SummerFREE 2020 Haydon Wick living PRODUCED BY HAYDON WICK PARISH COUNCIL Haydon Wick Parish Council Members Position Name Contact Details Chair Linda Brown [email protected] Vice-Chair Vinay Manro [email protected] Policy & Finance Chair Sue Callen [email protected] Amenities Chair Richard Hailstone [email protected] Planning Chair John Fuller johnfuller@ haydonwick.gov.uk Ellen Baker-Lee ellenbakerlee@ haydonwick.gov.uk Steve Heyes [email protected] John Jackson [email protected] Sarah McDermott [email protected] Di Rodgers dirodgers@ haydonwick.gov.uk Linda Rhys-Jones [email protected] Seyi Fateru [email protected] Kumar T. Naik [email protected] Adam John [email protected] Ravi Venkatesh [email protected] Alex Roupelis alexroupelis@ haydonwick.gov.uk Rebecca Ross [email protected] Iain Liddon [email protected] Clerk Georgina Morgan-Denn clerk@ haydonwick.gov.uk Administrator Kim Hall [email protected] Deputy Clerk Laura Cutter [email protected] Finance Officer Sandra Kelly [email protected] Find us at: Council Offices, Thames Avenue, Haydon Wick SN25 1QQ - next to the Haydon Centre, Opposite Morrisons. Tel (01793) 722446 9.00am til 4.00pm Haydon Wick ‘living’ Magazine ... the small print Haydon Wick Council reserves the right to edit articles for reasons of space or other reasons. As a result it is helpful if articles are presented in WORD or ILLUSTRATOR rather than PDF format. Due to publication deadlines it may not always be possible to refer back to the author in such cases. The opinions expressed in articles herein under personal byelines, may not necessarily represent the views of Haydon Wick Council. Whilst we accept all contributions in good faith, Haydon Wick Council cannot be held responsible either for the work of or claims made by, any of our advertisers. We regret this magazine is unable to publish political advertisements and contributors cannot make reference to political parties, or include party logos, party addresses, email or websites. All enquires regarding this publication should be addressed to the editor, Haydon Wick Parish Council on Swindon 722446 or by email [email protected]. ADVERTISERS? ... Call anytime on Swindon 722446 or email [email protected] 2 Haydon Wick ‘living’ is assembled and Summer produced by Haydon in the Parish of Haydon Wick Wick Parish Council Issue No 134 Summer 2020 Letter from the Editorial Team We; the Councillors & Staff; hope this smaller version of the Parish Magazine finds you well. We are living though strange times; every day seems to bring new guidelines on how we go about our daily lives. This climate of constant change resulted in the Council deciding to produce this reduced version of the magazine for delivery and complementing it with a longer version online at https://www.haydonwick.gov.uk/living/ This decision was a compromise, it was felt that it was important to get an update out to the residents while balancing the print costs of a 64-page magazine and potentially not being able to safely deliver them. Please look at our online version, in it you find contributions from many of our regulars. Also, in these unsettling times the Council wanted to help support local businesses, therefore we decided to provide free adverting. So, we make no apologies for having more adverts than usual. The next issue of the magazine is due for delivery in November, hopefully, fingers crossed, it will drop through letterboxes with a weightier thump. Now serving Communities of Oakhurst, Taw Hill, Priory Vale, Haydon View, Haydon Keep Safe Wick Village, Abbey Meads, Haydonleigh, Haydon End, Greenmeadow, Pembroke Front cover provided by Lisa Barnes Park, Woodhall Park and Western Moredon. Pyramidal Orchid by Helen Rebello www.haydonwick.gov.uk 3 From the Chairman It has been a trying time over the last few months, both personally and professionally. Along with too many other people, my own business has suffered, I am concerned about my elderly mum who doesn’t live near Swindon, and we still have a Parish Council to run. The Clerk has covered our activities later in the magazine. So I’d like to thank all the councillors and residents who have done their bit for their neighbours; our staff for their volunteering and team effort; the office team for keeping the office operational. And finally, thanks to Sarah, editor of our magazine, for all her hard work in keeping the content relevant and useful. The thoughts and deepest condolences of my fellow councillors and I go out to all those in our parish who have suffered loss due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay safe. Linda Brown Chairman HWPC Keeping Children Entertained Everybody knows how tricky it can be keeping kids entertained at home and this has been especially so over the past few months. Whilst unfortunately we had to cancel the Easter Egg Hunt in April, with 126 Easter eggs needing homes, the Easter Egg colouring competition was run in its place - well done to all the lucky winners and a big thank you to Morrisons & Asda for their donation of prizes. We recognised that lockdown has been hard on the children of the parish so for the past few months we have been publishing, via the website and our Facebook page, a series of lockdown challenges and puzzles. As well as keeping them entertained hopefully your children have found these engaging and fun to do. Our latest wordsearch "just for fun” can be found on the online version of our magazine on page 23. If you would like us to run more of these competitions, or just have a suggestion on how we can make these better then please email the [email protected] 4 Working through the COVID-19 pandemic The Council has had to carefully community. And finally, we continue to balance how it will deliver use our popular Facebook page to keep essential services whilst the local children amused by running maintaining the safety of its competitions, games and activities. employees during the COVID-19 As we continue to work through the pandemic. From the outset our pandemic, we will ensure that: 14 employees were identified as Key Workers and since then • the grass is cut by our internal teams they have continued to work and larger areas by the contractors through these uncertain times • the hedge cutting is carried out being by emptying the public litter mindful of birds and young animals bins, maintaining the open nesting, thorough inspections are spaces, managing the council carried out prior to cutting and any office and ensuring our hedges that show signs of nesting is statutory responsibilities are put on hold until the autumn met. Our 18 councillors have • the litter and waste bins are emptied also adapted quickly, meeting in regularly the virtual world, with regular • we intervene where necessary to cut fortnightly informal updates back any overgrown plots at our and by holding the first formal leisure garden and allotment sites remote Council meeting in • we respond to fly tipping (where safe May – a first in our history! to do so) and litter picking daily The Council has been committed to its • we remain accessible to anyone in mission statement and has actively been the community who needs help or ‘working with the community and for the support from their parish council community’. Throughout the pandemic At the time of writing the Council Office it continues to give staff, councillors, and remains closed to members of the resources to a local pharmacy in the public but we are available on the parish, to Swindon Borough Council, and telephone 01793 722446 or by email to those local residents who reached out [email protected]. We also to us directly. We have been helping ask residents to help keep the parish them all with deliveries of essential food tidy by reporting any issues to parcels, shopped for specific food [email protected]. requests and delivered medication to the most vulnerable in our community. Finally, to keep up to date with current In addition, councillors, volunteers and News from the Parish Council, please members of our staff have made over ‘Like and Follow’ our Facebook page or 300 wellbeing calls (and still counting) to visit our website and scroll the home keep in touch with those shielding in the page to our news section. 5 The Annual Accounting & Audit Process Throughout the year the Parish Council Once the AGAR is submitted, electors has rigorous accounting and auditing and local taxpayers are invited to view procedures in place to ensure that the the Council’s accounting statements accounts have been properly managed and governance arrangements. These in line with the Council’s Financial accounts are available for residents Regulations. These include monthly to view via our noticeboards; website reconciliations and providing reports and Facebook page during a 30-day to the Council’s Committees and to period, usually from middle of June/July. Full Council; internal audit checks Outside of these times, financial are conducted twice a year by an information is available to view on our independent and sufficiently competent website: www.haydonwick.gov.uk, under person to assess this Council’s size Your Council/Finance or call the Council of accounts. There follows an end of Offices on 01793 722446. The annual year-end financial check, concluding process is concluded with a final with the submission of the Annual assessment of the External Auditor’s Governance and Accountability Return opinion on the AGAR in September (AGAR) or the annual return which goes and these reports are published on to an External Auditor for their review.