April 2015

chadderton

Life Your Free Local Magazine & Directory

Inside Budget 2015 - what you need to know How to choose an estate agent Who Put the Chocolate in Easter Eggs Easter Egg Cupcakes Recipe What’s On / Puzzles

April 2015

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Welcome Welcome to the April Issue of

Chadderton Life Hello Readers, Welcome to the April edition of Chadderton Life and I’m hoping none of you have been overdoing the Easter Eggs.

It seems to be getting a bit warmer and a bit brighter so I suppose we will have to think about some extra gardening. I just use one of the gardeners out of our magazines because it’s not one of my favourite jobs.

There are some good editorials this month so enjoy the read and let us know of anything you would like us to include in future editions.

Best Wishes Trevor & Chris

Contents

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What’s On Community Who Put the Chocolate in Easter Eggs Advertise Easter Egg Cupcakes Budget 2015 - what you need to know Puzzles Moving On - How to choose an estate agent Useful Numbers Index of Businesses

Like us... /chaddertonlife Follow us... @chaddertonlife Browse our archives... issuu.com/chaddertonlife Chadderton Life does not accept responsibility for the products or services in this magazine

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What’s On Tea Dance Every Monday 1pm - 3.30pm An afternoon of sequence dancing.

Heywood Civic Centre, Church Street (Price £2.40 or £2.10 with PTL) 0300 303 8399

Popstars Academy Every Wednesday Mature Movers (10 - 11am) Free Art Class (10am - 12pm) FREE Older Drama Classes (1.30 - 3pm) FREE Unit 2 Pioneer Mill, Morton Street, Middleton 0161 653 7747

OCL Swimming Lessons Every Wednesday 2pm - 7pm OCL offers swimming lessons to cater for all ability levels. 60 minute lessons payable in blocks in advance.

Chadderton Wellbeing Centre, Burnley St (Price £3 - £5.95) 0161 207 7000

Boxercise Every Thursday 8.15pm - 9pm Boxercise is a fantastically fun exercise class based on boxing training principles. It is a pad focused workout incorporating some old school style boxing training, creating a highly effective fitness class suitable for literally everybody.

Middleton Arena, Corporation Street (Price £4.50 - £5.60) 0161 662 4000

Go Baby!

Every Thursday (term time) It’s time for babies to ‘take over’ Gallery Oldham. Explore textures, noises and objects related to our current exhibitions.

10.30–11.15: Non-walkers 11.30–12.15: Walkers Gallery Oldham, Greaves Street (FREE) 0161 770 4643

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The ABBA Reunion Tribute Show 17th April 7.30pm Starring the original ‘Frida’ from the London West End cast!

Giving Abba fans, old and new, the opportunity to once again get together and re-live the addictive Abba phenomena that swept the airwaves and discos during the 70’s and 80’s in a truly authentic, feel good, party style tribute concert. All of the greatest hits are performed with unrivalled authenticity from both an audio and visual perspective with an amazing jaw dropping finale recreation taking you back to where it all began in 1974!

Middleton Arena, Corporation Street Tickets £15.50 - £17.50 0844 855 4020

Holiday Fun

John Peace, Piano

7th - 10th April 1 - 4pm Face painting (£2) and craft activities at each session. Most suitable for ages 4–10 years. Children must be accompanied by an adult for all family activities.

Gallery Oldham, Greaves Street FREE 0161 770 4653

25th April 7.30pm John has performed and broadcast as soloist, accompanist and chamber music pianist, in extensive and often adventurous repertoire, playing with members of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hallé and the BBC Philharmonic and with leading singers both at home and abroad.

Heywood Civic Centre, Church Street Tickets £1 - £15 0300 303 8399

Hindle Wakes 16th April - 2nd May 7.30pm + matinees Mill worker Fanny Hawthorn and mill owner’s son Alan Jeffcote return home from an illicit weekend away together.

Their trip is a secret from disapproving parents and Alan’s fiancée until a turn of events exposes their affair. Fanny soon finds herself fighting for her independence in the face of pressures to marry and become an ‘honest woman’.

Oldham Coliseum Tickets £5 - £19.50 0161 624 2829

Royal British Legion Poppy Run 4th May Non-competitive and fun, the runs are open for all sections of the community to enter and run, jog or walk the 5k routes. Raising awareness of and funds for the Royal British.

Heaton Park

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Community

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Community Groups & Sports Teams Local Event Listings Ideas for Features Contact: 0161 345 0984 or 07570 548 365

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Features

Who Put the Chocolate in Easter Eggs Easter without chocolate eggs would be like Christmas without presents. Simply unthinkable! And yet the tradition of giving chocolate at Easter is relatively recent, dating back 120 years or so to the late nineteenth century.

Easter is a Christian festival that commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Occurring in Spring, which is regarded as a time of renewal and birth by many faiths and cultures, the egg has been used as a symbol of birth and fertility since well before Christianity.

Originally painted bright colours to celebrate the sunlight of spring, decorating and colouring eggs became popular during the Middle Ages, when they were dyed red to symbolise the blood of Christ. Forbidden as a food during Lent, eggs were hard-boiled, decorated and then given to children at Easter as good luck symbols.

In the eighteenth century, pasteboard or papier mache eggs with small gifts inside became popular and by the nineteenth century these had evolved into cardboard eggs covered in silk, lace or velvet and fastened with ribbon.

Faberge produced its first egg in 1883, and elaborate eggs made from silver and gold, ivory and porcelain - some inlaid with jewels - followed.

The first chocolate eggs were made in France and Germany in the early nineteenth century, not long after the first eating chocolate was invented (prior to this chocolate was enjoyed as a drink). But the chocolate couldn’t be moulded and early eggs were solid.

Chocolate eggs didn’t truly gain in popularity until Cadbury entered the market in 1875.

Their early eggs were made from dark

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chocolate with a plain, smooth surface. Filled with dragees (small, hard sweets), they were decorated with chocolate piping and marzipan flowers. The range gradually increased until in 1893 Cadbury was producing 19 different lines, but it wasn’t until 1905 when the company introduced Cadbury Dairy Milk that the sales of Easter eggs really received a boost.

All-chocolate eggs did not immediately replace the novelty eggs of the Victorian era, however, and Cadbury continued to produce a fancy cardboard egg filled with chocolates until the early 1930s.

The first crème eggs appeared in 1923 as a forerunner to the Cadbury Creme Egg, launched in 1971. An instant hit, it has now become Cadbury’s most popular egg, with over 500 million being made every year, though shell eggs still form the largest sector of the Easter egg market.

So, we have Cadbury to thank for our modern day Easter egg, and in particular their invention of Dairy Milk. How ironic, then, that this year they should recently decide to replace the nation’s favourite chocolate on their most popular egg with an alternative! Will Easter ever be the same again?

By Debbie Singh-Bhatti

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Advertise

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Recipes

Easy Easter Cupcakes Makes: 12 cupcakes Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 15-20 minutes Cooling time: 15 minutes Decorating time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients For the cakes: • 115g (4oz) softened butter or margarine • 115g (4oz) caster sugar • 2 eggs, lightly beaten • 85g (3oz) self-raising flour • 25g (1oz) cocoa powder (optional for chocolate cupcakes) For the topping: • 85g (3oz) softened butter • 175g (5oz) icing sugar • 25g (1oz) cocoa powder • 1 tablespoon milk • 3 drops vanilla extract • 2 packets mini eggs

Preparation 1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4.

2. Place the butter in a mixing bowl with the sugar. Beat until light and fluffy. Then gradually beat in the eggs, a little at a time.

3. Sift the flour and cocoa powder (if using) into the mixture. Fold them in with a large spoon until combined. Use a teaspoon to dollop the mixture into silicon cases, or paper cases, lining a patty tin.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until well risen and firm to touch, 15 to 20 minutes. Keep checking them so they don’t burn. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

5. To make the buttercream topping, place the butter in a bowl. Sift in the icing sugar and cocoa, and then add the milk and vanilla essence.

6. Beat until really light and fluffy.

7. When the cupcakes have cooled, ice the cakes. It looks good if the icing is piped on into a nest shape, but this is optional. Place chocolate eggs in the centre of each nest to decorate.

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Features

Budget 2015 - what you need to know Are you going to be better or worse off? Here’s what you need to know about the 2015 Budget.

If you’re earning over £10,600 What: The tax-free personal allowance (the amount you earn before paying any income tax) is already set to rise to £10,600 from April this year. The chancellor announced that it will rise to £10,800 in 2016 and £11,000 in 2017. When: In April 2016 and again in April 2017.

The threshold for 40% tax rate will also rise from the 2015/16 total of £42,385. It will be £42,700 in 2016/17. It will go up again to £43,000 in 2017/18.

If you’re low paid or an apprentice What: The National Minimum Wage will rise to £6.70 this Autumn (up 20p) and will be over £8.00 by the end of the decade. There will also be an increase in apprentice rate by 57p per hour to £3.30. When: 1 October 2015.

If you fill in a self-assessment tax return What: The annual tax return will also be replaced with a digital tax account where your tax affairs will be automatically uploaded. When: Over the course of the next Parliament, with further details to be announced later in 2015.

If you’re self-employed What: The government will abolish Class 2 National Insurance Contributions (NIC). They will also reform Class 4 NIC and introduce a new contributory benefit test. Both of these types of National Insurance are for self-employed people. Class 2 is if your profits are more than £5,885 a year. Class 4 National Insurance is if your profits are more than £7,956 a year. When: In the next Parliament.

If you’re married What: The marriage allowance, which starts this April, lets married couples and those in civil partnerships transfer £1,000 of their personal allowance. This will increase to £1,100 from April next year. When: April 2016.

If you’ve got savings What: Unless your money is in an ISA, any interest you earn is currently taxed. But from April 2016 there will be a new personal savings allowance

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which will let you earn £1,000 in interest tax-free. If you are a higher (40%) rate payer, that goes down to £500. When: April 2016.

If you have an ISA What: ISAs - where you save money tax-free - will be more flexible. You’ll now be able to withdraw money from your ISA and put it back in without it counting to your annual ISA allowance. When: Autumn 2015.

If you’re a first-time buyer What: A new Help to Buy ISA will be available for first-time homebuyers. You’ll be able to deposit up to £1,000, then pay up to £200 a month. The government will then top up your savings by 25% when you buy a home, up to a maximum of £3,000.

You’ll also be able to earn tax free interest on your savings as with a standard ISA. When: Autumn 2015.

These new ISAs will be limited to one per person rather than one per house.

If you’re already retired What: In the new pension rules announced last year, 5 million existing pensioners were excluded from the changes. Now, existing pensioners will also have the ability to sell their annuity and take a cash lump sum. When: April 2016.

If you have (or will have) a pension pot of more than £1m What: There will be a cut to the lifetime allowance for pensions from £1.25m to £1m. The lifetime allowance is a limit on the value of funds from your pension schemes that can be paid out without triggering an extra tax charge. When: April 2016, then it will rise with inflation from 2018.

Please contact Broomfield Wealth Management featured on our front page for help with financial matters

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Puzzles

Crossword Across 1 Indicator, meter (5) 4 Artist’s stand (5) 7 Not fit for purpose (8) 8 Back, behind (4) 9 Territory (8) 11 Highest point, peak (4) 12 Middle (6) 14 Yield (6) 16 Golf club (4) 18 Concepts, proposals (8) 20 Cab (4) 21 Muse, ponder (8) 23 Musical or colour harmony (5) 24 Layers (5) Down 1 Real, true (7) 2 Overturn (5) 3 Fade, wane (3) 4 Conductor, terminal (9) 5 Attendant, minion (7) 6 Depart (5) 10 Indistinguishable (9) 13 Strain, stress (7) 15 Ineffectual, futile (7) 17 Respond, reply (5)

Quick Quiz

Sudoku

1. What nationality was the artist Wassily Kandinsky?

2. Choo-Choo, Brain and Officer Charlie Dibble are characters in which cartoon?

3. What’s product’s slogan is “It’s a bit on an animal”?

4. Spitting Image spent 3 weeks at number one in 1986, but what did they stick up their nose?

5. On which day of the year is St. Andrew’s Day? 6. In which UK city did the 2014 Tour de France begin?

7. What did Barnes Wallace invent in 1942?

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Puzzles

Word Search Find the different fruits in the grid apple apricot avocado banana berry cherry citron citrus coconut current date durian fig grape guava kiwi kumquat

lemon lime loquat lychee mango melon orange papaya passion fruit peach pear plum pluot pomelo prune quince raisin

Who’s Who

Answers at: facebook.com/chaddertonlife

Can you identify the famous sports people from their younger days?

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Features

Moving On - How to choose an estate agent The housing market is on the move, albeit slowly, which may prompt you to make a move yourself! It might be a while since you were last in the business of buying or selling a home, so how do you choose the right estate agent for you?

One of the best methods is personal recommendation, but you can also take a look around your local area to see which estate agents are the most active. Don’t be fooled by the number of ‘For Sale’ signs on display though. It’s the ones that say ‘Sold’ which count!

Look for estate agents experienced in selling properties similar to yours; chances are they will have a good pool of prospective buyers.

Once you have identified potential companies, visit their offices and pretend to be a buyer. You will soon discover how helpful the staff members are, and how keen they are to make a sale!

From your potentials, make a shortlist of three and invite them to value your property, but don’t go automatically for the highest evaluation - this may simply be a ploy to attract your business. Do a bit of research yourself to give an idea of what similar properties are selling for, and check the agents’ experience and knowledge of your area.

Ask what their service includes: Where will your property be advertised? Newspapers and online property websites such as Zoopla and Rightmove are fairly standard. Who will conduct the viewings? What marketing materials will be produced? Photographs, floor plans and virtual online tours are some you could expect. Will a sale board be provided?

Finally, agree on a fee. Sole agents charge 1%2% of the selling price, and multiple agents 1.5%-2.5%, but you might be able to negotiate

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a better rate. However, a low fee could result in reduced enthusiasm. A better alternative might be to negotiate paying the full fee if the full asking price is achieved, and a sliding scale for any offers below it.

It is possible to sell your home online. Currently responsible for 5% of property sales, online agents such as Emoov, House Network and Tepilo offer a basic pre-agreed package of services for a typical flat fee of £300-1,000, with extras available at an additional cost.

Online agents are cheaper and more convenient, with call centres open during evenings and weekends, but they are short of local knowledge, don’t conduct viewings and may lack the incentive to negotiate the best selling price due to their fixed fee policy. Chances are you will need to become more personally involved in the sales process.

Whichever route you choose to follow, all agents need to belong to either the Property Ombudsman or the Ombudsman Services: Property.

Happy moving!

By Debbie Singh-Bhatti

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Numbers Police Enquiries* (0161) 872 5050

NHS Non-emergency Helpline* 111

Crime Stoppers* † 0800 555 111

The Royal Oldham Hospital* (0161) 624 0420

Chadderton Local Police* (0161) 856 8825

ASDA Pharmacy (open late) (0161) 484 1060

Chadderton Fire Station* (0161) 909 8603

Chadderton Library (0161) 770 5656

Water (United Utilities) †† 0845 746 2200

Oldham Council (switchboard) (0161) 770 3000

Gas (National Grid) † 0800 111 999

Traveline †† 0871 200 2233

Electricity (Electricity Northwest) † 0800 195 4141

GMPTE Enquiries (0161) 228 7811

RSCPA Oldham Animal Centre (0161) 624 4725

National Rail Enquiries †† 08457 48 49 50

RSPCA 24hr Cruelty Line † 0300 1234 999

Chadderton Life (0161) 345 0984 or 07570 548 365

*These numbers are not for emergency use and you should always dial 999 in replace of these in an emergency. †0800 and 0300 numbers are free from BT landlines, other providers may vary. ††0845 numbers are charged at a local rate from BT landlines, but can be charged at premium rates by other providers.

0871 numbers are premium rate.

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Index Accountants TaxAssist Aerials Middleton Aerials Bathrooms Complete En-Suites Plumbline 24 Bedrooms Andrew James Interiors Terence Poyning Blinds Archer Blinds Building & Developments AD Brickwork A King Roofing & Building Colin Gibbins Vanguard Carpet Retail & Fitting Carpet Market Car Services & Maintenance Mills Hill MOT Centre S Bolz Swan Mill MOT Centre Tom’s Motors Central Heating Blue Flame Kwik Plumb Middleton Heating Solutions Chiropodists Beverley Calvert Chiropody Services Cleaners Aplin Cleaning Services JKB Cleaning Conservatory Roofs Your Choice Decorators Russ Collier Decorators

37 31 25 41 29 30 44 23 27 15 23 16 5 35 27 8 37 8 15 25 22 10 4 9 22

Driveways Fairways Electricians DMS Electrical John the Electrician Fencing Just Fencing Finance Gail Hurst Dummett Fireplaces Hotprice Gardeners Garden Clinic LGH Gardening M.R.S. Gardening Glass Specialists Cloudy 2 Clear Middleton Glass Handyman Handyman Solutions Health & Fitness Oldham Active Hypnotherapists Emma Newman Jetwashing ADS Multiclean Kitchens Andrew James Interiors Eurostyle Laminate Flooring Carpet Market Landscaping Fairways Oven Cleaners Manchester Oven Cleaners The Ovencleaners Photographers Pixel Photography

26 40 12 10 1 39 15 4 2 17 10 3 21 7 13 29 43

Picture Framing The Framing Shop & Gallery 20 Plasterers C Collins 15 Plumbing Kwik Plumb 8 Plumbline 24 41 Vanguard 23 Roofing & Rooflines A King Roofing & Building 27 Crescent Roofing 41 JMR 12 Security Services Prolect 10 Solicitors Sedgwick Legal 34 Tutoring Oldham Tuition Centre 26 Upholsterers Fitton Upholstery 37 Windows Accurate Windows 29 Crown Windows 7 Vista 13+31 Your Choice 9 Window Repairs Refurb Windows 37 Wood Restoration Pro Polishers

16 26 27 12 38

thanks to

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