At our AGM on 21st June we were very fortunate to have welcomed from the Environment Agency, Justine Glynn, Community Resilience Advisor, and Emma Booth, a chartered civil engineer who gave us an up-to-date presentation on the River Thames Scheme and its likely effect on the Lower Sunbury area. Justine offered to make available a copy of the slides that she and Emma used for the presentation.

To view slides, please click here

The next Music Night falls on Friday 7th July when the Cricket Club welcomes BIG STEAM. Most of the members of Big Steam are familiar faces at the Club as they were formerly in The Others, the R&B band which was formed at Hampton Grammar School in the 60s, and were signed to the Fontana label, also taking over as the house band at Richmond’s Crawdaddy Club in the wake of the Rolling Stones and Yardbirds. They re-formed a few years ago and have done some excellent gigs at the Club.

They have undergone one or two changes over the last year or so, the main one being the addition of another former Hampton School contemporary, lead guitarist and singer Tim Staffel, who boasts a fascinating musical heritage, in that he was a member of the group Smile, the first group formed by Brian May of Queen when he was at Imperial College, with Roger Taylor, and which recorded briefly for the Mercury label. It was Tim who introduced Freddie Mercury to the band before he left to join Humpy Bong, although one of Tim’s songs, co-written with Brian, was on Queen’s first album.

As a result of Tim’s arrival, the musical profile has broadened from its hard-edged R&B base to include some original material, and having made their debut at last summer’s Ealing Blues Festival, they had done a couple of mini-tours in Europe in the last couple of months, so it promises to be an interesting and entertaining evening.

Food will be available as usual, and tickets for next month’s Hamilton Loomis gig will be on sale.

The Riverside Arts Centre in Thames Street is fast becoming an established venue for monthly Sunday night jazz. Mood Indigo Events, the organisers, is a not-for-profit partnership set up and run by Janet McCunn and Terence Collie to put on and promote high quality jazz events in South West London.

On Sunday, 9th July the RAC will host a tribute to the great American saxophonist, Dexter Gordon featuring:

• Paul Young – saxophone
• Terence Collie – piano
• Paul Michael – bass
• Ted Carrasco – drums

Go to: moodindigoevents.co.uk/riverside-arts-jazz.html

Sunbury and Shepperton Arts Association exists to foster artistic taste and to promote the knowledge, understanding and appreciation of the arts amongst those people living in Sunbury, Shepperton and surrounding areas.

Run entirely by unpaid volunteers SSAA has pleasure in promoting its annual Arts Festival from 15th – 23rd July.

For full details of the very varied programme of events, click here: http://www.ssaa-arts.org/

Having fought a long battle to maintain this Centre for the benefit of Sunbury Residents, we are delighted to forward this invitation to our website:

“Come and join us at the friendly Benwell centre for our summer fete, featuring various stalls, our line dancers will be performing and weather permitting BBQ and Pimms. We are raising money for our social funds to continue with events, parties and outings. We want to help combat loneliness and isolation.

“Benwell Centre is based within Mitchison Court, with easy access from Sunbury Station or by bus routes, 216, 235, 555, 557 and all have stops close by.

Benwell Centre, Downside, Sunbury-On-Thames, TW16  6RT 01932-784232

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For more information about the Benwell Centre and its programme of activities, visit: https://spelthorne.gov.uk/ benwellcentre

Situated on the Lower Hampton Road, Thames Court, the HQ of the Salvation Army, is one of those local landmarks which has aroused the curiosity of residents over the years.

We are now invited to an open afternoon at these impressive premises between 1pm – 4pm on Saturday 1st July with a musical programme provided by the Staines Salvation Army band. All are welcome.

For poster, click here

Despite falling on the hottest June day on record, our AGM attracted a large number of existing and new members. Unfortunately, due to the parliamentary debate on the Queen’s speech our guest speaker, Kwasi Kwateng MP, was unable to attend. This in no way detracted from a very informative evening with presentations by the Environment Agency to update us on the Thames Flood Relief Scheme; and by Colin Squire on the birth and history of his family’s garden centres.

As is customary, Our Chairman, Paul Thompson opened the AGM with his report. To view, click here

Night time street lights are being switched back on in Spelthorne from Thursday 22 June.

Although street lighting is the responsibility of the County Council, an agreement was made between the Leaders of Spelthorne Borough Council and Surrey County Council to reinstate night time lights in Spelthorne for an initial period of five years, on the understanding that the Borough Council would find the necessary funding.

This was approved by Surrey County Council's Cabinet on 30 May.

Cllr Ian Harvey, Leader of Spelthorne Council, said: “I am very pleased that we have been able to resolve this with the County Council. Lots of concerns were raised by residents about the switch off, many of whom are shift workers, so I am glad we have been able to respond to those concerns.”

The following email has been forwarded to LOSRA by Ashford North Residents’ Association:

Dear Residents

You may be aware the Blanche Heriot Unit at Ashford & St Peters  is planned to close on 30^th September 2017.

This will leave no level 3 Sexual Health Clinic  in this area - the closest being several miles away in Guildford or Kingston. The replacement services are not as they purport to be and will not provide the same level of cover as the Blanche Heriot unit does.

1. They see a vast number of pts- and because it is a confidential service the number of people they see is not always appreciated
2. Breaking up a very efficient, humble, capable, experienced team- who often stay beyond their allotted hours
3. Fall out on the local GP community will be significant.
4. Short sighted closure with the potential effect of the spread of untreated sexual disease causing significant community and health service problems.

If you would like to make you voice heard and support keeping the Blanche Heriot unit open then please sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/keep-blanche-heriot-unit-at-st-peter-s-hospital-open

All three items will be collected by a new dedicated vehicle on the same day as recycling or rubbish but at a different time. A portion of the money from the textiles collected will be donated to a local charity.

Residents can check which day their collection is by typing their postcode in to My Spelthorne or by calling 01784 451499.

A leaflet with information and the new collection calendar was delivered to residents in May together with a roll of plastic food waste liners. Residents can also re-use bread bags, salad bags and plastic carrier bags, newspaper or compostable liners to line their caddy. The calendar will also be in the summer edition of the Bulletin.