Around Town Magazine Rayleigh February Edition 2017 by Black Square Print Media Limited

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CONTENTS 07

06 What’s On

When and Where...

10 Recipe

N OO M S W OOOOD E N RNTW Nature Notes OWRE B 12 EWT Volunteer NeilSHSumner N GI Lemon Meringue Pie

N NI E OP

16 Martin Lewis

Money Saving Expert

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20 Around Town Sports

Focuses on Wickford Trampoline Centre

24 Rotary Club / Lions Club Organisations Around Town

26 A View from Rev. Mike Lodge

27 27

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Copyright 2017. Around Town Rayleigh is an independent magazine and does not endorse the products orAfter services that appear magazine. an initial surveyinathe schedule will follow with all Opinions expressed in Around Town do not booked in. of the editors of necessarilytrades represent those Around Town Magazines. Around Town Magazines Amazon will make your build as stress free as possible. are published by Black Square Print Media Ltd produced by Black Square Litho Ltd.

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Basildon & District Ramblers Club The group meets every Saturday at 2.00pm with some longer walks on others days. The Saturday walks are 4-5 miles with a rest half way. New members are welcome. See our website www. basildonanddistrictramblingclub.btck. co.uk for further details. Soroptimist International Chelmsford & District For over 100 years Soroptimist International has been making a

difference to the lives of women & girls locally, nationally & internationally through Education, Empowerment & Enabling. Ladies- we meet at Christ Church, New London Road, Chelmsford, 3rd Thursday, 7.30pm every month. Come along and find out the differences to lives we can and do make. Contact us: Facebook: Soroptimist International of Chelmsford, website: www.sigbi.org/chelmsford email: sichelmsford@gmail.com call: 07528 789991

If you would like to promote your club or event then please email a maximum of 70 words to admin@aroundtownmagazines.co.uk or fill in the form on our website www.aroundtownmagazines.co.uk Please ensure that all contact details are included.

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policy of delivering the highest standards possible at all times. ‘Our service is simple. If your double glazing has misted up we can replace the glass at a fraction of the cost of a new window, in any type of frame, and with a new 25 year guarantee. But it’s not just about saving people money, although that obviously helps. Whilst a number of tradespeople perhaps don’t focus on customer care as much as they should do, we make sure we turn up when we say we will, do the job the customer requires and leave their house as clean as a whistle. Locally Cloudy2Clear service the Rayleigh & Eastwood areas and

manager Chris Miller agrees that this approach is a major factor in his success. ‘The truth is that it’s not just the personal satisfaction that I get from doing a good job but also it makes good business sense. I get a huge amount of business from friends and family of people I’ve done work for, which just goes to show how much a little bit of effort is appreciated as both my customers and, obviously a body as nationally important as Which? now recognise.’ So, if your windows are steamed up, broken or damaged give Chris a call for a free quotation on 0800 61 21 118 and he’ll be happy to help!

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RECIPE

Lemon Meringue Pie (8 Servings) Ingredients: Pastry 150g plain flour Pinch salt 75g Butter Cold water to mix Filling 50g cornflour 300ml cold water 75g caster sugar Zest and juice of 3 lemons 2 medium egg yolks Meringue 2 medium egg whites 100g caster sugar

Method: Pre-heat to fan 170C/190C/gas5

to the boil.

Prepare the pastry following conventional method and use to line a 20cm greased flan dish. Bake blind, remove from oven then reduce the oven temperature to fan 130c, conventional 150c, gas 2.

Cook the lemony mixture for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before adding the sugar and egg yolks. When cool, tip into the partly cooked pastry case.

to make the filling, first blend the cornflour with a little water to make a smooth paste. in a small pan, heat the remaining water, lemon zest and juice, stir in the cornflour paste and stir until you bring

Whisk the egg whites until very stiff then gradually add in half of the sugar. then gently fold the rest of the sugar. spread the meringue mix over the lemon and swirl and bake for a further 35 minutes to crisp the meringue. allow to cool before serving.

If you would like your recipe to appear in Around Town Magazines then contact our sales team on: 01277 658444 or email: sales@aroundtownmagazines.co.uk

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Nature Notes Written by Neil Sumner

Neilsumner123@aol.com twitter.com/neilsumner123 Around a 24 hour superstore, next to the busy A13, what do you expect to see? Vehicles parked, and coming and going, perhaps? People pushing trolleys laden with groceries? And Bird-watchers on the grass verge in coats and woolly hats, looking through cameras, telescopes and binoculars? The latter is a surprise to the shoppers and many are amused at the incongruity. But the bird-watchers are unconcerned, just pleased that this is a year when we are being visited by Waxwings. One of our most colourful birds, Waxwings have a smart black and reddish-brown mask, a bright yellow tail and a distinctive swept-back crest. The crimson feathers on their wings apparently look like sealing wax, hence the name. Waxwing numbers coming to Essex vary each year, depending on the availability of berries closer to their breeding grounds in northern forests across Scandanavia and Russia. If they have had a productive breeding season and berry stocks are insufficient they make the journey across to our shores. Supermarket car parks and roundabouts provide food when they are planted out with very berry-bearing shrubs. The Waxwing favourite is the rowan, but they will also eat other berries including pyracantha, hawthorn, cotoneaster and rosehips.

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Otherwise, in the inland countryside, winter visitors for the bird-watcher have been patchy. There are flocks of thrushes but the little parties of finches are few and local, apart from the now ubiquitous Goldfinches. As I write the ground is hard under a sharp frost there are little signs of Spring. A Blue Tit inspects a nest hole then makes its ‘parachute’ territorial display and the two-note calls of Great Tits ring through the woods like bells. Their plumage is already smart in the winter sun. At the lake in the park, the heads of Black-Headed Gulls are darkening in readiness for the breeding season. But on the coast it is winter that is most in evidence. Brent Geese, Wigeon and Golden Plover are in their thousands around the Blackwater, along with many other interesting species, including Great Northern Diver, Long-tailed Duck and Shorteared Owls. These Essex coastal spectacles can be enjoyed at a weekend this month on board the iconic Fellowship Afloat lightship at Tollesbury. http://tinyurl.com/zwc78tr for more details.

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CHILD SAVINGS This Christmas, instead of piling present after present many parents, and especially grandparents, have switched to opening savings accounts for little‘uns and giving cold hard cash instead. So, I want to give you a kid’s savings masterclass - the best ways to save for your child or their future. Before I start though, a thought. Don’t do this all for children. Instead do it with them, get them involved as early impossible. Everyone knows I’ve campaigned for years to get financial education taught in schools, but it can be taught at home too. It’s not just about saving, but also where to save to get the most from their money. So, if they’re old enough, sit down with them, and pick the savings account together, running through the pros and cons of each. Turn it into a fun financial game. And make them responsible for monitoring the rate afterwards in case it drops, and you need to ditch and switch. Which are the best-paying savings accounts?

children’s

to open it for them, and you can only do that if you’ve your own Santander current account. - Alternatively, www.HSBC.co.uk’s My Savings account pays 2.75% AER on up to £3,000. Any child aged over 7 can manage this on their own. - For larger sums, the www.Nationwide.co.uk Smart Limited Access account pays 2.25% AER on savings up to £50,000, though it only allows you to withdraw cash once a year. Are there any accounts grandparents can open? For younger children, an adult needs to open the account on the child’s behalf and be a trustee or signatory. (Children don’t usually need to be present but you’ll need ID for them, such as a passport.) Your name will then be on the account with the child’s, but it’ll be your signature that controls it, not theirs. Some accounts are parents only, but grandparents can do this with the Santander, Halifax and Nationwide accounts.

The www.Halifax.co.uk Kids’ Regular Saver pays 4% AER fixed for a year, but you can only pay in between £10 and £100 per month, and can’t withdraw any money until the year’s up. The www.SaffronBS.co.uk’s Children’s Regular Saver is similar and lets you withdraw from it whenever you want.

What about Junior ISAs (JISAs) – should I open one of these?

After a year, the rates on both accounts will drop, so get your child to set a diary reminder to move their money to a better account when it does.

“YOUR CHILD WILL EARN MORE THAN £16,000...”

I need to save a lump sum though?

The money is locked away until your child’s 18th birthday. After that though, it’s theirs to do what they want with – so if you’re thinking it’s a ‘uni fund’, they may prefer to spend it on a car, a holiday, or following One Direction round the world.

The regular savings accounts don’t suit if you want to put in a stash of cash in one go. - The top payer is the www.Santander.co.uk 123 Mini current account at 3% interest on between £300- £2,000. Any child over 11 can open this and they get a debit card to use in shops. However, if they’re younger, you’ll need

JISAs are special savings (or investments) that let you save £4,080 with tax-free interest for under 18s.

If you’ve got a JISA already, check its rate. If it’s poor, you’re not locked in, you can transfer it to a new provider – just open it

and fill out their transfer forms. The paying JISAs for savings come from CoventryBuildingSociety.co.uk, which 3.25% AER variable. The next best is Nationwide.co.uk paying 3%.

bestwww. pays www.

So, is there any point in a Junior ISA? For most people, no, unless it’s paying higher interest than standard savings. Yet there are some exceptions…

My children have a Child Trust Fund instead?

- You want the cash to be locked away until your child is 18.

Children currently aged roughly aged 5 to 14 got a Child Trust Fund (CTF) instead of a Junior ISA. These are now defunct products, they don’t offer the best rates, yet since 2015 you’ve been allowed to transfer these into a Junior ISA. Just follow the ‘how to transfer’ info above.

- You’re going to give your child enough money that they go over the £100-a-year interest threshold, in which case these taxfree savings accounts stop that.

Aren’t kids’ savings tax-free anyway? No. Children pay tax just like adults. Yet unlike most adults they don’t earn from work, if they have any income it’s only from savings. And if anyone, child or adult, only has savings interest and has under £17,000 a year then no tax is taken. (This is made up of the £11,000 personal allowance, £5,000 starting rate for savings and an additional £1,000 personal savings allowance.)To put that in perspective, to earn £17,000 in savings interest in the top accounts, you’d need over £1,000,000 saved. However, there is a rule that says kids can only earn £100 interest a year from money given by each parent – so that’s about £4,400 saved in the top easy-access account. Above that, it’s counted as the parents’ income and taxed at their rate. Though as most parents don’t pay tax on savings anymore either, that isn’t such an issue (unless they’re higher rate taxpayer or have a shedload).

martin L E W IS Money Saving Expert

- They’ll save enough cash over the years that they’d have more than the £15,480 adult cash ISA limit when they hit 18 (though it’s rising to £20,000 from next April). When that happens, the money automatically converts into an adult cash ISA. - Your child will earn more than £16,000 in savings interest and income in the tax year and earn more than their £1,000 personal savings allowance and will pay tax.

Martin Lewis is the Founder & Editor in Chief of Money Saving Expert. To join the 11 million people who get his Martin’s Money Tips weekly email, go to www.moneysavingexpert. com/latesttip

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WICKFORD TRAMPOLINE CENTRE Trampolining is something that I have always considered great fun and a fantastic thing to do in your garden on a hot day. I have been guilty of only considering a trampoline as a garden toy. Of course Trampolining has been an Olympic sport for many years and has never been so topical here in this country as it is now. Bryony page jumped to Silver medal glory at the Rio Olympics and the shock medal was a headline grabber overshadowing some mainstream sports. In little old Essex, Gymnastics has also been given a huge boost thanks to the heroic performances of Max Whitlock and there is a club nearby offering the chance for our children to jump behind Bryony on the path to Olympic glory on the Trampoline. We know of the many fun places you can go to jump on Trampolines. The Trampoline parks offer fun for an hour or two, but The Ultima Wickford Trampoline Centre offers fun for every member as well as group and one to one coaching. From ages as young as 5 welcome, the centre have teamed up with local schools to get more children involved and the response has been amazing. I spoke to the mother of a regular Ultima student “My daughter is 5, soon to be 6

and she attends Abacus Primary school in Wickford. She loves trampolining, and we signed up to give it a trial run. She absolutely loves it and especially enjoys the learning element. She goes home and wants to show her Dad her new skills and above all she looks forward to her lesson every week. Her teacher is fantastic and makes her feel at ease with her learning and it doesn’t matter if the children are at different levels of ability, it is such a nice thing to see her do.” Ultima have taken on the huge responsibility in keeping young people in the sport, helping them achieve their goals and develop their skills and maybe making them champions/coaches of the future. The beauty of this local centre is that they have trained national champions and continue to nurture amazing talent, but there is still a local feel to the place that allows freedom of expression and fun. They are open to public 52 weeks a year ‘come rain or shine’ and even cater for children’s parties for those kids who especially love trampolining and want to share their enjoyment with friends. Take a look at what they have to offer on the website below. http://www.ultima-tc.club/

Put the spotlight on your local sports team, contact Zaki Hasan, via email, zaki@aroundtownmagazines.co.uk

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THE CLAY COTTAGE

Lubbards Farm, Hullbridge Road, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 9QG Sat Nav - SS6 9QW

01268 786162 • www.claycottage.co.uk

U.P.V.C Fascias & Gutters Renewed & Repairs Visit our website www.aj-roofingservices.co.uk

FLAT ROOFING

FLAT

We offer top quality workmanship with the latest high performance materials. All flat roofs will carry a 15 year guarantee.

TILED ROOFING

We offer an extensive range of services inc. strip and retile, repointing of ridge tiles and chimney stacks. We will stop any leaks.

Free Estimates References Always Available Nothing to pay until completely satisfied

Clay Cottage

TILED

HOUR

EMERGENCY CALL OUT

01268 461 057 • 07707 515 766

Email us at a.j.roofing@hotmail.com

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ON O M W OOOOD S E N WRNTW RE O B SH G IN

AMAZON www.amazonwindows.co.uk

N NI E OP

Amazon Windows are one of the areas largest windows, door and conservatory companies serving Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey and Essex. Following 5 years of continued installations in the area, with many recommendations we have decided to create a one-stop showroom for all your Home Improvement needs.

FANTASTIC INTRODUCTORY OFFERS

AMAZON OFFER A COMPLETE BUILD SERVICE ON ALL ORANGERIES AND CONSERVATORIES:

GROUNDWORKERS BRICKLAYERS 3 PLASTERERS 3

ELECTRICIANS 3 PLUMBERS 3 TILERS 3

After an initial survey a schedule will follow with all trades booked in. Amazon will make your build as stress free as possible.

• Great Offers on the New 2017 Amazon replacement Window • Amazing range of Amazon Front Doors for 2017 • Enquire into the well-received Amazon Solid Roof with additional discounts for 2017 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT 01277 514624 OR VISIT WWW.AMAZONWINDOWS.CO.UK

RAYLEIGH LIONS CLUB The Lions Club of Rayleigh raised £1285 during our Santas Sleigh Street collections in Rayleigh and Hullbridge. Thank you to everyone that came out to support us. This year Lions Club International celebrates its centenary (The Lions Club of Rayleigh is 43 years old). We would love to welcome new members. Please contact us by our website and Facebook page. http://www.rayleighlions.org.uk/

ROTARY CLUB OF RAYLEIGH MILL For most weeks in the year, we meet on Mondays as a club, with our members enjoying a meal at The Rayleigh Club near Hullbridge, Essex. It is followed by a particular kind of meeting such as ‘committee’, ‘business’ and ‘speaker’ - the latter gives us an opportunity to invite a well-known personality or charity organisation to keep us informed about their work or life. We have a members’ raffle at the end of the evening and our Sergeant-At-Arms is an appointed member of the club who manages to extract small amounts of money from us in friendly fun from personal observations of us which goes to our charity box. The evening is run by our President who sits at the top table with his Secretary and we welcome our visiting guests too. Toasts are made to the Queen and our Rotary organisation. We have a Treasurer to manage our accounts and appointed officers to involve us in the more gentle sports, a press officer to publicise our events, an IT specialist to handle our information, a webmaster to run this website and particular members who take on responsibility for an event eg. our Charity Golf Day and our social trips and dinner dances. Our Foundation officer looks to promote the work of Rotary eg. Purple Pinkie support to End Polio Campaign.

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MILLER SELF STORAGE

Aviation Way Southend on Sea SS2 6UN

Self Storage Clean, Dry & Secure

TELEPHONE

01702 546501 | 07961 155344 10FT CONTAINER - £80 PER MONTH 20FT CONTAINER - £110 PER

HALF PRICE! FOR THE FIRST MONTH, ON PRODUCTION OF THIS ADVERT

LLOYD CARPETS LIMITED

1 ROSEBERRY WALK, CHURCH ROAD, BENFLEET, SS7 4EW

FRIENDLY PERSONAL SERVICE INCLUDING FREE ESTIMATES AND FREE SAMPLE LENDING SERVICE.

TEL: 01268 755044 PLEASE MENTION AROUND TOWN MAGAZINE WHEN RESPONDING TO ADVERTS

Revd Canon Mike Lodge

From Pancake Day fun to Every Day faith… Dear friends, Shrove Tuesday (also known as Pancake Day), falls on 28 February this year andmarks forty days before Easter. Shrove Tuesday, also sometimes called Mischief Day, was the last day before Lent, so it was the last day for fun and food for a long time.A special game of football was widely played on Shrove Tuesday. It was played differently from the game our country is well known for, as this game of football has no rules! In some villages and towns, in time gone by, traffic would be stopped and all the men would come out into the street at a set time. The church bell would ring and a football would be thrown into the crowd and the biggest ever football game was played,andis still played in some places in England today. But why are Pancakes eaten on Shrove Tuesday, when the forty days are supposed to be a time of quietness and fasting?Lent is a time of giving things up, so Shrove Tuesday is the last chance to indulge yourself, and to use up the foods that aren’t traditionally allowed in Lent. Pancakes are eaten on this day because they contain fat, butter and eggs which were forbidden during Lent.The other question that springs to mind, is why do Christians call the day ‘Shrove Tuesday’?The name Shrove comes from the old word “shrive” which means to confess. On Shrove Tuesday,

in the Middle Ages, people used to confess their sins so that they were forgiven before the season of Lent began. As we begin our journey through Lent, so we read in the Bible how Jesus continued his journey to the cross. To the very end Jesus retained the enthusiastic support of the ordinary people, although they didn’t really understand who and what they were supporting.When Jesus was calling people to follow him, he didn’t mean for them to tag along behind him out of curiosity. What we can be certain about is that nobody can be swept along on a flood tide of emotion, but each individual must walk in with a clear and focussed consideration.There must be a point at which we must allow the words of the Bible that we absorb into our minds to travel to our hearts as well, and always based on the truth of what is written in the Bible, rather than being driven by our hearts or our minds alone… When Jesus calls us to follow him he doesn’t mean for us to express our faith on the fringe of the church, but to throw our lot in with him with commitment. Total commitment means that there is no space to squeeze through the doorway if we are cluttered with reservations and provisos, with ifs and buts, or without a Bible or personal experience of Jesus in sight. When make that decision to follow in the Way of Jesus it must be on the basis of whether or not we have what it takes to complete this journey of faith, and to bring it to completion in our lives, for the rest of our lives. As we approach the period of Lent we find that’s it’s a time for reviewing priorities and trusting God more than we have ever done before.Lent gives us that opportunity to commit or re-commit ourselves to God, deepening our relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus, witha dedication to serving Him who gave all that we may have life… Yours in the love of Jesus, Parish Office 01268 742151 info@parishofrayleigh.org.uk

www.parishofrayleigh.org.uk

time the economic disasters predicted by the supporters of “project fear” have not come to pass and the UK economy is now growing at around 2% - the highest rate of growth among the major G7 countries. The task of leaving the EU, which our people voted for democratically, is now getting underway.

for rayleigh & Wickford

As this magazine article is being written, Parliament is in the midst of debating the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, which empowers the Prime Minister to trigger Article 50 of the EU Treaties – and thus formally commence the process of the United Kingdom leaving the EU.

BREXIT UPDATE – WHERE ARE WE NOW? In June last year,Britain voted for Brexit by a majority of well over a million votes. Since that

The Prime Minister, Theresa May, has now said that she intends to trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017 at the latest, thus initiating a negotiating period of up to two

USEFUL NUMBERS

BIRTH, DEATH MARRIAGES REGISTRATION

mark francois conservative Parliamentary mP

01268 361350 01268 361351

POLICE Rayleigh Police Station

0300 333 4444

HOSPITALS Brentwood Hospital Basildon Hospital Broomfield Hospital Essex Nuffield Hospital Queen’s Romford Southend Hospital Spire Hartswood Hospital

01277 695000 01268 524900 01245 443673 08453 143350 0845 1304204 01702 435555 01277 232525

HELPLINES Alcoholics Anonymous Childline DIAL Disability Helpline Drugline Essex In Focus (family disabilities support)

Narcotics Anonymous NHS non-emergency Parentline Samaritans S. Essex Rape and Incest Crisis Centre Victim Support Essex Women’s Refuge

CHEMISTS Boots the Chemist, Rayleigh 01268 771883 Audley Mills, Rayleigh

01268 776479

Lloyds Pharmacy, Rayleigh

01268 771703

Grange Pharmacy, Rayleigh 01268 784192 Hambro, Rayleigh

01268 781623

Yardley Chemist

01268 743283

BLOOD TEST 01245 256147 0800 11 11 11 01268 294400/1 01708 749151 01245 353575 0300 9991212 111 0808 8002222 116 123 01375 380609 0845 4565995 01268 541140

Booking Line

01702 746511

ROAD & TRAVEL UPDATES Essex Travel www.bbc.co.uk/travelnews/essex COUNCILS Rochford District Council

01702 546366

Rayleigh Town Council

01268 741880

TRANSPORT Bus Service

0870 6082608

Rail Service

08457 484950

years to sort out the details of leaving the EU, including issues such as trade and the future movement of people. I realise that there are many people who voted to Remain (although in the Rochford District there was a clear majority to Leave by a margin of 67% to 33%). However, I believe that now is the time for the country to unite and, however people voted last June, we should seek to make a success of Brexit and the opportunities which it may offer in the future. The Conservatives delivered on their manifesto promise to hold an In/Out Referendum and they are now delivering on implementing the democratically arrived at decision of the British peoplewhich flowed from it. In short, the will of the British people must be respected - and we are now getting on with it.

TAXIS Rayleigh Taxi Bestax Abba Cars Cab Call Cab 24/7

01268 531888 01268 777300 01268 771666 01268 777300 01268 778877

UTILITIES Anglian Water 0345 145145 Electricity – Power Supply Problems 0800 7838838 Gas – Urgent Calls / Gas Escapes 0800 111999 Minicom – Transco 0800 371787 Thames Water (Supply or Wastewater Services) 0845 9200800 Three Valleys Water 0345 823333 Water – Essex & Suffolk Water 01245 491234 VETS YourVets Vets4Pets Rochford Veterinary Surgery Downes Vets Medivet LIBRARIES Rayleigh

01268 745180 01268 772283 01702 545558 01268 776883 01702 413902

0845 603 7628

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