Young film makers in Yate premiere

South Gloucestershire Council is premiering two short films created by young people from the St Nicholas Youth Centre in Yate.

The films examine the lives and aspirations of young people in the area and were made in conjunction with artist Vivi Stamatatos. The films, which premier at 2pm on Saturday 30 January at Yate library with the film makers in attendance, were commissioned by the Council’s Arts Development Service for display at the refurbished library on its new plasma screens.

Road to Somewhere looks at the change in youth culture through generations, contrasting the experiences of young people today with that of their parents who were growing up in the 1980s.

What Catherine Did Next looks at the life choices, hopes and aspirations of young people living in Yate. Both films were entirely scripted and acted by the young people themselves.

For further information, please contact Alison Catlin, Arts Development Officer on 01454 865835.

Come and hear Paddy!

Thornbury and Yate Liberal Democrats

invite you to come and hear

Paddy Ashdown

on Thursday 4th February

in Thornbury Leisure Centre at 8pm.

Paddy will discuss the political situation at home and abroad, as well as his experience as a Royal Marine, a Diplomat, and Lib Dem Leader for ten years. There will also be a chance to put your questions to him.

Entry is free but if you intend to come it would be helpful if you could let Thornbury and Yate Liberal Democrats know on steve@stevewebb.org.uk or by phoning Steve Webb’s local office on 01454 322100.

Please print this blogpost and bring it along as your ticket, and invite your friends to come along too.

Published, promoted and printed by Clive Parkinson on behalf of 
Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat) Poole Court, Poole Court Drive, BS37 5PP

Important news on bin collections

From Monday 25 January ALL collections (including black and green wheeled bins and green box recycling) will revert to the normal published days.

If all the confusion caused by Christmas and the bad weather has left you wondering which week you're on, you can check your collection dates online. Where collections have been delayed, SITA will collect reasonable amounts of side waste.

For this week (18 January - 22 January), green bin collections are still suspended and SITA is running approximately one week late on black bin and recycling collections. The advice for this week is still to put your containers out as per the holiday calendar and SITA will get to them as soon as they can.

Celebrating age - opportunies for community groups

South Gloucestershire Council, Age Concern, the Senior Citizens Forum and Southern Brooks Community Partnership are staging the first South Gloucestershire Spring Into Life Festival – A Celebration of Age. This festival will open on Saturday 10th April with an event at Patchway Community Centre, and closes on 23rd April with an event at Cadbury Heath Community Centre.

Community Groups and Organisations can:
• bid for up to £300 to put on their own event, with the deadline for applications being Tuesday 9th February 2010
• be included in the Active Directory in return for waiving fees for those new members attending during the festival
• run an activity or session at either the Patchway or Cadbury Heath event

For more information on bidding for funds or running an activity at the opening or closing events, please contact Denise.swain@southglos.gov.uk by Tuesday 9th February 2010. For publicising ongoing events, please contact David.dowding@southglos.gov.uk by 31st January.

Shire Way resurfacing - further update

The major resurfacing work due for the lower end of Shire Way was delayed yet again because of the snow.

It has now been rescheduled to start on Monday 18 January, and to be complete by Wednesday 27 January. Temporary traffic lights will be in operation.

This will be a full-scale excavate and resurface process similar to what was done on the other part of Shire Way.

It will not be the same as the thin coating that was put on Heron Way, about which there were many complaints at the Area Forum at the Shireway Community Centre recently - the road at Heron Way was open when surfacing was going on, and cars damaged the soft surface.

Community Transport lifeline in the snow

Excellent story on the Gazette website - instead of picking pensioners up to go shopping, drivers for Yate, sodbury and District Community Transport have been delivering essential groceries to those stuck inside their own homes.

On days when the schools have been closed so they didn't have to run the schools contracts, Community Transport drivers have been collecting groceries for pensioners and people with mobility problems. The most popular items have been basics like bread, milk and soup.

The Ring and Ride service has still been operating but cannot get up some of the icy streets, so anyone who requires help with their shopping during the cold weather should call Yate and District Community Transport on 0845 2410985 or 01454 228706.

Snow safety - safe igloo and snowmen!

A "safe snow" theme seems to be emerging today:

Beware of the building site - this igloo warns "Unauthorised entry to this site is strictly prohibited... Safety helmets must be worn"

And these safety-conscious young ladies have a snowman first-aider with his flourescent jacket. This clever group of snowmen always has two or three faces looking at you, whichever direction you approach it from.