Please save your stamps for charity!

Most of our local charity shops collect used stamps - foreign, UK commemorative or just plain "ordinary" stamps - and sell them on to dealers to raise funds. Please keep all those stamps you get at Xmas or indeed any time of year and take them in.

Alternatively you can drop them off to Paul Hulbert at 35 Blaisdon, Yate (this year he's collecting them for the Children's Hospice) or leave them at Dodington Parish Council for him to collect.

Please save your stamps for charity!

Most of our local charity shops collect used stamps - foreign, UK commemorative or just plain "ordinary" stamps - and sell them on to dealers. Please keep all those stamps you get at Xmas or indeed any time of year and take them in.

Alternatively you can drop them off to Paul Hulbert at 35 Blaisdon (this year he's collecting them for the RNIB) or leave them at Dodington Parish Council for him to collect.

Westerleigh lights raise money for stroke charity

Once again the people of Mill Crescent, Westerleigh have put on a Christmas light display to raise money for charity. This year they've chosen Different Strokes, a charity run by younger stroke survivors for younger stroke survivors.

The Mill Crescent lights have become a local Christmas tradition. Why not pop along and see for yourself? You can find out more about the light display, including some of the special visitors they've had this year, on their Facebook page.

Every Little Helps for local causes

Bags of Help is Tesco’s community grant scheme  where the money raised from the 5p bag charge is being used to fund thousands of local projects.

This month the choices at our local Tesco include two very valuable projects in our area:

• The Armadillo Youth Venue and Cafe are aiming to create a green sporty space featuring fruit and veg growing boxes to promote healthy eating
• St Nicholas Under 15 Girls Football Team hope to buy winter kit and football equipment to keep their players warm and dry while training.

If you find you need to buy a 5p bag, please consider using your token to support one of these very valuable causes.

West of England MS Therapy Centre Triathlon

The West of England Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Centre is organising its first annual triathlon to raise funds for the Centre. The Players Sprint Triathlon is taking place on Sunday 2nd of October 2016 at The Players Golf Club, one of the region's most prestigious golf courses.

The sprint triathlon will consist of:

• 750m swim in the golf course’s open-water lake
• 20km cycle through the picturesque country lanes
• 5km run on the championship golf course itself

You can enter as an individual or you can grab a couple of friends and take on one component of the triathlon each.

The event includes:

• Secure bike racking
• Chip timing
• Support with training
• Free swimming hat
• Medal and goody bag for all finishers
• Changing and showering facilities
• Free parking

The event is limited to 120 places so register today to avoid disappointment at mstherapybristol.org.uk/triathlon. For more information contact Emma on 01454 628725 or email triathlon@mstherapybristol.org.uk

Christmas lights in Westerleigh

Once again Mill Crescent is lit up for Christmas to raise money for charity. This year the collection will go to St Peter's Hospice, in memory of several local residents who have died. 

It's well worth a visit, especially if you have children. Mill Crescent is the side road just next to the zebra crossing.

(Photos by Claire Young)

Council Chairman to skydive for charity

The Chairman of South Gloucestershire Council, Ladden Brook Ward Councillor Howard Gawler, will plunge 10,000 feet from a plane on Sunday 7 September to raise money for charity.

Howard will be undertaking a tandem skydive to raise funds for the South Gloucestershire based Great Western Air Ambulance Charity (GWAAC), one of his chosen Chair’s charities for the year. This will involve him free-falling through the air (without the parachute deployed) for 5,000 feet at around 120 mph, before safely parachuting to the ground. He will be harnessed to a professional parachute instructor at all times throughout the descent. Howard's niece Sarah Farthing, from Wick in South Gloucestershire, will also be taking part in the skydive.

Howard said: “I’m really looking forward to my debut skydive in aid of this very worthy cause, the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity. Any one of us may be thankful for the air ambulance’s life saving services at some point in our lives and I’m proud to give them my support."

“The charity doesn’t receive any government or National Lottery funding, which means they rely entirely on the generosity of local people to continue operating. I hope to raise as much money for them as possible, so please visit the dedicated Just Giving page to sponsor my jump or to make a donation.”

To make a donation please visit the Chair’s Just Giving page at www.justgiving.com/ChairsCharity2014

You can find out more about the Great Western Air Ambulance at www.greatwesternairambulance.com

Art by Yate, 8 by 8

Calling all local artists! Art by Yate is a colourful and imaginative art project created by local people, children, and artists - in fact anybody can have a go. Collectively, the canvases can be seen as an exploration of modern culture and life in Yate, Chipping Sodbury and the surrounding areas.

The vision is to create an exhibition of 8×8 inch canvases each created by a local artist, child, mother, father, or local resident. Anyone can take part.

The canvases will be sold in support of the Chipping Sodbury Lions Club. To take part or find out more, email artbyyate@gmail.com

Click to support Paul's Place

Coalpit Heath-based charity Paul's Place for physically disabled adults has been nominated for the Lloyds Community Fund Award 2013 and they need your votes! You can vote for them:

• Online – www.lloydsbank.com/communityfund - You may find it easiest to use the "Search for a good cause" button and put in the postcode BS36 2TT
• By text - text the word VOTE and MQQD to 61119 
• In person at a Lloyds branch – ask in branch for a voting token

You have until 1st November to vote.

Find out more about Paul's Place here

Support a local charity by watching football!

A quick plug for a charity fundraising football match on Saturday week (20th April) in aid of local anti-bullying charity BullyWatch: "There will be a Community Shield football Match on 20th April at Yate Town Football club between our local clubs Dodington FC and Cesson FC 3pm kick off. There will be a raffle and auction and everyone is welcome. The cost will be £2.00 on the gate". Well done to Julie Oakley for organising.

Update: This event raised £650 for BullyWatch. And the final score? Dodington FC 3, Cesson FC 2. Well done to all concerned!

Snap up studio photos in aid of Help For Heroes!

Fancy having some really good quality photos done at a moderate price, and helping this worthy cause at the same time?

Come along to Castle Combe Village Hall next Saturday to have some studio photography shots done. Three prints for £10, and/or pay £10 to get all your photos on CD. All profits go to Help For Heroes.

It's a great way for people to get professional photos done of themselves and their family at a low price, and support charity at the same time.

More details available about the photographers here

Genieri Open Garden days 23rd/ 24th June

Charity Garden Open Days Sat 23rd June and Sun 24th June at Nutridge, Ram Hill, Coalpit Heath BS36 2UF.

Admission £3.00 (children under 16 free) in aid of Genieri, the village in the Republic of The Gambia linked with Yate.
 

Musicians will perform on both days.

A three acre garden with perennial beds, trees, shrubs and open areas. Refreshments and plants for sale.

Click here to find out more about the Yate Genieri Link, the charity that runs the the Friendship Link between the communities of Yate and the village of Genieri.

Could you rattle a tin for Alzheimers research?

BRACE - Bristol Research into Alzheimer's and Care of the Elderly - will have a collection at Morrison's in Yate on Friday 23rd April. They need helpers for a couple of two hour slots in the afternoon, or you can help for a one hour stint if you can't manage two.

Please help this very important local charity that focuses on financing research into dementia and conditions of the elderly. If you can spare an hour or two, please ring Lynda at the BRACE Office on 0117 340 4831 or email her on lynda@alzheimers-brace.org

You can find out more about BRACE from their website at
www.alzheimers-brace.org

Voluntary Voices

South Gloucestershire Voluntary Sector Forum has organised a "Voluntary Voices" event for all members of voluntary and community groups in South Gloucestershire - volunteers, staff and trustees. The event will take place at 2.00pm – 4.00pm this Monday, 27 April, in the Greenfield Centre, Winterbourne, BS36 1NJ.

They will be discussing the South Gloucestershire Safer & Stronger Communities Partnership Strategy Consultation April – July 2009 and there will be an update on the Local Area Agreement, covering the results of the Third Sector survey and planning the next steps in "Participation in Regular Volunteering".

Please contact Gillian Graham on 01454 865205 or email info@cvs-sg .org.uk to register your interest.

DEC Gaza Appeal - BBC & Sky won't show it but we will

The BBC and Sky refused to show the DEC Gaza appeal, Nick Clegg today made the decision to show the video on www.NickClegg.com, his Facebook profile and the Liberal Democrats are also showing the video on the party site www.LibDems.org.uk.
We are showing it here too - just click on the video above.

Please help.

Link to DEC website
Appeal phoneline 0370 60 60 900

Recycle your Christmas cards into trees!

From 2nd to 31st January you can recycle your Xmas cards in aid of the Woodland Trust. Our nearest card recycling point will be at the Tesco supermarket, but other stores collecting are WH Smith, TK Maxx and Marks & Spencer.

Also don't forget to save your stamps - take them into our local charity shops, or drop them off to Paul Hulbert at 35 Blaisdon (he's collecting them for Cancer Research) or leave them at Dodington Parish Council (at the Parish Hall, next to Raysfield School in Finch Rd) for him to collect.

You can read more about the Woodland Trust here.

Clothing collections - UPDATE - don't donate to EC Export

In the past we've warned about commercial door-to-door clothing collections that pretend to be charities. Our advice is usually that unless you recognise a collection by a "big name" charity, you should take usable items to your local charity shop.

We previously said that this organisation appeared OK, but we've discovered from one of our readers that there is no longer a link with the Children's Heart Surgery Fund - in fact in Cardiff EC Export has been prosecuted for making illegal charity collections


Our previous advice was written when the Children's Heart Surgery Fund listed them as a corporate sponsor.

Many thanks to reader "Wales" for bringing this to our attention.