FORGING CONNECTIONS – RAF HALTON FUNDRAISING FOR RSPCA BLACKBERRY FARM (QUAINTON)

The RSPCA Blackberry Farm Animal Centre occupies a 10-acre site overlooking the rural villages of Waddesdon and Quainton in Buckinghamshire. The site is just two minutes from the A41 between Aylesbury and Bicester. The centre has 20 rehoming kennels, 34 cat rehoming pens, an intake area and kennels for case animals which sadly stay with them for long periods of time. Dogs in their care can unleash their energy on the exercise field or practice their agility skills in the training barn. They also care for small farm animals and have two stables and a field shelter.

Recently RAF Halton Servicepersonnel Awaiting Trade Training (SATT) decided they would like to support the centre in whatever way they could. After subsequently contacting them with the offer, the centre assigned the SATTs team with the challenging task of revamping their sensory area for dogs. This was situated in a large, grassed field and consisted of a variety of different terrains for the dogs to walk on, ranging from cobblestones, pebbles, slabs and various other loose materials. This area acted as a confidence builder for the dogs by exposing them to numerous textures, environments, and smells, which would have huge benefits to the animals mentally and physically.

Unfortunately, the area had become overgrown, with the cobblestones and pebbles buried under weeds and many areas of the path being dominated by grass and moss. Due to its condition, the animals were not able to make use of this great facility.

Cpl Reading and a group of SATTs visited the sensory garden and began the difficult task of de-weeding and restoring the path back to its former glory. The team all worked extremely hard, making a huge effort to rid the path of all intrusive objects and plants. After an intense morning of hard work and large swathes of the path restored, the RSPCA staff thanked the team by providing them with the opportunity to take a tour of the site. The tour really helped the team grasp what a great job the RSPCA do for the local community and the exemplary level of support they provide their animals. The team got to see this first hand as their animal behaviouralist took them through some dog training with one of their long stay dogs.

The team left the site feeling energised and proud of what they were able to achieve in such a short space of time and the SATT’s felt great that they were giving back to the local community.

A few weeks after the initial task, the RSPCA centre published a Facebook post asking for additional resources for their animals to help them through the winter. So, Cpl Reading decided to set up and co-ordinate an initiative for the local community and RAF Halton to donate Animal Christmas shoeboxes which could be donated to the Centre. With support from AS1 Presford and Bareham (Station Medical Centre) a huge number of shoeboxes and items began to flood in both from the local community and the station itself. With overwhelming support, we had at least RRP £500+ worth of items to donate to the centre, with some being brand new and others being pre-loved. To all who donated, a huge THANK

YOU from both the centre and Cpl Reading for supporting the great achievement. This influx of supplies certainly helped maintain their output and delivery of care to animals over the Christmas period.

We will continue to support the RSPCA throughout 2023 and I encourage you to investigate opportunities with the centre if you are interested. A quick google search of ‘RSPCA Blackberry Farm’ will allow you to visit their website and look at all the volunteering roles available. Alternatively, if you would like help and support at Station level, for assistance email Richard.Reading100@ mod.gov.uk.

The Changes To The Law

• The Government’s Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 came into effect on 6th April 2022, and now allows for married couples in England and Wales to divorce without assigning blame. This new law also applies to civil partnership dissolution.

• Like in the old law however, they must have been married for at least one year before applying for the divorce.

• Under the old law, a couple had to prove the breakdown of their marriage through e.g. adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion or lived separately for 2 years or more. If they did not reach an agreement to divorce, they had no choice but to wait until they had been living separately for 5 years before they could make the application.

The New Law

Divorce is now completely digital. Under the new law, there is only one ground for divorce, and that is the irrevocable breakdown of marriage. The changes mean that instead of needing to prove the other party is at fault, there is now no requirement to assign fault when filing for divorce. This also means that you cannot contest the divorce unless you are contesting it on the grounds of validity of the marriage. The new process will allow parties to either make a sole or a joint application (saving on costs!), unlike in the past where only one party could make the divorce application.

There is also a new minimum period of 20 weeks from the beginning of proceedings to the point of the ‘Conditional Order’. This means that 20 weeks must elapse from when the application is filed with the Court before the parties can apply for the Conditional Order. The main purpose for this window is to allow couples a period of ‘meaningful reflection’. If, after that period, the couple still wish to divorce, they must confirm this to the court when they apply for the Final Order, thus making it a minimum of 26 weeks between the initial application and the final order. The new law has made language to be in plain English, for example, changing ‘decree nisi’ to Conditional Order and ‘decree absolute’ to Final Order. The process of filing for the divorce itself is now called Divorce Application as opposed to ‘petition’ which was used in the past. No-fault divorce should reduce conflict, allowing couples to focus on important issues like their children, property and finances.

If you need further advice on this or any other family law matter, please do not hesitate to contact Adaeze.

She offers a 30 minute initial consultation for £60 on family matters. adaeze@dc-kaye.co.uk

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