Although it was forecast well in advance, the latest bout of severe weather seemed to take most of us by surprise and much of our regular routine had to be revised. How many times do you hear it said, ‘One heavy fall of snow and the country comes to a standstill!’

Such extreme conditions are very unusual and therefore must have some affect on us all. Especially our Primary Schools where the children have to be escorted to and from home. This duty usually falls on the mother who has to fit it in with the job she does so alternative arrangements have to be made quickly. This also applies to mothers with younger children in day nursery's.

The Children’s Society reported that most mothers of babies under 12 months work while their children are looked after in childcare. There are many reasons why families in our communities today split up and youngsters find themselves living with step-parents. Sometimes this can make matters worse and result in them no longer having grandparents to call on for help.

The same Society also stated that, ‘Economic independence has made women much less dependent on male partners’. Why would anyone be surprised at that? Surely that is what was intended from the time sexual equality was first conceived.

The tragedy is that nobody considered or was able to even start to imagine the consequences and stress that it would put on both parents and children.

Essential viewing for cooks everywhere - especially in times of austerity. The two cooks, Sally and Jane, are called upon to assist their forthright, no-nonsense northern Grandmother (Mrs Ingleton) in cooking dinner. The girls are sent to find a large cabbage from the wartime garden and cut it in half: a whole cabbage would be frivolous; there is a war on!

Sally and Jane choose different cooking techniques but the message is simple: 'never boil green vegetables in vast quantities of water'. I wish my mother had seen this film. (Sharon Messenger)

'Two Cooks and a Cabbage' is part of the BFI Mediatheque touring programme 'Bombs at Teatime' - www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk

Dear Supporter


Thanks in no small part to the RSPB's Climate Action Now campaign, the UK has the first climate change law in the world, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you who took part and supported us. Tackling climate change is essential to protecting millions of species of birds, animals and other wildlife from increased risk of extinction.


Achieving the target to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050 included in the new law will require big changes in Government policy. There's no time to lose in making this shift, which is why the RSPB now needs your support to campaign for wise energy policies.

The Government's own advisors say the only way the UK can make the 80 percent emissions cuts is by phasing out coal power plants that cannot capture and store their emissions, and by making a huge investment in renewable energy.

The RSPB is calling on Ed Miliband MP, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to take this advice and say 'No!' to proposals for new coal-fired power stations that do not have the ability to capture and store the carbon emissions they produce - like that proposed for Kingsnorth in Kent - and to say 'Yes!' to renewable energy.

More information can be found by visiting our website.



Please take the time to support our campaign once more by participating in our online action and e-mailing Mr Miliband.

Act now and be a voice for nature.

Thank you for your support

Ruth Davis

Head of Climate Change

1-1 x 2

Both 1^st teams managed to keep their supporters anxious and involved until the final whistles last Saturday with their contrasting 1-1 draws. The Ladies played well throughout against a gritty Old Loughtonians but again failed to find a vital second goal before Rebecca Halle, the league's leading scorer, deflected home the equaliser with eleven minutes to go. In contrast the Men took some time to get going against a very strong Cambridge University side after their enforced 3-week break and after spurning a good chance early in the game almost immediately fell behind following an uncharacteristic mistake in defence. The last minute equaliser came as an immense relief to the team and crowd following some sustained pressure.

This Saturday the Ladies are away to Staines (1.30) looking for the win to secure mid-table safety while the Men are away to Cambridge City (2.00) seeking three of the ten points needed from their last eight matches to secure the championship.

Last Sunday the Men's Veterans went out of England Hockey's Veterans Cup by three goals to one away to Ipswich but not until they had put up a tremendous fight in the sporting scene of the word. Missing four regulars and relying on the same eleven players throughout the match they went ahead when skipper Phil Cobbald banged the ball home after 13 minutes. However, it was Ipswich who had most of the play and the evergreen Andy Cook put them ahead with a couple of good goals early in the second half. Magpies were denied an equaliser with five minutes remaining by a goal line clearance and in the dying seconds Ipswich converted a penalty corner to complete the scoring. Outstanding for Magpies in a fine team effort were goalkeeper Murray Graham and midfielder Simon Bardwell. However, the umpires felt they could manage the last minute of the game without anymore of Simon's advice by which time, like many of his teammates, he was in need of a rest!

News and comments in brief

· Congratulations to Simon Bardwell and Paula on their marriage last week.

· My thanks to David and Phil Cobbald for all the maintenance work they have put in on the two pitches over the last few days.

· Please have a look, via the link on the top right of the Home Page of the website, of the video interviews of Leigh Sitch and Colin Wheelhouse carried out last Saturday by Nick Wells, the Sports Editor of the Diss Express.

· The best goal I saw last weekend was Guy Paul's fine effort when he went round the goalkeeper to give the 4ths a hard fought win over Bury St Edmunds 2nds.

· We have several teams in form at the moment including the Ladies' 3rds under the captaincy of Jose Tibbenham. With 7-1 and 7-3 wins in their last two games they are now challenging for promotion.

· Other teams in form are the Men's 2nds, as demonstrated by their 10-0 demolition of St Ives, the Men's 5ths who secured their sixth successive win by beating Bury St Edmunds 4ths 11-0 and the Ladies Development with their 15^th successive win (this time 3-0 over North Walsham) to maintain their 100% record.

· Congratulations to our U11 and U13 Boys and Girls Mini teams which did so well again last Sunday – this time at Pelicans. The U11 Boys and U13 Girls came 1st, the U11 Girls came 2^nd and the U13 Boys finished 3^rd. This Sunday the Boys' teams will be competing in the Norfolk Championships at Gresham's School.

· On the injury front it is bad news that Andy Bedwell will be out for the rest of the season but encouraging news that Charlie Harrison is making good progress following her hand injury.

· It was good to hear from David Blackmore last weekend wishing the Vets well at Ipswich. David will be back in a few months after he has tired of the ski slopes of France!

· I can report that the electronic scoreboard was suffering from amnesia! I hope all will be well this weekend now it has been reminded of the signal it should receive from the remote control.

· After their bye against Broxbourne the Mixed team are away to Long Sutton (11.30) this Sunday in the EH Trophy.

· It would be much appreciated if you would kindly return your Spring Prize Draw books (with money!) as soon as possible please.

· I think I may have mentioned (!) the Wine Tasting Evening to be held in the clubhouse at 7.30pm on Saturday 7 March. Please come along.

Best wishes to supporters and friends of HMHC and to all our teams playing this weekend.

Mike Denham Tel: 01603 506925 E-mail: MDenham975@aol.com 25/2/09

-

16th – 19th July 2009
Henham Park Estate, Southwold, Suffolk

www.latitudefestival.co.uk

The pioneering, genre-defying, award-winning Latitude Festival returns to England's Sunrise Coast for another spectacular year. Taking place on 16th – 19th July, near Suffolk's stunning sea-side town of Southwold, organisers Festival Republic are promising Latitude will be the perfect British summer destination.

Now in its fourth year Latitude continues to inspire and innovate; bringing the very best from the worlds of music, film, comedy, theatre, cabaret, dance, poetry, literature and art together for a fun-filled, cultural adventure by the sea. Last year's sold out, sun-drenched event bore witness to such weird and wonderful sights as a spontaneous conga line, courtesy of comic genius Ross Noble; a slice of European hip-hop dance from Sadler's Wells performed at sunset on a beautiful stage upon the lake; and huge luminous, golden orbs which decorated Sigur Rós' stunning headline set on the Obelisk Arena. And that's not to mention the flesh-eating zombies that emerged from deep in the woods to assemble at the Theatre Arena in a climactic ending to a Royal Shakespeare Company thriller!

Latitude never fails to offer the cream of the music world and caters for all tastes whatever your interests and mood. With four stages dedicated to showcasing an eclectic line-up you can guarantee established bands and budding new acts aplenty, all weekend long. Last year at the Obelisk Arena you could bask in the sunshine and enjoy the sonic delights of festival headliners Franz Ferdinand, Sigur Rós and Interpol, as well as witness a frenetic show from Nick Cave's Grinderman, and a jaw-dropping sunset performance from Mercury Prize winners Elbow. Whilst on a leisurely amble over to the tented Uncut Arena you could sample music from all genres including reggae, jazz and blues from African duo Amadou And Mariam, progressive and experimental rock from Mars Volta, and orchestral rock from cult band Tindersticks, plus a nostalgic bop to the legendary disco/punk of Blondie.

Nestled in a clearing in the woods, the exquisite and intimate Sunrise Arena provides the perfect platform for emerging bands, like last year's headliners Crystal Castles, Metronomy and Black Kids to reach large audiences. Likewise, a short stroll down to the shimmering lake, you can chance upon The Lake Stage – an open air hub of rising stars curated by Radio 1 DJ and new music aficionado, Huw Stephens, handpicking the very best from the BBC Introducing stage.

Anything and everything is possible at Latitude Festival with new and exciting experiences just waiting to be discovered round every corner. Whether it 's unexpectedly stumbling across a piano in the woods inviting you to have a play; drunkenly entering in a sack race on the sunny banks of the lake or just meandering between arenas sampling the full spectrum of art on offer, Latitude has something for everyone, making it an ideally located weekend away. There's even a dedicated Children's Arena as diverse as the rest of the festival, where kids can enjoy books, art, music, theatre, heaps of participation and fun with the added opportunity to take something away, from circus skills to handmade crafts to an appreciation of the woodland setting and the nature within it.

It's this vast and eclectic programming which has set Latitude apart from its contemporaries and has won the event many awards over the past three years. In October last year Latitude Festival was delighted to win a coveted TMA (Theatre and Management Awards) for Special Achievement in Regional Theatre. Main sponsor of the awards, The Stage Newspaper, praised Latitude's efforts to take theatre to new audiences and as the awards honour individual creative excellence and collaborative artistic effort in performance and production, this is a massive achievement that places the theatre programme at Latitude up there with the great and the good of the performing arts world.

Festival Republic's plans are already underway for the fourth edition of Latitude and will be bringing back BAFTA, The Royal Court Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Sadler's Wells to name but a few. Add to this the diverse, unparalleled line-up of music to come, plus much, much more still to be confirmed and announced across all arenas over the next five months; this year's event will no doubt shape up to be yet another glorious slice of cultural heaven. So why not book the time off now and rest assured that you'll have the time of your life, holidaying on the Sunrise Coast at Latitude Festival 2009.

For more information please contact Press Counsel PR
Dani and Charlie – National
Anthea – Regional
Dan – Online
Firstname@presscounsel.com 020 7792 9400

PRESS REVIEWS FROM LATITUDE 2008

"Like a heady mix of the best bits of The Hay Literary Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe and Glastonbury without the overcrowding." Bruce Dessau - Evening Standard

"Latitude – an event fast threatening to become the most perfect small-ish festival in the English summer season." – James Dellingpole – Telegraph

"The lengthy bill of comedic talent features something for everyone." – Dominic Maxwell – The Times

"No British festival does as well all round at being idyllic, civilised, varied and fun (as Latitude)." - Independent on Sunday

"With families enjoying poetry, dance and theatre on a beautiful riverbank site, Latitude festival could be Albion." - NME

"An embarrassment of riches more potent than pop." - Dominic Cavendish, Telegraph

"As I wander away, I see comedian Ross Noble leading a crowd of around 1,000 people out of the comedy tent and over the hill, like a demented Pied Piper. Out on the lake, Nexus is performing a two-man version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and the Ravenhill shorts are playing in the packed theatre tent. I'll be back next year. Who knows, I might even find time to see a band." - Lyn Gardner – Guardian G2

"Until now, it has been unheard of to find the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and the Royal Court all performing in the same venue over the space of a few days, but Latitude Festival can boast all three of these flagship groups, not to mention a floating dance stage!" – Alistair Smith – The Stage

Waveney Volunteering News
To get information about any of our volunteering opportunities please contact one of our offices listed below.

Amongst the hundreds of volunteering opportunities registered at the Volunteer Centre we would like to highlight a few new requests for help.

The Hand in Hand Club, a club for people with dual sensory impairments, is looking for volunteers, both male and female, to help out with activities. They meet on the first Monday of each month from 1.00pm - 4.30pm.

Samaritans need a Publicity Officer/Fundraiser.

A project within the Shaw Trust, working with young people, is recruiting volunteers to support and assist with classwork, sports activities and trips out to work-based visits.

If you would like further information call into the office, telephone or email - we'll be pleased to see you.

About Volunteering
Volunteers choose to give their time, energy, enthusiasm, and skills to help their local community.

There is a variety of volunteering opportunities in and around the Lowestoft, Beccles, and Bungay areas, and you can volunteer in many different ways — many more than you might imagine. Volunteers can contribute to all aspects of community life from befriending to bookkeeping.

You can choose how much time you want to give and the type of activity. From one-off street collections to weekly, monthly, or annual activities.

If you're not sure what you want to do then we can help you decide, and find an opportunity that's right for you.

For further information about volunteering, the Volunteer Centre or our services, please contact us at either of our offices.

Lowestoft Office
15 Milton Road East
Lowestoft
Suffolk
NR32 1NT
Telephone: 01502 562299 (24 hour answerphone)
Email: lowestoftvb@tiscali.co.uk
Open Monday to Thursday 9:00 am to 2:00 pm, and other times by arrangement.

Beccles Office
Beccles Town Hall
The Walk
Beccles
NR34 9AJ
Telephone: 07504224525
Email: lowestoftvb@tiscali.co.uk
Open 1st Wednesday each month 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.

www.VolunteerCentreLowestoft.org.uk

www.Crossroads.org.uk

There are a large number of community and voluntary organisations in the Waveney area. Exactly quite how many isn’t known. How many people are involved in Waveney? How many people benefit? How much is the voluntary work worth in Waveney? These are all unknowns.

Waveney Community Forum – an umbrella organisation for the voluntary and community sector – wants to remedy this lack of solid recognition.

The Forum needs information
The Forum want to try to find out every organisation that works in the area, what they do, how many people they reach, how many hours they devote to their activity – in short, to produce an accurate picture of community and voluntary activity in Waveney, and most importantly, how much it’s worth to the local economy.

One Thousand pounds in cash prize draw
To this end, the Forum sent out a survey 10 days ago to over 300 voluntary and community organisations in the Waveney District. We have already over 10% responses, but this is information gathering rather than a statistical survey. We need more! If you have received a print copy of the survey, or a link to the online survey, please complete and return it. Your organisation could win a prize of £500 if you do so. There’s five other prizes of £100 each up for grabs too.

No Survey? Contact us
If your organisation hasn’t received a survey, please call Waveney Community Forum on 01502 582201, or email john.ellerby@waveneycf.org.uk

Or go to www.waveneycf.org.uk and click on the link. The key thing is, the more the Forum knows, the stronger the case for the sector.

Effect of the Recession
In a recession, the work done voluntarily becomes even more important to our communities’ well-being; sometimes, indeed, vital for its very survival.

Therefore, Waveney Community Forum also wishes to get some solid information about the effect the recession is having on front-line community organisations. Government agencies tend to direct people to voluntary organisations, like CAB. Several local groups are reporting a rapid rise in the number of people needing support and advice. How will the voluntary groups cope with this rise in demand? What effect do they think the additional pressure will have? What will they need to be able to deal with new issues caused by the recession?

Armed with all this information, the Forum will be able to demonstrate to other groups – local councils, partnerships, public bodies, and businesses – how it is an essential part of the economic and social fabric of Waveney.

Every organisation in Waveney
The Forum wants to find every community organisation in Waveney. You may not think you fit the description ‘community organisation’, but if you and your organisation does anything which benefits your community directly – from football club to life-guards to youth dance group to befriending – we’d like to know about you.

All the information will be analysed and then we should have a much clearer picture of the significance, vitality, breadth of provision, and economic worth of the Third Sector, and what effect the recession will have or is having.

Please contact John Ellerby (Research Officer) 01502 582201 or john.ellerby@waveneycf.org.uk

www.waveneycf.org.uk

Puddings polished off
Slow Pudding Party a resounding success - ITV researchers pay a visit

A plentiful provision of pleasing puddings was on the menu for partygoers in Aylsham on Saturday 21 February. Slow Food Aylsham's 'Slow Pudding Party' was an absolute sell-out with over 50 diners in the Town Hall enjoying an amazing selection of dessert puddings, preceded by a variety of soups.

All the dishes on offer were home made by Slow Food members and featured a choice of five different soups, ranging from the traditional 'leek and potato' through to the more exotic 'red lentil and chard', all served with home made bread. The main event of the evening was of course, the puddings and there were no less than 17 on offer. Served with either cream from Norton's Dairy or home made custard, the choices included a Norfolk Treacle Tart, Lemon Meringue Pie, Chocolate Mousse, Pears in Moscato d'Asti and Apple Pie with a Norfolk Dapple cheese flavoured crust. Outstanding hit of the evening was a traditional Treacle Duff, made by Slow Food Aylsham member Ruth Harrison, which looked as it might have done in the 18th Century, gently steaming and only missing an 'Eat Me' label!

Very little was left at the end, only full tums preventing the last morsels being polished off. Liz Jones, Chair of the local Slow Food group summed it up: "Everyone I've spoken to has said how much they enjoyed the evening and how good the food was. Our members have excelled themselves and added to Aylsham's reputation as a foodie town".

Copies of recipes for the soups and puddings were available for guests to take home and try the dishes for themselves.

Adding a little 'spice' to the evening was the presence of two researchers from ITV's Britain's Best Dish programme. They were scouting for cooks who will enter the Norwich auditions for the 2009 competition and went away happy that they had got an enthusiastic response from a number of Slow Food Aylsham members. This national competition has a particular place in the hearts of Norfolk foodies as it was won in 2007 by Aylsham pig farmer, John Kenny who featured at the 2008 Aylsham Food Festival Cooking Theatre - run by Slow Food Aylsham - as a celebrity chef. Liz Jones commented, "It would be wonderful if our area could scoop the prize again. John Kenny has been a great ambassador for Norfolk food and I'm hoping that it will get more coverage in Britain's Best Dish 2009."

The next Slow Food Aylsham event will be a food-themed quiz night in the Town Hall on Saturday 25th April. More details are on the website, www.slowfoodaylsham.org.uk

For further information, please contact:

Roger Willis
RWFW Associates
22 Collingwood Drive
Mundesley
NR11 8JB

Tel: 01263 722492 / 0797 007 7506
Email: roger.willis1@virgin.net

www.alerter.co.uk

LADIES 1s v Old Loughtonians (L) (H) 1-1 D
LADIES 2s – no game
LADIES 3s v Loddon (L) (A) 7-3 W
LADIES 4s – no game
LADIES 5s – no game
LADIES 6s v Herlings (L) (H) 5-0 W
LADIES Dev. v North Walsham (L) (H) 3-0 W
Fixtures Sun 22 February
Pelicans Minis U11 Girls 2nd
Pelicans Minis U13 Girls 1st

MENS 1s v Cambridge University (L) (H) 1-1 D
MENS 2s v St Ives (L) (A) 10-0 W
MENS 3s v UEA (L) (A) 1-2 L
MENS 4s v Bury St Edmunds 2s (L) (H) 1-0 W
MENS 5s v Bury St Edmunds 4s (L) (H) 11-0 W
MENS 6s v Lowestoft Railway 2s (L) (A) 3-4 L
MENS Vets v Ipswich (L) (H) 1-2 L
Fixtures Sun 22 February
MENS Vets v Ipswich (EH Cup) (A) 1-3 L
Pelicans Minis U11 Boys 1st
Pelicans Minis U13 Boys 3rd

Driver training takes me all round the UK, and whilst travelling to a company to deliver theory and practical training for some of their 300 drivers. The time 7pm on the way to Crawley near Gatwick airport using the M11 and M25 this was the best route as I had just completed a driver seminar at Cambridge.

The day had seen very bad for fog patches and tonight it was clamping down, very poor visibility fog signs flashing - speed limits down from 70mph to 40mph (still fast for conditions). I could not believe the number of drivers - speeding - overtaking into a wall of fog, just past Dartford crossing a rear end shunt five vehicles heavily damaged, my goodness these should be the safest roads all the traffic going in the same direction - no oncoming traffic.

Lots of drivers in a poor sense of security sitting in smooth running cars - powerful - feeling comfortable, not feeling the sense of speed.

I wonder if their Eyes were ON DIP or MAIN BEAM?

An expression I always like to think of.

Have you noticed drivers at garage forecourts for instance - they may well have been driving a long time - stopped for petrol - walk into shop to pay, their head is down - chin nearly touching chest - and Yes their eyes are on dip, they probably walk into you as you are walking out of the shop.

What a worry. Lets move into the Daylight hours.

Our normal visual awareness is perfect for us all to walk at a normal walking pace. But do we really learn to enlarge our visual awareness to move safe at speed.

We must all be effective drivers.

Expert drivers can record more eye movement than an average driver.

So many drivers stare at one point they miss seeing the 'Big Picture'.

Do not move your eyes at random.

In busy town centres your eyes must move evenly across and through your whole field of vision. If you find you have no time to see all the important areas around you - you are going too fast, your speed will be unsafe - slow down.

Don't let speed exceed your scanning ability. To improve your driving and make it more interesting is to look ahead - planning.

Failing to plan is planning to fail.

Many drivers look no further than a point they will reach in a few seconds.

You must look ahead at least 30 seconds, this is a distance of half a mile or more on a motorway - what a thought, yes honest.

When you are driving in a queue do you find you are looking at the rear of the vehicle in front.

How do you feel when the brake lights come on? Yes from time to time that driver brings his foot from the gas pedal to brake, its taking a fifth of a second for the brake light bulb to light up.

Many people at work. (reading - writing - using a computer - watching tv) Involve the vision that's just a central field of view.

So many people get a habit of forgetting their peripheral vision - all round bigger picture.

Scan mirrors for best view, a door mirror can give you more view on bends than the interior mirror.

Just using your peripheral vision alone can get you safely and accurately steering through bends, why not try it.

Never Driver Faster Than Your Guardian Angels can Fly

Raising The Eyes = A Higher Standard of Driver

BECCLES CHORAL SOCIETY

The Beccles Choral Society can trace its origins as far back as 1851 although their current incarnation dates form 1935.

The choir performs three major concerts each year with their repertoire encompassing many of the major choral works as well as some less frequently performed pieces. Apart from concerts in their ‘home’ venue of St Michael’s church, Beccles, they have sung, by invitation, at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and later with Aled Jones. They joined the Pakefield Singers to present Carmina Burana at Snape Maltings in 2006, repeating the performance to close the arts festival fortnight at Kentwell Hall in August 2007 at the request of the owners.

If you would like to join us at Beccles Choral Society or just more details, please contact our secretary Stella on
01493 780856 or 07717223123
stella.murgatroyd@onetel.net

* for all our latest Waveney Valley Blog entries click here *

or visit our web site:
www.beccleschoralsociety.co.uk