December 2008 Archives

Parcels of food and toys were distributed to families worst hit by the credit crunch by volunteers from the Salvation Army last week.

More than 400 packages were put together at the Woodthorpe Road church by forty volunteers before being handed over to social services workers who passed them on to the most needy families.

The Spelthorne Junior School choir performed Christmas carols for BP staff at the oil giant's Sunbury headquarters.

Their visit was made as part of a link-up with the company, which for the last two years has sent volunteers to the school to help children with reading.

Street-savvy youths from Spelthorne signed a petition pledging not to carry knives and presented it to Spelthorne MP, David Wilshire, at the House of Commons last week.

More than 5,000 young people signed the petition, 'Knives Wreck Lives' - organised by the Spelthorne Youth Council - which launched on October 27 and presented their pledges to their local MP on Tuesday, December 9.

Arsonists torched a car in Maxwell Road, Ashford, on Friday December 12.

Sunbury firefighters spent nearly an hour dousing the blazing blue Fiat Punto after being called by neighbours at about 2.15am.

Budding songwriters can hone their skills at weekly masterclasses every Monday during term time at Ashford Youth Centre in Kenilworth Road.

The sessions cost £25 a term and anyone interested should contact Spelthorne Council on 01784 446433 or leisure@spelthorne.gov.uk

Spelthorne Council is set to spend £100,000 on valuation and condition surveys of all the land and buildings it owns.

Approximately £70,000-80,000 has been earmarked by council officers for the condition survey to help decide what work needs doing and between £20,000-30,000 has been set aside to ascertain the rental value of council properties.

A proposal to bulldoze two homes in Ferndale Road and replace them with eight flats is set to get the go-ahead from Spelthorne Council on Wednesday.

SR Newman Homes has applied to build a two storey block containing five two-bedroom and three one-bedroom flats in the place of the two semi-detatched properties.

A Christmas carol concert will be held on Sunday (November 14) in the Salvation Army Hall in Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, at 3pm.

A claim that drivers parking in front of Ashford Congregational Church are forcing pedestrians to walk in the busy road to get past them was rebuffed by the church pastor this week.

One nearby householder, who asked not to be named, took photos of the offending cars parked outside the church in Clarendon Road at about 11.15am on Monday December 3, and called the police to come and talk to the drivers.

He said: "This type of parking is becoming far too frequent in this local area. The road is frequently used by elderly people, attending the Fordbridge Centre, and by mothers with prams."

Almost 1,000 people packed Ashford town centre for the annual On The Map festival and switching on of the Christmas lights last night.

The 35 stalls were located in a new venue - the multi-storey car park in Church Road - as the Brooklands College site where past events have been held is being redeveloped.

But families still turned up in their droves on Wednesday to sample the craft and charity stalls, tombolas and raffles and mulled wine and mince pies before watching the Mayor of Spelthorne Cllr Simon Bhadye turn on the town's Christmas lights.