VOLUME NO: 1 ------------------- November/ December 2010 COMPLIMENTARY Value £1.00 The Editor. Tel: 01623 404299 Email: [email protected] B-L.T. Incorporating The Rainworth Reporter pages 8 & 9 TAXI B-line travel TAXI The Blidworth focus pages 10 & 11 The Village Voices page 12 No Journey Too Short Now reaching Ravenshead Residents (page 13) Blidworth 1 to 8 Passengers Local Friendly Reliable Taxi & Minibus Service Fully Licensed AIRPORTS***COASTAL***GROUP OUTINGS***HOSPITAL www.b-linetravel.co.uk Mobile: 07929 137205 Call: 01623 795608 Remembrance Ceremony Rainworth On the 5th September the new memorial was dedicated in the grounds of St Simon and St Jude's Church in Rainworth. The Dedication was led by the Rainworth, Blidworth & District Branch of the Royal British Legion. The service was led by Rev Hazel Robinson and the Homily was given by the Archdeacon of Newark, the Very Reverend; Nigel Peyton. The Lord Lieutenant of Nottingham; Sir Andrew Buchanan BT, unveiled the Memorial and wreaths were laid out after a 2 minute silence. Article continued on page 9 10,000 copies reaching Blidworth Ravenshead Rainworth Farnsfield Edingley Hallam Bilsthorpe The Editor. Tel: 01623 404299 Email: [email protected] 2 Hello to all our regular readers and welcome to Hello from The Sherwood Inside this issue: our new readers. Yes, we Newsletter Editor: Diane Introductions & Invitation to Get Involved 2 have listened to our Carter a local resident with advertisers and News & Information 3 information providers and a local business! took the decision to Looking Good & Feeling Great Winter 2010 4-5 amalgamate the 3 former newsletters; The Rainworth Reporter, The Blidworth Focus and The Village Voices and formed one Our Young and Our Future 6 - 7 great big news filled local community newsletter –hence ‗ The Sherwood‘. We are The Rainworth Reporter now hitting 10,000 homes and have expanded to additional areas of Bilsthorpe The Blidworth Focus plus we have decided to deliver to 2,000 homes in Ravenshead. 8 –13 PLUS from January you will be receiving a copy of ‗The Sherwood‘ FREE to The Village Voices your door, every month! Ravenshead News This month‘s Sherwood edition is packed with local news, ideas of how to get fit, What’s On Locally & in the Surrounding 14—19 look good and keep healthy. ‘Our Young and Our Future‘ pages offers details on Area childcare and news from our various local schools. We have kept some individual village pages to update you on your village‘s personal news, plus a great general Making a House a Home 20—21 ‗What‘s On‘ section. Church Services, Bonfire Nights, Dance Classes—plenty to keep you warm and your spirits lifted through the cold winter months. Plus a Marathon Media; Building Local Businesses 22—25 touch into Christmas with details of where to buy your Christmas trees, a fabulous pantomime and some seasonal services. Local Vacancies 26 We have some fabulous local businesses without whom this magazine would not Christmas is Coming 27 be here for you, so please support them as much as you can. Which reminds me—if you are a business owner, or considering starting up—visit Marathon Media; Strengthening 28—31 our unique 4 page business supplement for lots of advice and support-plus local Communities job vacancies. So please celebrate with me, this new step into the future and I A Healthy/Sporty Village & Emergency hope you enjoy ‘The Sherwood’. Thank you. Diane The Editor. 32 Numbers. GREAT NEWS AND FEEDBACK WELCOMED Thank you to those who keep emailing regarding local news, events and feedback. Please address to the Editor; email: [email protected]. Postal address available on request. Deadline for news articles for January edition—slightly earlier—3rd December 10. Please keep sending information so we can keep the newsletter ‘hot and fresh’! Advert requests and payments by Friday 3rd December 2010 . Any feedback or news must be supported by a name & address although this can be withheld at request. Contact: Diane, Editor: 01623 404299/07916 245 367 THE SMALL PRINT Marathon Media Whilst we believe the New work practices of our FULL COLOUR advertisers are of a high advertisers standard and we make ADVERTISING THAT WORKS! every effort to establish Tiny Keepsakes page 3 their reliability and GREAT COMPETITIVE PRICES stability, we cannot Cherubs page 13 check the standard of Readership of over 40,000 work offered by them. Sherwood Residents Men in Sheds page 29 We cannot accept any liability whatsoever as a Plus delivered to LOCAL OUTLETS result of your using any Welcome on Board and Good luck of the advertisers in the see back page with your promotions newsletter. In addition, letters and articles Box adverts from only £35 Join out team of regular advertisers to win supplies for inclusion in Classifieds £15 this newsletter are the £25 CASH per edition in opinion of the writer Leaflet inserts £20 per 1000 delivered our Loyal Customer and not ourselves. We GREAT DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! will not publish any Lottery Draw* item considered to be Our Personnel have advertising, marketing abusive, rude, November edition won d e f a m a t o r y o r & sales expertise to help You get the best by Professional Touch threatening. If at any results for time you wish your Kitchen and Bathroom article to be anonymous Your money. Specialists. See their advert on page 21. please state so clearly. New Design & Print Service We also reserve the Ask for a FREE Quote To be eligible bookings must be made and right to edit where necessary and retain Contact Diane on: 01623 404299 or paid for by the due date. the right to print or not. email: [email protected] *Minimum 3 edition bookings to qualify www.marathon-media.co.uk Edited, Produced and Distributed by MARATHON MEDIA 3 News and Information It has been great getting out and about during the summer break and Party Conference season. Two of my favourite visits were to Abby Gates School in Ravenshead and Hallam C of E School (see photo). I had a tour of both schools and it really is good to see the work being done by our teachers and their governors. I am continuing to press the Secretary of State on school funding, especially putting the case for Joseph Whittaker and Dukeries College. I’ve been talking to the good people of Sherwood for over two years now, knocking on doors listening to the issues that worry or frustrate them. While you never know exactly what you’re going to get after you’ve rung that bell, I can always guarantee that a few key topics will come up and one of those is our benefits system. We have a great tradition in our country of supporting the vulnerable, particularly our children and that is a tradition worth celebrating. There is however no denying that we have found ourselves in the ridiculous position that for some, it is more profitable to live off the state than it is to go to work. That isn’t fair. The Coalition has announced dramatic changes to our existing system. One of the driving campaign points of the Conservatives before the election was to take control of our benefits system; to address some of the unfairness that has become inherent with Housing Benefit; to ask higher earners to forgo their child tax credits but most importantly to make sure that it pays to work. The Teacher in the photo is The changes involved can’t simply be about taking Graham Cullen away, Government needs to give opportunities to those who want to work. We will be launching a Work Programme, which in 2011 which will put an end to the situation where anyone who can work will be able to sit at home on benefits doing nothing. There will be much better back-to-work support available to claimants, but if they refuse to use that support, they will lose their benefits. We’ve also looked at a way to make the benefits system simpler: to make it more P.S Just a quick note to let you know, that I accessible to those who need support but to protect the taxpayer from those seeking to received quite a few calls from my previous exploit the system. The Universal Credit is based on a simple premise – that work should advertisers. So here‘s hoping for a few more pay for everyone in all circumstances. At the moment people who are receiving benefits and are doing some work are in the in the new colour edition. bizarre situation. If their employer asks them to do more hours at work they will lose 95p Thanks again, the editor in every pound as their benefits are reduced by an amount almost equal to their increased pay. Nobody is going to do more work for in effect 60p/hour. Under the new system, that can no longer happen. Instead, state support will taper away at a constant rate as people work more hours or move up the income scale. I think Chris Grayling summed it up when he said “The desire for radical change to our welfare system is to be found right across the coalition. A welfare state is not somewhere that people should live – unless circumstance has made it impossible for them to work. Instead it should be a ladder up which people climb. To escape the cycle of deprivation and poverty that has dogged so many of our communities over the past, long thirteen years.” I’m proud that this Government has started to take the bold steps necessary to reform a broken system and to make life fairer for hard working families.