Brandon Town Magazine - Issue 94

Welcome to Brandon

month like no other in our lifetime which

Monarch pass and a King ascend to

throne.

It was even more poignant as just the day before Brandon in Bloom took Gold for it’s Jubilee themed garden and also best in class along with a gold for the Friendly Bench.

The day was capped off with a gold award and then Best Town in the Anglia region category.

This month also sees us launch the 2022 Best of Brandon Awards please consider if you would like to nominate a person, group or business who you feel who has made a real difference in the community over the last 12 months.

For more details see the advert on page 16.

Regards

Town Magazine

Deadline for November edition 31st October

Whilst every care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information contained within this publication, the publishers take no responsibility for the accuracy of statements made by it’s contributors, in any advertisements or for any loss arising from non-publication of any advertisement. Reproduction of any part of this publication without permission is strictly forbidden. The views expressed by contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Fledgelings Pre School

A pre school in Brandon has thanked local councillors for a donation which has enabled them to fit new flooring throughout their setting.

Fledgelings, which is located next to Glade Academy on Knappers Way, has been able to completely replace their tired carpets with a new and easy to clean floor thanks to the funding.

Brandon’s district councillors, Victor Lukaniuk, Phil Wittam and David Palmer, all contributed money through their locality budgets to help with the project.

Additional funding for the new flooring was donated by Brandon Town Council.

Annmarie, manager at Fledgelings Pre School, said: “Fledgelings is incredibly grateful to Councillor Lukaniuk, Councillor Wittam, Councillor Palmer and Brandon Town Council for their continued support of Fledgelings Pre-School Brandon.

“Having new flooring has brightened up the setting, with its beautiful blue colour, and it will be easier to keep clean when spillages happen.

“As Fledgelings is a not-for-profit Charity, community support makes a huge difference and is appreciated so much.

“Thank you from all the Children, Fledgelings families, Staff and Committee.”

Cllr Victor Lukaniuk added: “I was delighted to have sourced the funds from my West Suffolk Council locality budget for the floor covering at Fledglings; as was Cllr Wittam and Cllr Palmer.

“A much cleaner environment has been achieved for the children and where possible I will continue to invest in the children of Brandon as this is our future as well as theirs.”

Brandon Fire Station Open Day

Photos by Jean Betts

Breckland Cats Protection

With the current financial crisis members of the public are finding it hard to pay for vet fees if their cat becomes ill. We have had calls from owners saying their cat needed treatment which cost several hundred pounds, and they do not have the money. Unfortunately we are not in a position to pay people’s vet fees. We can help with the cost of neutering but not anything else.

When you first get a cat or kitten, once they are neutered and vaccinated, with yearly boosters, you have done all you can to ensure they are kept healthy. It could be several years before they need expensive vet treatment. But once they approach old age and cats of 7 years of age are classed as seniors, that’s when things can go wrong. Most cats of that age will need a dental at some time, even if its just a scale and polish of their teeth. They may also need to have teeth removed if they are causing them pain. This could cost as much as £500 if teeth need to be removed. And its the amount of time it takes for the procedure, which costs the money. The longer the cat is under anaesthetic and the longer it takes for the vet to complete the dental, the more it costs. Ignoring the recommendations from your vet for a dental can lead to other problems such as renal failure. And you have a duty of care for your cat – he could have

very bad tooth ache, but cats are good at hiding pain.

Pet insurance is one way of ensuring that your vet bills will be covered. For a monthly payment to an insurance company covers you from expensive vet bills. There is an excess, of course, which will increase as the cat gets older, but paying the excess of say £100 - £150 is a lot less than paying £500 if you don’t have insurance. You need to make sure you always have at least £100 put by to pay the excess.

You should shop around the pet insurance companies to see where you get the best deal and how much they are prepared to pay out in the event of an accident or an expensive procedure at the vets.

The other alternative is to put money aside every month for your cat so that if you get an expensive vet bill, you have some money saved up especially for that. This is most important if you have an older cat, as that can be when serious health conditions can occur and the vet bills can be expensive.

For help or advice or if you need assistance in the cost of neutering, please call us on 01842 810018.

Rita Thompson.

Rotary Club of Brandon and District

The Rotary Club of Brandon and District are holding a big screen Race Night on Saturday the 22nd of October at the Church Institute in Brandon to raise funds for local causes. Do come along - you’ll have all the thrills of a day at the track with a bar nearby and no chance of rain!

including a meal.

As well as race winnings there are some great prizes to be won in our raffle too - and we’re very grateful to everyone who’s donated prizes.

Many thanks also to our generous Race Sponsors Stockpile band, Mark Skinner Funeral Services, Molyneux Estate Agents, Bunches and Bows, MAR vehicle solutions, Carpella Tree Services, Mr G’s and Natural Balance Holistics.

This event was originally planned for September 17th, but was postponed due to the death of the Queen.

Tickets must be bought in advance from Bunches and Bows florist or by calling Kate Curtis on 07821 685307 and are just £12 each

It’s going to be a really great night and as with all our events, the funds raised will help us help the local community - we hope to see you there!

Brandon Creative Forum

POETREE: A celebration of Brandon Library Poets’ 5th birthday and November Tree Planting in Brandon Country Park.

Monday 24th October: “A poem lovely as a tree.”

Poetry Workshop for adults led by Melinda Appleby

10.30am - 1pm in the Council Chamber

Cost: £5

Tickets available from Tramps Hair Salon

Wednesday 26th October

10am - 2.30pm in the Council Offices

Exhibition of poems photographs and information, poetry pictures and puzzles, children’s activities.

Plus a free mini poetry workshops for children at 10.30am and 11.15am.

(Accompanied by adult) led by Diane Jackman.

As spaces are limited, please book by email at: brandoncreativeforum@gmail.com

Thursday 27th October

10am - 2.30pm in the Council Offices

Exhibition of poems, photographs and information.

10.30 and 11.30 poetry, cake, and coffee.

Take a break with free cake and coffee and poems about trees and Brandon read by members of Brandon Library Poets.

Rachel Sobiechowski

Gardening

Now that cooler weather is approaching its time to move half-hardy plants (including aquatic ones) into the greenhouse or frostfree area. But there’s no time to put your feet up, there’s produce still to be harvested and the garden needs to be tidied and prepared for the winter. Also, ensure the garden is full of life next spring by sowing and planting now.

Following this summer’s challenge of gardening with less water, choosing plants with a good degree of drought resistance becomes more important. There is a wide range of plants that can tolerate dry soils and low levels of rainfall, especially once established. These tend to be plants with light leaf colours that reflect rays of sunlight, such as grey-green or silvery leaves. Some plants also have fine hairy foliage and stems, which help retain moisture around the plant tissues.

Gardening using drought tolerant plants can help you do your bit for the environment by reducing water use. Around two-thirds of domestic water use on hot summer days goes on the garden, which can be hard to sustain. At times when rainfall is low, water companies may impose hosepipe bans. Growing drought tolerant plants means you won’t have to choose between flouting the rules and letting your garden fall into a sorry state through the next hose pipe ban.

Suitable conditioning of the soil can be as important as the choice of plants themselves.

TOP TIPS

Finish planting spring bulbs

Be ruthless, and turf out summer bedding plants

•Collect and bag fallen leaves to create leaf mould

Most plants will thank you for incorporating plenty of well-rotted garden compost or organic matter into the planting hole, which acts like a sponge, retaining moisture below ground through periods of low rainfall. A regular mulch of bark chippings or similar (taking into consideration the acidic preference of your plants) also helps suppress weeds, preventing them competing for moisture.

For inspiration for drought tolerant gardens here are a few in East Anglia to visit. Probably the most famous is Beth Chatto’s drought garden in Essex. Also in Essex, RHS Hyde Hall, the soil conditions and exposed nature of the site makes it a difficult area to garden. East Ruston Old Vicarage, near Norwich is composed of a sequence of spectacular gardens of very different character. The Desert Wash is designed to resemble parts of Arizona where it usually only rains once or twice a year. At Cambridge University Botanic Garden, the Dry Garden has been designed as a beautiful, water-wise planting suitable for a typical south-facing back garden.

Whatever October brings I hope you can spend some time in your garden.

The Mark Skinner Campaign

We are delighted to let everyone know that we reached the target of funds needed by Bethany Shaw’s family to go towards her special mobility aid and the ‘Innowalk’ was delivered to their home. Bethany now uses this life changing, special piece of equipment daily.

Bethany has a very rare genetic condition that has affected her brain badly. She has never been able to sit up unaided, let alone walk. The Innowalk is best described as a motorised standing frame which mimics the walking movement for Bethany, so she gets all the health benefits from walking that we take for granted.

We could not have helped the Shaw family without the unbelievable support we have received from the people of Brandon and the surrounding areas! THANK YOU

SO VERY MUCH!!!!!

Looking for volunteers!

We could really do with some help with our market stall, which is on Brandon Market every Thursday. If you have any spare time, we would love to hear from you!!

We need:

• Sorters – to go through the donations we receive (times to suit you)

• Collectors – to pick up the donations from people who are unable to leave at the offices (times to suit you)

• Set up/Take down of the stall on a Thursday help

• Help on the stall on a Thursday – we have a wonderful team, but need to give them breaks/holiday cover and less hours!

If you feel you could help, please email laine@mark-skinner.org.uk, leave a message through our Facebook or call us on 01842 810534 – thank you!

Help Needed

We need your help more than ever with the playground fund, in memory of Liam - if anyone has anything we can sell on our stall please let us know! We can take anything from ornaments and puzzles to bikes and lawn mowers, literally anything you think would sell.

Or if you are having an event/sponsored activity and you feel you could raise funds for the Mark Skinner Campaign, please get in touch. Thanks everyone!

Brandon & District Photographic Club

How would you like to be inspired to take up a new hobby or re-ignite an old one? Brandon & District Photographic Club has been holding its meetings in the Baptist Church Hall on the High Street for more years than I care to remember! We are always on the look-out for new members, someone who will come along and share their interest in photography with us or someone who would like to learn a new skill. We all have a lot to learn from each other and from the experts we ask to join us from time to time. There is always someone on hand at the meetings to help with any technical questions you may have and you don’t need to splash out on a lot of expensive equipment, you can use the camera on your phone or ipad and still learn a lot about composition, focusing and alignment.

We at Brandon and District Photographic Club are looking for like-minded people who enjoy the art of photography in all its formats and would like to join us on two Wednesdays each month to learn more about the craft or impart their knowledge to our members. September saw the start of our new season 2022 – 2023 at Brandon Baptist Church Hall in the High Street from 7.30pm until 9.30pm and in November we are holding two teaching sessions. The first being on Wednesday 9th November and will on the subject of Light Trails, where members and visitors alike can take photographs of lights in the dark. We

have held these evenings in the past with great success and some of the images achieved by our members have been quite amazing. Just bring your camera and a tripod/monopod with you and have a go.

Towards the end of the month on Wednesday 28th November we will be holding a ‘Panels Evening’. An indoor exercise on how to split your images into two/three (or more) sections in order to create a series of pictures.

We encourage you to come along with no obligation to join immediately, simply meet with us, chat with us and look at some of the work our members can achieve.

We hope you may be inspired to come along and share your interest in photography with us.

Useful Telephone Numbers

Councils

Brandon Town Council (Town Clerk)

West Suffolk Council (Customer Services)

Suffolk County Council (Public Enquiries)

Health Services

Doctor - Brandon Medical Practice (High Street)

Doctor - Forest Group Practice (Bury Road)

Dentist - Apex Dental Care (Bury Road)

Dentist - The Dental Surgery (High Street)

Hospital - West Suffolk (Bury St Edmunds)

NHS 111 - Medical Help (Less urgent than 999)

Help & Advice

Citizens Advice Bureau (Brandon Office)

Social Care Services (Customer First)

Suffolk Constabulary (Non Emergency)

Utility Companies

Electricity - UK Power Networks (Fault Line)

Gas - Cadent (Emergency Number)

Water - Anglian Water (24 Hour Leakline)

01842 811844

01284 763233

0845 606 6067

01842 810388

01842 810206

01842 812276

01842 812381

01284 713000

111

0300 330 1151

0808 800 4005

101

08007 838 838

0800 111 999

0800 771 881

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