delicious!

Jobs for July:Make last sowings of carrots and French beans.

Keep harvesting those beans, peas and courgettes.

Sow Spring cabbage.

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While we’d all love a string of willing, young, helpers on the vegetable plot you do have to be realistic. Children can have short attention spans, will only want to do the jobs that appeal to them, and usually expect quick results. Us adults on the other hand tend to be stuck in our ways, place great importance in doing things slowly and methodically and don’t usually take well to sudden changes of plan! So how can you encourage your little ones, without boring them out of the garden, or having them dig up your row of prize leeks?

If it is at all possible give children a space that is completely their own on the plot. Get hold of some good quality child size tools and encourage their attempts even if it isn’t quite what you’d have done - if digging holes and making mud pies is more in their line than neat rows of seedlings perhaps they could create a wildlife area? A shallow dish sunk into the ground can be used by birds, frogs, toads and hedgehogs, and a log pile will be home to all sorts of insects plus providing a possible hedgehog home.

Giant sunflowers are great fun, especially if you have a growing competition, and wild flower seeds can just be scattered and will, in time, encourage useful insects and birds natural pest control!

packets or catalogues to see what takes their fancy. Quick growing crops are a good suggestion - radishes and salad leaves pop up in no time at all and should give them almost instant satisfaction! Sweet young carrots are likely to tempt even picky eaters, as are those lovely little cherry tomatoes.

Popping peas out of their pods is very appealing and how about growing their own hideaway in the form of a lush green wigwam of peas or beans?

They may not be keen on eating greens, but there is certainly a much better chance that they’ll be tempted to try something they’ve grown themselves.

Fruit, such as strawberries and raspberries is usually popular, and if you haven’t got any of your own planted yet you can always get them enthusiastic by having an afternoon out at the pick your own farm.

Ready grown plug plants can be good for helping them to set up an ‘instant’ plot - take a trip out to the garden centre to see what is on offer. If you already have seedlings started, then they could have the choice of some for their own plot (and you can see whose grows best!). Finally, don’t forget ‘indoor’ growing activities too clean out the bottom half of a boiled egg and draw a face on it. Fill it with cotton wool soaked in water and sprinkle on some cress seeds - in just a few days the egg man will be growing hair and not only can they cut his hair but they can eat it too!

Keen young growers can browse seed

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13

CHILDCARE This is an important warning for anyone who pays for childcare. There are major changes due to take place to the system this year and you need to decide rather soon how they affect you. If you leave it too late, you could miss out on thousands of pounds.

Are you eligible for childcare tax credits?

The most important start point is to check if you’re entitled to what’s technically called the ‘Childcare Element of Working Tax Credit’ this is NOT the same as Child Tax Credit. You can usually claim it for children up to age 15, provided you pay for approved (Ofsted or equivalent) childcare.

Sadly the eligibility criteria are very complex. So I’ve tried to distil it in a simple rule of thumb: ‘if you’re a single parent working 16+ hours a week, or a couple BOTH working 16+ hours a week, and your total household income is under £46,000, you should definitely check out if you’re entitled.’

Please read this carefully, I’m not saying you are entitled, just that it is worth checking, as this is big money. The average pay out is around £60 week.

That’s over £3,000 year.

If you’re not entitled to tax credits, decide now which other scheme works for you.

This is where everything is changing. If you’re eligible for tax credits, you’re likely to be better off getting that. If not, there are other schemes to look at.

This autumn, the new ‘tax free childcare’ scheme launches and the current childcare vouchers scheme that lets many pay for childcare from their pre-tax income will close for new applicants. So if you’re eligible for vouchers, but won’t be for the new scheme, get in quick.

New tax free childcare scheme: If you’re a single parent who works, or a couple where BOTH work, and you each earn under £150,000, for every 80p you put in a new childcare account, the government will add 20p on top which can be used to pay for Ofsted approved (or equivalent) childcare for under-12s. The maximum the Government will contribute is £2,000 per child per year.

Most childminders, after-school clubs are Ofsted approved, as are many nannies.

Current childcare voucher scheme: Here you usually trade in your pre-tax salary for vouchers. For example, a basic-rate taxpayer can swap £1,000 of salary, which after tax and National Insurance is only £700ish in your pay packet, for £1,000 in childcare vouchers. So you’re up £300 per £1,000.

The maximum you can get is £55/week per year per parent, which would be a

gain of £930 for a basic-rate taxpayer. Any parent can do this, even if their partner doesn’t work, provided your employer offers it (many do, but many don’t). Yet if you’re not signed up to this by the time the new scheme starts, you can’t do it after. So if it’s right for you – sort it soon.

Tax-free childcare vs childcare vouchers: If you’re a couple where only one works, the vouchers win hands down, as you won’t be eligible for the new scheme.

Plus, if your childcare costs are low, it’s likely vouchers win due to the tax and National Insurance savings.

Yet for the self-employed, those whose firms don’t offer the vouchers, or those with more than one child and high childcare costs, the new scheme wins. This is just the tip of the iceberg. A full analysis of which wins at mse.me/childcare.

“THE AVERAGE PAY OUT IS AROUND £60 WEEK” What about free childcare for three and four year olds?

The Government have announced plans to give working parents with three and four year olds 30 hours of free childcare per week. If made law, pilot schemes will start in Sep 2016, though there’s scepticism about whether it’s deliverable.

Yet already for at least 38 weeks a year (each week of the school year), if you’ve a

three or four year old, you’re entitled to 15 hours a week of free childcare. Families with a low income may also get free early education for two year olds.

Contact your local council to check if your child qualifies at (a good place to start is gov.uk/find-free-early-education). If they do, go to finder.familyandchildcaretrust. org for info on which childcare providers you can use under the scheme. You then liaise directly with the provider to get the free childcare.

Is there help for paying for summer schools?

If you’ve got older children and work, check whether there are any summer schools in your area that they can go to.

Some schools, community centres and youth groups have their own schemes.

Most are Ofsted (or equivalent) registered, so if you pay for them, you qualify for childcare tax credit or you can use childcare vouchers to pay for them.

10

EssexMaintenanceApr14 07 April 2014 15:38:43

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DOWN HALL G A R D E N S E RV I C E S

Its school holiday time and for many parents this presents a challenge of how to keep their children occupied through the long summer holidays. For any family with this problem, I hope that getting out and enjoying nature is part of the solution.

I was lucky in my primary school years, being brought up on the Suffolk coast in the 60s, we were often outdoors and wildlife was often noticed. By the sea we identified the different species of gulls and terns and caught hermit crabs, on our bikes we passed fields with rabbits and partridges, by weirs we found clusters of eels and occasional a lurking pike and on farm tracks there were numerous swallows, swifts and martins hunting around us. Of course in those days there was more countryside, and less people and the roads were safer, allowing children to venture out. There was more wildlife but we didn’t see some animals that we see today.

Birds of prey are more numerous now there are less toxic chemicals in the food chain. Climate change, though detrimental to some species, has given us more instances of Hummingbird Hawk Moth and new colonisers such as Little Egrets.

Much of the wildlife I saw as a boy can still be seen today but it is more likely to be enjoyed on nature reserves, where wildlife viewing is more organised and informative. In South Essex we have many fine reserves, Rainham, Thameside Nature Park, Belfairs to name a few and many council run reserves such as the Country Park at Hadleigh.

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Many of us who care about wildlife do so not just for our own indulgence but also because we want children to enjoy what we have enjoyed. And it is healthy for them to be outside, exercising their bodies and minds. But to get children outside enjoying the natural environment they need to be doing something. An example where this need is met is the Wind in the Willows trail at the EWT reserve at Hanningfield. The characters are fictional and faithful to the book but the brass rubbings create drawings of the real animals on which they are based. There are family events at many of our local reserves in the holidays and you can find these on their websites and on Facebook.

In August, migrating birds start to make their return journey from the north whilst at the same time, if warm weather persists, some butterflies and moths continue to move in from the south. If you can get out and enjoy a local nature reserve you may be lucky and see something of interest, perhaps a butterfly you haven’t seen before or a Hobby hunting dragonflies. You might even see that Humming Bird Hawk Moth, although this is just as likely in a back garden as it is in the countryside.

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Local history group brings Rayleigh’s history ‘Through the Looking Glass’ and into a more permanent residence Local history group, Rayleigh Through the Looking Glass, is set to bring Rayleigh’s town history alive after securing funding and premises for a town museum, set to open in December 2015. The group was originally set up in 1991

by Ernie Lane, following the successful publication of several books about the town, and currently provides talks to local groups and public slide shows on Rayleigh’s rich and varied history.

Mike Davies took over the running of the group in 2000, and presents in the region of forty shows a year.

Since its origin the team has grown to over ten members, all local volunteers who are passionate about sharing their knowledge with local residents and businesses.

Having run the group for a number of years, and acquired a significant number of Rayleigh artefacts, such as postcards, maps, books and a full photographic archive, Mike and the team wanted to find a more permanent home for

18

their collection. In March 2015, they received a £95,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and were able to begin their planning in earnest.

Vivien Irvine, Through the Looking Glass charity trustee and working party member, said ‘We were so please to be awarded the Heritage Lottery Grant, and have raised over £7,000 through fundraising since. We have secured premises on 91 High Street, the museum will be on the first floor. Rayleigh Town Council has also agreed to fund the rent for the first year we are open’. Since securing the grant, Vivien and her colleagues have continued to promote awareness in the local area, holding exhibitions and quizzes, and having a regular presence on Rayleigh Market.

Vivien said ‘We hope to attract people of all ages from the local area with different exhibitions throughout the year, a craft club for children, research facilities, evening talks and much more.

We have a school liaison and will also be looking to visit local residential homes for the

elderly. Our friends group now stands at nearly 500’.

Having spoken with the group, there is no doubt they have the knowledge, expertise and passion to make the project a success. Many of the members are also involved in other local projects / groups, with Vivien herself a founder member of Rochford District Community Archive. To find out further information on the group and the Rayleigh Town museum project, visit www. rayleighthroughthelookingglass. co.uk or www. rayleightownmuseum.co.uk. You can also contact Mike Davies, Chairman on 01268 785657 for more details or to make a donation.

By Around Town Journalist Jo Cook

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A Community With Dreams And Visions…

In last month’s edition of Around Town I wrote that I am passionate about my involvement in the community of Rayleigh and supporting the work of community groups, businesses and the Christian churches and organisations alike.

I believe it’s important for all to be involved and it’s good to celebrate the role and function of all the different aspects of our community, which are far reaching and too many to mention here.

We only have to look at some of the main groups with the specific aims and objectives they have in order to benefit Rayleigh: Rayleigh Town Council: We work for the future.

Rayleigh Chamber of Trade: to provide support, promotion and networking of businesses within the Rochford district.

Rayleigh Museum: to

provide a permanent home for a significant number of Rayleigh related artefacts, for all to see, enjoy, and learn about our Town’s history.

Rayleigh Town Team: Establish Rayleigh town centre and surrounding area, as a unique destination with something for everyone.

Rayleigh Christian Churches and Organisations: to share the love of God, through His Son, Jesus Christ.

If I were to ask you what your aims and objectives are for Rayleigh I wonder how you might respond? Everyone will have a different answer to this, or different perspective, both with regard to the present day as well as into the future. There will be those who are content with life as it is, whilst others will aspire to bigger, better or grander things, however we might define this…

What we do know, highlighted in Bible and reading in the Old Testament book of Joel (Chapter 2, verses 28), is that ‘Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. ’Do you dream dreams or do you see visions? Course, the answer will depend on how old/young you might consider yourself to be!

It could be said that is that it’s the younger generation who have as much to offer, if not more, than those who have been around a while, which is why it is doubly important to listen to them as well as listening to everyone else. It’s often said in the church and much to my dismay, that the children and young people are the church of tomorrow, which is true to some extent, but more importantly they are also the church of today.

The same applies to all young people and children in our community. They are the community of tomorrow as well as today, which is why they their voice must be heard alongside everyone else’s…

If we are to take community participation seriously, then whatever we aspire to as individuals or as a town, we are called to live and work together to accomplish these things. The community of Rayleigh is wide ranging, embracing a multitude of functions, which all require a lot of support and dedication, not in a dream world but with real vision…

Yours in the love of Jesus, The Revd Canon Mike Lodge Team Rector Parish of Rayleigh 01268 742151 info@parishofrayleigh.org.uk www.parishofrayleigh.org.uk

The Revd Canon Mike Lodge

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RAYLEIGH LIONS CLUB The Lions Club of Rayleigh is part of the International Association of Lions Clubs, and our primary aim is to raise and distribute funds within out local area.

The Lions Club Of Rayleigh was chartered in 1974 and serves the Rayleigh, Hockley, Hullbridge and Rochford areas. Our club is a Voluntary Service Organisation and a registered charity, we are always looking for people willing to help make their community a better place to live.

By visiting our website, you will be able to find out about the work of the international organisation of Lions and the Lions Club of Rayleigh in particular, including our activities and also details of forthcoming events, and who to contact for further information.

Our club meets on the 1st (business) & 3rd (social) Tuesdays in every month in Rayleigh.

Guests are always welcome. http://www.rayleighlions.org.uk

ROTARY CLUB OF RAYLEIGH MILL For most weeks in the year, we meet on Mondays as a club, with our members enjoying a meal at The Rayleigh Club near Hullbridge, Essex.

It is followed by a particular kind of meeting such as ‘committee’, ‘business’ and ‘speaker’ - the latter gives us an opportunity to invite a well-known personality or charity organisation to keep us informed about their work or life.

We have a members’ raffle at the end of the evening and our Sergeant-At-Arms is an appointed member of the club who manages to extract small amounts of money from us in friendly fun from personal observations of us which goes to our charity box.

The evening is run by our President who sits at the top table with his Secretary and we welcome our visiting guests too. Toasts are made to the Queen and our Rotary organisation.

We have a Treasurer to manage our accounts and appointed officers to involve us in the more gentle sports, a press officer to publicise our events, an IT specialist to handle our information, a webmaster to run this website and particular members who take on responsibility for an event eg. our Charity Golf Day and our social trips and dinner dances. Our Foundation officer looks to promote the work of Rotary eg. Purple Pinkie support to End Polio Campaign.

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ATHLETICS The anniversary games had a familiar feel to them as Usain Bolt charged to victory in under 10 seconds, however with the World Championships in Beijing looming, there is somewhat of a question mark over the fastest man ever.

The pantomime villain, Justin Gatlin, is lurking with intent and probably goes in as favourite to take the 100 metre gold in the birds nest where Bolt announced himself to the world with a run of 9.69 in 2008.

British hopes as ever will firmly rely on the form on Jessica EnnisHill and Mo Farah. Ennis-Hill has announced that she will compete and Farah has had a year he would like to forget in terms of his media presence, but his performances on the track still make him Britain’s best chance of gold in China come the end of August.

I have spoken in previous articles about the London 2012 impact on minority sports such as Triathlon, and Track and Field Athletics.

They have both been reaping the rewards from the London Olympics.

Locally we have seen our gyms and leisure centres receive funding and turn from quite standard places to train, to state of the art facilities.

Basildon Sporting Village hosted national teams during the Olympics to conduct their training, mainly due to its Olympic sized swimming facilities. However, its running track still remains a focal point for Athletics meets whether it be school or district tournaments. For further information on Basildon Sports Village and its facilities/events, please see their website.

Having been to a local school and having been a keen follower of sport from youth level to professional, it is not hard to see why our children of today are not taking to track and

field over other hobbies.

Apart from the Olympics and the World Championships, Athletics is hard to catch on the television.

Flicking through channels you may notice it on BBC Two or perhaps even BBC Three. The lack of big names at events like The European Championships and The Commonwealth Games mean that they too struggle to encapsulate an audience. This makes it hard for youngsters that were gripped by the London 2012 Olympics to stay motivated in emulating the stars of track and field that put on such an amazing show just up the road in Stratford.

The second big problem is money!

Apparently, money makes the world go round and while I do not disagree with its importance, it seems to be an obession in people’s lives even from such a young age.

The sporting dreams of youth today are money motivated. Football, Tennis and Golf seem to be much more attractive in terms of pay packets and perhaps the gruelling hard work of getting your body in peak physical condition to run, throw or jump is not as appealing.

However, there is no doubting the intoxicating adrenaline that you get when just watching the 100 metre final at the Olympics and with the welcome breaks of field events and more long awaited climaxes of a 10,000 metres, there is no doubting that top level Athletics has the nation glued to their screens, dare I say it, with a larger and more varied audience than Football!

There are a lot of people out there that doubt the validity of the sprinting game at the moment and that perhaps puts people off the sport as a whole, however the icon of the sport at present is Usain Bolt and so far so good in

terms of his squeaky clean record.

A life of healthy eating, disciplined application and the fact that there is a certain humbleness to most athletes when they win their individual pursuits, I think Athletics is something that I would love my children to take up!

However, the next Mo Farah or Ennis-Hill will have to come from somewhere and while running in the end of term school sports day is one thing, there will need to be a club or additional training pursued in order to make it to the top.

There are a couple local Athletics clubs that you are able to join to partake in a variety of events from long distance races to track and field tournaments.

Chelmsford Athletics Club and Southend on Sea Athletics are flying the flag for track and field in Essex. See their websites below. www.southend-on-sea-athleticclub.co.uk www.chelmsfordat hleticsclub. hitssports.com www.everyoneactive.com/centre/ basildon-sporting-village

ROCHFORD HUNDRED RUGBY CLUB Rochford Hundred Rugby Club is a local rugby club formed by three local residents in 1962 and today showcases rugby across all ages, ability and both genders covering over 20 teams. The 1st XV play in the RFU London 2 North East league and the club’s main focus is developing local players to as high a standard of rugby as it possibly can.

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Various events throughout August.

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Contact for more details.

If you would like to promote your club or event then please email a maximum of 70 words to admin@aroundtownmagazines.co.uk. Please ensure that all contact details are included.

USEFUL NUMBERS

BIRTH, DEATH MARRIAGES REGISTRATION

01268 361350 01268 361351

POLICE Rayleigh Police Station

0300 333 4444

HOSPITALS Brentwood Hospital Basildon Hospital Broomfield Hospital Essex Nuffield Hospital Queen’s Romford Southend Hospital Spire Hartswood Hospital

01277 695000 0845 1553111 01245 443673 0800 688699 0845 1304204 01702 435555 01277 232525

HELPLINES Alcoholics Anonymous Childline DIAL Disability Helpline Drugline Essex In Focus (family disabilities support)

Narcotics Anonymous Parentline Samaritans S. Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre Victim Support Essex Women’s Refuge

CHEMISTS Boots the Chemist, Rayleigh 01268 771883 Audley Mills, Rayleigh

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ROAD & TRAVEL UPDATES Essex Travel www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/essex COUNCILS Rochford District Council

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Rayleigh Town Council

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TAXIS Rayleigh Taxi Bestax Abba Cars Cab Call

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UTILITIES Anglian Water 0345 145145 Electricity – Power Supply Problems 0800 7838838 Gas – Urgent Calls / Gas Escapes 0800 111999 Minicom – Transco 0800 371787 Thames Water (Supply or Wastewater Services) 0845 9200800 Three Valleys Water 0345 823333 Water – Essex & Suffolk Water 01245 491234 VETS YourVets Vets4Pets Rochford Veterinary Surgery Downes Vets Medivet LIBRARIES Rayleigh

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