21 minute read
Leisure
Swindon has always maintained a respected, diverse, artistic and cultural offering for its residents.
These range from large events such as the Swindon Fringe Festival, Swindon Shuffle, Swindon LitFest and the Old Town Festival, (all of which will be returning in 2017) through to almost nightly live music, theatrical and creative offerings. The town has an abundance of venues such as Swindon Arts Centre, The Victoria and Oink Gallery in Old Town, The Bohemian Balcony at the old Palladium Cinema in Rodbourne UTC Swindon Now this is the hard part. You make those resolutions, you swear you’ll keep them, yet when February rolls in you find yourself back into old habits. So how do you keep resolutions? Especially the ones like drinking, smoking and weight loss.
Seeking out help to keep those commitments and achieve your goals is always advisable, and should be sought in a positive way. There is never any harm in finding someone to talk to about your issues and how you want to resolve them, ranging from weight loss to giving up cigarettes and anything else you want to rectify in 2017.
Counselling services are one way of keeping yourself goal-orientated, and should not be feared, especially with the compliment of skilled counsellors working in the Swindon area, such as Elaine Watt who
The Oink Gallery in Old Town
and the Shoebox and Wyvern theatres in the town centre. If you feel the urge to learn new skills in 2017, both Swindon College and New College offer a huge array of courses for learners of any age and level of experience, whilst UTC offer an alternative for the more technically minded to hone their skills. And of course there is always the option of enrolling with Oxford Brookes University.
Make 2017 the year of expanding your mind with a show, a visit to a gallery or by learning new skills. West Swindon or counsellor Simon Vizard, both of whom our readers may have seen regular advice from in the magazine.
For those tackling relationship and emotional challenges, Relate offer free counselling options
Another alternative, if you feel your resolutions need a different approach, could be hypnotherapy. Professionals across the Swindon area, including The Hypnotherapy Studio in Cricklade and Lucy Brown Hypnotherapy in North Swindon, can offer a counselling service with a difference and help you focus on your aspirations for the new year.
The NHS Choices website offers helpful advice on a number of subjects, as well as a list of counsellors in your direct area.
conditions/Counselling
Volunteers provide vital support to organisations in Swindon and the people they are working to support.
Are you free on Saturdays? Uplands Educational Trust are looking for people to help support their Saturday Youth Club for young people aged 11-19 with disabilities, either physical or learning. You will be helping with trips, arts & crafts and sport and more.
Want a home based role and are passionate about adult education? The WEA is an adult education charity and they would like to be able to offer courses in Swindon. They are looking for a volunteer who can support the Area Education Manager with tasks such as choosing courses that could be run, distributing publicity and supporting the tutor in the classroom. This role would suit someone with tutoring or teaching experience
Looking to gain admin experience? Adult Community Health – Swindon based at the Great Western Hospital has various departments where you could assist staff with administrative
The end of the tax year may seem like a long way off, and you’re probably thinking “why should I worry about April? I have enough on my plate already.”
Taking stock after the Christmas spending spree is always a good idea, as some of us reach for the credit cards to get us through the festive period. However, when the new year rolls in, budgeting and financial stability are key to keeping the stress of a seasonal financial hangover away.
Peter Bromiley ACA, director of Swindon based AMS Accountancy, shared some tips on managing finances in the new year. He said: ”The tax year ends on 5 April so, if you want to make any investment / clerical type duties. There is a range of tasks that you can get involved with to suit your skills and experience
Do you want to help promote equality and support for the LGBT people? Swindon and Wiltshire Pride have a range of roles on offer to support the planning of the annual Pride event, including looking for event sponsors, writing press releases, researching and applying for funding.
Enjoy singing? Why not help with Alzheimer’s Society Singing for the Brain group in Freshbrook on a Monday. You will be helping set up, welcoming attendees and helping them join in the session as well as making refreshments.
To find out how you can get involved in these or any of the many other volunteering opportunities please contact Volunteer Centre Swindon on 01793 420557 or email info@ swindonvolunteers.org.uk .
We are at 1 John Street Swindon and we would love to see you between 11am -3pm Monday to the Do-it website: https://do-it.org
Need a financial health check for 2017?
How to keep those resolutions
runs Focussed Counselling in
Visit the site at: www.nhs.uk/
Friday. You can also find these at decisions or pension contributions, it’s a good idea to be thinking about them in January.
“Work out your likely taxable income, maybe get help from your accountant regarding possible tax-saving actions, and – if you need your Financial Advisor to do something – tell them as early as you can in 2017 as they’ll be rushed off their feet in March.”
The best thing to do if you have any financial worries is to not try and struggle through on your own. Seek advice as soon as you feel in difficulty from a professional financial advisor or your bank, who will be able to provide you with information on how to solve most issues. swindonlink.com n January 2017 35
Geoff Maxted of Drivewrite.co.uk takes The Skoda Octavia Scout for a spin
The Skoda range in general is competitively priced, well made and always surprisingly commodious. The Skoda Octavia Scout featured here is no different and is worthy of consideration, especially for country dwellers. If you need a little more ground clearance and the benefits of intelligent four-wheel drive then the Scout is for you.
Don’t get carried away though. Although this is a name that conjures up visions of exploration and wilderness, the Octavia Scout is The future of squash in Swindon is looking bright, thanks to the relentless efforts of Wiltshire Junior Squash Director Dax Mellor.
His drive to develop the sport in the town had faced a number of challenges, not least of which was the closure of South Marston Hotel and Leisure Club in July with the loss of four championship courts. Other municipal facilities around the town offer squash but leisure centre operators have not kept them well maintained.
The South Marston venue had also been home to the Junior County Programme and its loss now means that county activity in Wiltshire has to be spread over several venues.
Despite the setbacks, Dax remains upbeat and is optimistic that plans to incorporate a new six court facility into the development of Broome Manor golf site will provide the infrastructure the sport needs.
“We have come a long way. When we organised our first county training day in 2012, a total of six youngsters turned up. Numbers have since gone through the roof. Our junior county programme now delivers squash to more than 300 children, well over half of these play not a totally serious 4x4. Scout gets the automatic Haldex clutch system also found on the Octavia 4x4 estate. The test car came with 2.0L 181bhp diesel engine and a sixspeed DSG auto gearbox with wellspaced ratios that suit the car’s performance. There are no paddles but extra control is available via a sequential shift on the gear lever.
There’s a choice of modes. Normal and Eco do as you would expect whilst Sport adapts the engine and steering to suit a ‘sporty driving weekly squash in and around the Swindon area”
Dax’s determination to boost participation has resulted in this surge and the number of people now looking to take part has outstripped the facilities the town can offer.
The need for a new facility became more pressing following news that GLL will no longer be adding a fourth court to their Oasis site.
However, since the refurbishment back in August membership has doubled at the Oasis Squash Club reinstating it as Wiltshire’s largest squash club with now well over 100 members. Schools programmes have proven particularly popular in boosting numbers at a grass roots level; “Squash has a broad appeal. It’s new to most children, so they are all starting from a level playing field. This gives a chance for the children who don’t see themselves as being sporty to compete on equal terms. It’s also a sport which is quite forgiving.”
Dax also secured funding from Wiltshire Council’s Sport Stars project to establish the Wiltshire Squash 4 Schools programme which style’. Sport is better when shifting manually. For general use though, I chose to keep it in Normal, but preferred the extra weighting of the Sport steering, selected via the Individual mode. Overall I achieved a creditable 44mpg.
The Skoda Octavia Scout is practical, comfortable and versatile. The boot is immense and comes with a carpet lining that can be flipped to reveal a rubber surface for muddy boots, dogs and the like. Our car had the optional spacesaver spare tucked away beneath. With 17” ‘Polar’ alloys and a tyre profile suited to mixed surfaces, including a muddy field, the ride remained relaxing and comfortable.
The Scout’s modified suspension raises both the ride height and ground clearance over the standard version, with added rugged body cladding. This car would easily handle muddy camp-sites and the occasional farm track with ease.
The cabin is restrained yet well designed. Our car had all the mod-cons including Bluetooth, Aux, USB, climate, cruise and so on with an old-school CD player tucked away in the glove box. Trim, layout delivered to 18 primary schools last year. Under the scheme, coaches deliver six hours of Mini-Squash tuition to Key Stage 2 pupils as part of the PE curriculum. Pupils are then invited to attend a free taster session at their local club which proves popular with both the children and parents. With already over 30 schools signed up to receive the schools programme it promises to be a busy year for Dax.
For more information about how to get involved in squash in Swindon or the Squash 4 Schools programme contact Dax on dax@ topsquash.co.uk and finish is good, especially the Alcantara and leather seats on the tested model. The dashboard is clear and easy to use with lots of info available amongst the trip computer settings.
The steering wheel is good to hold with some controls at your fingertips. I like the little touches for storage and convenience.
The Skoda Octavia Scout is a very good car indeed. Out on the road it provides a very nice, if not especially involving drive. Our model had the optional ‘Lane-Assist’ which nudges the steering wheel if you change lanes without indicating because the car thinks you’re wandering. It’s a good feature that most people will appreciate and is just part of the comprehensive safety package.
This is the model to buy if you need a slightly higher ride and the ‘rough road package’ that adds underbody protection, improved approach and rear-departure angles and model-specific front and rear bumpers. If that floats your boat or indeed tows your boat, then I highly recommend the Skoda Octavia
Squash is bouncing back thanks to dedicated coach
Scout as the perfect all-rounder.
Sport and Leisure Kite flying over Swindon Matt Prior, Wiltshire Ornithological Society conservation officer, writes:
Many people have noticed large birds of prey flying over north Swindon over the past couple of years. These are two main species, the buzzard and the red kite.
The red kite is of particular note because it has made a dramatic comeback from near extinction. This distinctive bird ©Steve Birt has a huge wingspan A spectacular image of a red kite of 1.7 metres and a in flight over Swindon by Steve Birt characteristic forked tail which it twists both horizontally matter of time before they breed and vertically enabling it to fly with within the urban area. great agility as it searches for food. Some people are concerned about
In the 17th Century red kites were the rising population of birds of prey the most abundant bird of prey because they think that they will over London but they suffered a attack their pets or the numbers of dramatic decline because they were song birds that visit gardens will be persecuted by people mistakenly affected. thinking that they were taking These concerns are completely livestock and game birds. They unfounded. In fact being top became extinct in England in 1871 predators, numbers of birds of prey and by the first half of the 20th are actually an indicator of the Century there were only a handful health of the environment. of pairs left in Wales. In 1989 red Red kites are different from other kites were re-introduced to the birds of prey in that their diet is Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire mostly made up of carrion, and and concerted conservation road kill forms the major part of efforts enabled their population to their diet and they will also feed gradually increase and in recent on earthworms in fields. From years their numbers have exploded a birdwatcher’s perspective it is with now over 2,000 pairs in the UK. fantastic to see these superb birds
Red kites have now reached overhead. If they do eventually Wiltshire in good numbers and breed within Swindon it will be a are breeding in the countryside truly notable event. just outside the town but with Keep looking up and hopefully you the increased number of sightings too will also get to see a red kite in north Swindon it seems only a over Swindon.
Experience a slice of chocolate heaven
Cake Creations and Chocolate Comforts at Studley Grange Craft Village, close to M4 junction 16, has recently installed new equipment to enhance visitor experience.
If Willy-Wonka’s factory comes to mind, the shop shelves layered with and anniversaries, and can include luxury chocolates and cakes comes photos printed on the top. close. And customers can have a go Regular workshops are excellent at chocolate making and cup-cake for any age to get creative by decorating in this Aladdin’s cave of making personalised cup-cakes or delicious sweet treats. chocolates for special occasions
All the chocolates are handmade such as Mother’s and Father’s Day, on site with the finest Belgium Valentines and Easter. chocolate, which can be enjoyed as Children’s parties are catered for, a treat or purchased in a gift box. and a chocolate making or cup-cake
Chocolates can be made bespoke decorating class is perfect for adult with a name or personal message. groups or a team building event. The collection of butterfly and Cake Creations and Chocolate animal themed items are also Comforts are open Tuesday to perfect for children. Sunday, 11am to 4pm.
Cake Creations make cakes for www.studleygrange.co.uk/ memorable events such as birthdays craftvillage
A lifesized elephant in painted plaster by internationally acclaimed sculptor David Lomax was unveiled in front of 150 guests at the base of a hill in Liddington, to the east of the town, on 4 December.
The artwork of the Hoarusib Bull, which David encountered looking after his harem in the desert of Namibia in the 1980s, was made for renowned conservationist John Aspinall in 1992.
The plaster creation was used to cast twelve foot tall bronze statues, each weighing four tonnes which were shipped to Los Angeles, Australia and Mexico.
The plaster cast lay in hibernation for nearly 25 years, until Lord and Lady Joffe visited David’s studio and discussed giving it a home.
The guests at the unveiling ceremony were asked to support the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. Amanda Butler from Peatmoor, acts as a volunteer ambassador for the charity in the Swindon area.
She said: “From recent studies, there may not be any elephants in the wild in ten years, it’s a tragedy taking place in front of our eyes.”
Of David Lomax’s sculpture, Amanda added: “It’s absolutely
The David Lomax sculpture in Liddington, as if emerging from a forest in Africa. Below, Joel and Venetta Joffe at the unveiling
magnificent, fantastic to see it standing with one leg slightly raised as if it’s moving in the landscape. The texture is so realistic and the eyes captivate you in their gaze.”
The sculpture is situated on private land and will be available to view on special occasions, or by invitation.
To enquire about a viewing, mail: joel@lidmanor.co.uk
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