Rayleigh January 2015 Edition by Black Square Print Media Limited

www.aroundtownmagazines.co.uk January 2015 Edition 14

“WE’VE GOT YOUR TOWN WRAPPED UP!”

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ROCHFORD HUNDRED RUGBY CLUB Rochford Hundred Rugby Club is a local rugby club formed by three local residents in 1962 and today showcases rugby across all ages, ability and both genders covering over 20 teams. The 1st XV play in the RFU London 2 North East league and the clubs main focus is developing local players to as high a standard of rugby as it possibly can.

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Learn something

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Art (lots of subjects to choose from) Bookbinding Cake Decorating Fashion Floristry Jewellery Making Sewing Shabby Chic Textiles Willow Weaving Upholstery

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... Around Towners to YOUR Rayleigh community magazine! Happy New Year Around Towners! We hope you’ve enjoyed a well rested & joyous festive period and are now back in full swing for the year ahead! 2014 was a great year but we’re sure 2015 will be even better! And what better way to start, than by getting fit. ‘New Year, New You’ is probably one of the most common phrases used in January, due to over indulging on the glorious food in December. Our new guest writer Zoe Harcombe explores the differences and importance of fats in our diets. As always, we want to hear your thoughts on Around Town Magazine – whether it’s constructive criticism, complementing our editorial content or if you’ve had an experienced with one of our advertisers, please get in touch to let us know (details below).

From the Around Town Team

Features 6 Mark Francois MP Political Update

9 The Cook Report Shape Up This New Year 11 Where It All Began Eclipse Executive Cars 15 Know Your Tradesmen Cedar Tree Care 19 Nature Notes EWT Volunteer Neil Sumner 21 Martin Lewis The Money Saving Expert 24 A View from the Church Rev. Mike Lodge 25 **Guest Writer** Zoe Harcombe The Truth About Fat 26 Around Town Sports Focuses on Ice Hockey 28 Rayleigh Lions Club / Rotary Club of Rayleigh Mill Organisation ‘Around Town’ 30 Recipe Pecan Crusted Chicken Breast 31 Useful Numbers

Why Advertise? We hand deliver 15,000 copies every month to homes and businesses covering the whole of Rayleigh. This includes several thousand copies available from venues throughout the town and an online edition. To Advertise Contact our details below.

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Booking deadline for our February edition of Around Town is: Thursday 15th Jan.

Copyright 2014. Around Town Billericay is an independent magazine and does not endorse the products or services that appear in the magazine. Opinions expressed in Around Town do not necessarily represent those of the editors of Around Town Magazines. Around Town Magazines are published by Black Square Print Media Ltd produced by Black Square Litho Ltd.

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WHY SWEYNE PARK’S NEW SIXTH FORM WILL BE SUCH AN ASSET TO RAYLEIGH On a recent Friday prior to Christmas I had the very enjoyable task of officially opening the new sixth form at Sweyne Park School. This is a project which has been in development for around two years and which has now culminated in the first sixth form that we have ever had in Rayleigh. The project was driven by Andy Hodkinson – the very dynamic Headteacher at Sweyne Park School who recently won a Pearson Teaching Award (often referred to as the “Teaching Oscars”) as Secondary School Headteacher of the Year. The new sixth form fills an important gap in our community, as for many years young people who wanted to study for their A-Levels have had no sixth form in Rayleigh which they could attend. Instead they have had to travel to schools in Southend or to sixth form colleges such as South Essex College or SEEVIC. While

By Mark Francois MP these other institutions certainly have their own merits, I think it is to our advantage that we now have a Sixth Form in our midst, so that young people can study in the town in which they grew up.

School are now also developing plans for a sixth form, which I discussed recently with their new Headteacher, Robin Harris, when I visited the school. Just as I have supported the plans at Sweyne Park, I will also do my best to support the new scheme at FitzWimarc as well, which I hope may also come to fruition in the not too distant future. Rt Hon Mark Francois Member of Parliament for Rayleigh and Wickford

I went to sixth form myself (although many years ago) and I think that they are a very important part of a secondary school and help to develop its ethos and range of opportunities open to young people. I wish the new sixth form all the best for the future. As Sweyne Park and FitzWimarc have been “friendly rivals” for a number of years, I should add that FitzWimarc

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Designer Weekend 14th - 15th March An opportunity to preview the new Spring 2015 collections by the on-trend label Watters. Blush are proud to be showcasing the exquisite Wtoo and Love Marley collections alongside the new Wtoo bridesmaid range. This weekend is by appointment only and the entire collection will be exclusively showcased at Blush for this weekend only. To book your appointment here at Blush, where you will receive a first class service in a calm peaceful relaxed, welcoming atmosphere, please call Julie on 01268 767185.

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Shape Up This New Year The New Year is upon us once again, and following December’s onslaught of partying, limitless drinking and endless eating, it’s fair to say that most of us will consider committing to some kind of health and fitness plan this January. While the cold frosty mornings and dark wintry nights might make our summer holidays feel like a million miles away, the prospect of donning a swimsuit after the festive blow-out will make a good number of us sign on that dotted gym membership line as we move into 2015. Fusion Lifestyle, a sports and leisure management organisation, is working in partnership with Rochford Council to bring first class sport and leisure facilities to the Rayleigh community. A registered charity, Fusion Lifestyle works with local authorities across the UK to provide recreational sport, health

and fitness activities to one and all at affordable prices. One the charity’s flagship centres is the Rayleigh Leisure Centre on Priory Chase, just off Rawreth Lane, which offers a wide range of facilities, from a fully-equipped gym with the latest cardio and resistance equipment, a group exercise studio with a full timetable of weekly classes, and badminton, squash and tennis courts. Fusion Lifestyle offers a wide range of membership types, providing unlimited access to the gym, exercise classes and racquet sports as well as discounts on other Fusion activities, such as water sports and pitch hire where applicable. There are also day options and age specific passes available.

special accolade given that the competition judges are the club’s own members. Over 35,000 members voted Fusion Lifestyle as top for quality of facilities, customer service and value for money. So if you are planning on embarking on a new health and fitness regime this January, Rayleigh Leisure Centre seems as good a place as any. Visit www.fusionlifestyle.com/centres/ Rayleigh _Leisure_Centre for further information. By Around Town Journalist Jo Cook

Fusion Lifestyle was recently voted the Top Health Club chain in the Members Choice Health Club 2014 awards, a

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I have been in the curtain making business for over 36 years and pride myself on my high quality curtain and blind services with total customer satisfaction. Based in Wickford I am willing to travel throughout Essex to supply free estimates, no job too big or too small. My services include curtain making, curtain alterations, plus curtain and blind fitting, made to measure if required, tracks and poles, roman blinds, and all curtain and blind parts and accessories.

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Where it all began...

I have lived in and around Rayleigh all my life, having been born in Rochford. I went to Grove Wood Primary School and then onto Fitzwimarc High School, both of course in Rayleigh. I have always passionate about

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EssexMaintenanceApr14 07 April 2014 15:38:43

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is conducted carefully and thoroughly, with the trees’ health being the top priority. James Tabram runs Cedar Tree Care, an Upminster based company that provide tree surgery service to domestic and commercial clients across Essex and London. Since starting the company, the business has grown and James now works with a team of expert tree surgeons to ensure all work

Cedar Tree Care pride themselves on the expertise they bring to their work and the specialised service they can offer their customers. James said ‘We strive to provide all our clients with an affordable, reliable and expert service…we aim for 100% customer satisfaction and a lot of our work comes

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from repeat business and recommendations’. Cedar Tree Care will also ensure once the task in hand is complete the area is left clean and presentable. They are happy to provide free estimates and advice for any enquiries regarding your trees, hedges and shrubbery. Telephone them on 01708 301 371 or visit www.cedar-treecare.co.uk for further information.

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Resolution time. I’m not talking about controlling the urge for chocolate or taking more exercise, but two wildlife resolutions. The first is completely selfindulgent: you resolve to see a species of wildlife you have not seen before, locally if possible. It could be something elusive that you have heard about but find it hard to see. Perhaps a water vole, a slow worm or bat? Or perhaps a bird, such as a glorious kingfisher or a treecreeper (pictured) scurrying up gnarled bark in ancient woodland. You could try a heath fritillary butterfly, to be found in local woods including those around Daws Heath, thanks to coppicing and planting of its favourite food plants, the cow wheat. As conservationists have worked hard to encourage them, it is only fair to go and enjoy them! The second resolution is to do something from wildlife in general. One doesn’t have to be an expert to do this but might want to get a little bit of advice. How about a bug hotel in your garden, or an insect-friendly plant? Perhaps put up a feeder and enjoy some armchair bird-watching? Maybe join a local work party or simply resolve to email records of any interesting wildlife to a conservation group, so that your sightings contribute to the overall picture of how our wildlife is doing? Or respond to planning applications in your local area and comment on any possible mitigation or benefits that could support your local natural environment. If you want advice on either of your resolutions, perhaps where you can see your ‘wildlife species resolution’, please get in touch. It is frosty as I write, but the autumn has been exceptionally warm at times and bumble bees, dragonflies and butterflies have been seen in more sheltered places, even in November. Thrushes sing in mild weather in winter and there have been a few singing recently, just after dawn. As with last year, there seems to be a good natural food crop which accounts for quite low numbers of some garden birds in the early Autumn. Jays, however, seem to have bucked this trend, being regularly seen in gardens. This is according to the British Trust for Ornithology which co-ordinates a long running garden bird survey. I noticed this too, and was pleased to see Goldfinches return to my feeders in December when the frosts arrived. As the leaves have cleared, woodland birds are easier to see and their plumage changes to its best in readiness for a new breeding season, even though the most difficult winter months are still to come. If we have a long cold snap the thrushes will go quiet then sing again when the air warms, but then there may be fewer. We can go out into the cold and return glowing to our warm homes having shared the place where our wildlife lives and for which, at this time of year, survival is the goal.

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Savings rates are spit-worthily low; but it could get even worse as the UK base rate doesn’t look likely to rise till late 2015 and ‘swap rates’ - which influence fixed saving rates - have plummeted recently. Yet there are weapons in a saver’s arsenal - most don’t use them, it’s time to change that. My savings fountain is designed to maximise your interest on every penny of your cash. It works because different types of savings have different rules on how much you can put in and when. Think of it like a champagne fountain - put your cash into the best-paying savings vehicle possible, then when that’s full and overflowing, fill up the next best, and so on. The top tier... earn up to 5% easy-access via ‘bank account’ savings. Some bank

accounts’ in-credit rates now smash easy access savings accounts and ISAs. They’re done as a loss leader to entice new banking customers - yet if you’re prepared to switch account, you gain. - Earn 3% AER on £3,000-£20,000: With the www.santander.co.uk 123 account. There’s a £2/mth fee, but this is usually more than covered as it also pays cashback on bills. - Earn 4% AER on £4,000-£5,000: With the www.lloydsbank.com Club bank account. - Earn 5% AER for a year on £2,500: With the www.nationwide.co.uk FlexDirect account.

Next trickle into regular savings... save monthly to earn up to 6%. Regular

savings accounts often pay high interest as it’s only on a small amount for a short time. While the top rate’s slightly more than bank accounts, because you need to put cash in each month, you’d need to trickle it across from your top savings account anyway - hence why it’s second.

- Bank linked 6% regular savings. If you’re a First Direct bank customer, it offers a linked regular savings account at 6% AER fixed for a year - you need to put £25-£300 in per month and can vary that each month. The Lloyds current account has a similar linked account at 4%. - Anyone can earn 3.05%. The www.leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk Regular Saver pays 3.05% AER variable if

you pay in £50 to £250 every month for a year.

Got more? Pour it into a cash ISA 2.6% tax-free with access. Cash ISAs are just

savings accounts where the interest isn’t taxed (so you keep all of it).

With fixed-rate cash ISAs, unlike normal savings, you can access the cash within the term - though you’ll lose some interest in penalties. Yet even if you withdraw early, these can still be winners. - Top fixed-rate cash ISA: www. coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk pays 2.6% AER fixed for four years, but you can withdraw by closing the account early and the penalty is just 120 days’ interest. So withdraw after 1yr and you’d get 1.75%, after 2yrs 2.18% and after 3yrs 2.32%. This means as long as you keep cash in for 10 months, you’d earn more than the best easy access deal anyway. - Top fix for cash ISA transfers: All those that allow you to transfer old cash ISAs in as well as new money have heftier penalties. So here the aim should be to fix for a length you need. Top 1yr is www.postoffice.co.uk at 1.7% AER, 2yr is Barclays at 2.02% AER, 3yr is Virgin at 2.15% AER. - Need access to your cash, 1.55% easy access cash ISA. www.bmsavings. co.uk allows new money and lets you transfer in old cash ISAs, of its 1.55% AER variable interest 1.05% is a bonus for a year.

“THERE ARE WEAPONS IN A SAVER’S ARSENAL - MOST DON’T USE THEM, IT’S TIME TO CHANGE THAT.” Now consider locking cash away - earn 2.5% in fixed rate savings. If you’ve still

money, next consider whether you’re prepared to lock it away without access - if so, you can fix with a locked-in rate that’s usually higher.

Top fixed-rate savings: www.krbs.com 1yr fix pays 1.9% AER, min £1,000. The top 3yr fix is www.investec.co.uk (min £25,000), which pays 2.5% AER unless the Bank of England

base rate plus 1% is higher, in which case you get that. If you’ve less, www. shawbrook.co.uk Bank is a 3yr fix at 2.5% AER (min £5,000). Got any left? Earn 1.4% in the top easy access normal savings. Now we’re down to the bog standard easy access payers. Here you can put in big amounts and withdraw cash at leisure. Top normal savings: The Post Office pays 1.4% or over-50s can get 1.55% with www.saga.co.uk (min £1,000). Before you rush off to pour cash in the fountain, a few key tips... You pay tax on savings interest (if not in an ISA). Higher rate taxpayers lose 40% of their interest to the taxman, basic rate 20%. Non-taxpayers - cash ISAs may still be worth it. There’s no tax gain, but they often pay higher rates than equivalent savings, cash ISA fixes have more access and if you become a taxpayer again, the cash will then be protected. Part of a couple? Put savings in name of the lower-rate taxpayer. If one of you pays tax at a higher rate, providing you trust each other put non-ISA savings in the name of the lower taxpayer and you’ll take home more. For those who aren’t married/civil partners, there is a tiny risk if one of you died within seven years of this that there’d be inheritance tax on it. Know your savings safety. Provided your money is in a UK-regulated savings account, the first £85,000 per person, per financial institution is Government guaranteed. If you’ve got more, spread it.

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Into the New Year - with meaning and purpose… The evening of 5th January is the twelfth night after Christmas and many people celebrate this, traditionally called Wassailing Wassailing has been associated with Christmas and New Year as far back as the 1400s. It was a way of passing on good wishes among family and friends. But what is Wassail? Wassail is an ale-based drink seasoned with spices and honey. It was served from huge bowls, often made of silver or pewter. The Wassail bowl would be passed around with the greeting, ‘Wassail’. The word Wassail gets its name from the Old English term “waes hael”, meaning “be well”. It was a Saxon custom that, at the start of each year, the lord of the manor would shout ‘waes hael’. The assembled crowd would reply ‘drinc hael’, meaning ‘drink and be healthy’. As time went on, the tradition was carried on by people going from door to

door, singing carols, bearing good wishes and a wassail bowl of hot, spiced ale. In return people in the houses gave them drink, money and Christmas fare and they believed they would receive good fortune for the year to come. One of the most popular Wassailing Carols went like this: Here we come a-wassailing Among the leaves so green, Here we come a-wassailing, So fair to be seen: Love and joy come to you, And to you your wassail too, And God bless you and send you, A happy New Year, And God send you, A happy new year.

Following Twelfth Night comes Twelfth Day, the 6th of January. This day, in the Christian Church, is the feast of Epiphany. The term Epiphany means “to show” or “to make known” or “to reveal” and it remembers the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing “reveal” Jesus to the world as Lord and King. The gifts that the wise men, the magi, brought to Jesus, were both meaningful and useful - Gold was recognised as a tribute to a King, and used as money enabled Mary and Joseph to escape to Egypt with Jesus, away from the grasp of Herod, who saw Jesus as a

threat to his own reign. Frankincense denoted Worship for God and from a practical perspective its fragrance kept the flies away and provided a pleasing smell for their home. Myrrh symbolised a balm for one who died, pointing to the ultimate death of Jesus, but during his infancy provided an excellent baby powder for nappy rash! As God gave Jesus as his gift to us, we can also recognise that our lives are a great gift from God - they have meaning and purpose. God’s gift to the world isn’t only for us, as individuals, it is for us to share with others - the good news about Jesus. As we venture into the first few days of this New Year, we have a fresh opportunity to reflect again on the life of Jesus, our lives, and the world around us. As we do so, let us also see how we might strive to share the unchanging relevance of the good news of Jesus Christ with all the people we meet. With God’s rich blessing for 2015...

Yours in the love of Jesus, The Revd Canon Mike Lodge Team Rector Parish of Rayleigh 01268 742151 info@parishofrayleigh.org.uk www.parishofrayleigh.org.uk

The Revd Canon Mike Lodge

Health the

HARCOMBE WAY The truth about fat by Zoe Harcombe, www.zoeharcombe.com Thirty years ago we demonised ‘fat’ – saturated fat especially. Only it wasn’t fat that we demonised. We called biscuits, cakes, confectionery, crisps, ice cream, pastries, pies, savoury snacks etc “saturated fat”. They are, of course, junk food; predominantly carbohydrate and, perhaps surprisingly, invariably containing more unsaturated than saturated fat.

Nutritional gold mines – meat and dairy products – were put on the same list, rather like lumping Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker together. They could not be more different. So let’s state some facts about fat and I mean real fat – not processed food or carbohydrates or anything else that we have got terribly wrong... 1) Fat is utterly life vital There are three fats: saturated; monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. We would die without these fats and we must consume them in our diet. Fat provides the two essential fats (omega-3 and omega-6) and the four fat soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. From eyesight to bone density to cell viability to blood health – every fat soluble vitamin is utterly vital for our survival. 2) We need to eat more fat The UK government’s own data confirms that we are dangerously deficient in fat soluble vitamins. The UK Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) are inexplicably low compared to American nutritional standards. The average UK citizen is getting 2.78mcg (micrograms) of vitamin D from household food. The UK RDA is a paltry 5mcg. The USA upgraded their RDA from 10mcg to 15mcg in 2011. Hence UK citizens are getting half the UK requirement for vitamin D, or one sixth of a much wiser minimum. It’s no wonder that the UK has seen a re-emergence of rickets in children. 3) Every food that contains fat contains all three fats... ... there are no exceptions. Meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, avocados, oils, nuts and seeds – all of these foods contain all three fats – saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. The only thing that varies is the proportion of each fat. It is therefore impossible to avoid one fat and consume another. This alone makes nonsense of the idea that saturated fat is bad and unsaturated fat is good – why would they always be found together, without exception? 4) Only one food group contains more saturated than unsaturated fat Dairy products are the only food group with more saturated than unsaturated fat. Meat, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds and even lard – all have more unsaturated than saturated fat. Not that any real fat is better or worse than any other, but just to set the record straight.

If you think that Mother Nature is trying to kill you – by all means avoid dairy produce. But you have no reason to avoid any other real food – offal, red meat, seafood, eggs etc. And you had better eat over 200g of fish (with bones) daily (or 39 eggs!) to get just the vitamin D, let alone the calcium and phosphorus, so vital for bone health. 5) Dietary advisers don't know their fats from their elbow! How often are we told to consume olive oil and to avoid red meat? Olive oil is pure fat – it contains no water, protein or carbohydrate. In 100g of olive oil 73g is monounsaturated fat, 14g is saturated and 11g is polyunsaturated (trace elements make up the rest). Pork is 75g water, 21g protein, 1.8g monounsaturated fat, 1.5g saturated and 0.5g polyunsaturated fat. So, olive oil has 25 times the total fat of pork and over 9 times the saturated fat content. Bet you didn't know that! We are told to eat oily fish and avoid red meat. Mackerel has twice the overall fat of sirloin steak and one and a half times the saturated fat. 6) Fat has not made us fat The average UK person consumed 51.7g per person per day of saturated fat in 1975 and 28.1g in 1999. Intake of all fat, butter, meat, whole milk and eggs fell. Dramatically in some cases – the UK eats half the number of eggs that we used to and one fifth of the butter and whole milk. During this time obesity increased from 2.7% for men and women in 1972 to 22.6% for men and 25.8% for women in 1999 – almost a tenfold increase in obesity, as saturated fat intake all but halved. 7) Saturated fat has never even been on trial In the 1984 document that first demonised saturated fat, the following confession is made: “There has been no controlled clinical trial of the effect of decreasing dietary intake of saturated fatty acids on the incidence of coronary heart disease nor is it likely that such a trial will be undertaken.” They may be even more astonished to know that the trial has still not been done nearly 30 years later. The UK Food Standards Agency admitted in 2009: “The ideal controlled dietary trial for prevention of heart disease has not yet been done and it is unlikely ever to be done.” Common sense should tell you that the experiment doesn’t need to be done. Nature didn’t provide food, containing all the essential fats, protein, vitamins and minerals that we need for survival and then lob in something harmful at the same time. Will biscuits, cakes, confectionery, pastries etc make you fat and sick? I have no doubt. But they are not fats – they are junk food carbohydrates. If you think that 60% of the few grams of fat in your steak are trying to save you while the other 40% is trying to kill you – may the force be with you!

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When I ‘Googled Ice Hockey for dummies’, an ex professional described it as figure skating in a War Zone. I think he was aiming to capture the artistry of a skilful, fast paced, yet brutal and tough game. Having watched the game on the odd occasion I wanted to see what Ice Hockey was like on the local scene. There is a team a short drive from Rayleigh in Chelmsford that has been flying the flag for Ice Hockey in Essex. They are called the Chelmsford Chieftains and they play in the National Ice Hockey League Division 1 South (NIHL). The league has ten teams in total and the away fixtures are at times as far south as the Isle of Wight, as far West as Cardiff and as far North as Milton Keynes, it is a National standard competition. The club train twice a week on a Tuesday and a Thursday from 10:15pm until midnight. The reason it’s so late is due to the availability of the ice at the Riverside Leisure Centre in Chelmsford. They also play two games at the weekend,

Saturday and Sunday, one away game and one home game. When I asked a member of the management team, Andy Driver, he said that this added to the team solidarity and morale. The fact that some of these players come from as far as Peterborough and have full time jobs to attend to in the morning is the staple of how the club has been going for so long, they have pure dedication to their sport. Home games are continuing to draw a crowd, anywhere between 500 and 900. The ticket price is £10.50 adult / £5.50 under 16 / Family (2+2) £27 / Students £6.50. I continued to ask Andy some questions to get his view on the sport in general. From a spectator’s perspective, Ice Hockey is exciting, fast paced, physically brutal at times and certainly gets the adrenalin pumping. Why do you think it fails to capture a British audience and why is it not on our screens as regularly as the NFL and NBA seem to be? “A very good question, but I guess the failure to capture the British audience is down to our nations love of football which dominates our sports pages every day. Ice Hockey is a great game to watch live but maybe not great for TV as the small puck can sometimes be difficult to track because of the speed it travels. But saying that the Premier Sports Channel has great coverage of both the domestic game and the NHL.” I did an article on American football last month and that is benefitting from the Wembley games and TV coverage is on

the up. Do you think this will help raise the profile if the NHL in this country is for example the O2 started hosted such events with more frequency? “The NHL did come to London a few years ago and the O2 was sold out, but the games didn’t capture the media’s attention in the Football driven sports pages. But as a club we are not interested in raising the profile of the NHL but of the sport in the UK. The NFL is watched by thousands on the TV in this country, but those armchair fans don’t boost the gates for the many UK clubs that play throughout the summer months.” The Chieftains are ‘The’ Essex team for Ice Hockey and the Chelmsford Ice Hockey Academy really do cater for all when it comes to getting involved. They have a under 18 team called the Chelmsford Warriors and the academy run teams for Under 10’s,12’s,14’s,16’s and 18’s. If you are over 18, want to play and not up to Chieftains or Warriors standard there are recreation teams such as the Mischiefs and Nighthawks. The ladies are not left out either as the Chelmsford Cobras play in Women’s Division 1 South, so there really is a team for everybody. If you are keen to play or attend a game then check out the website below or the official Facebook page. www.chelmsfordchieftains.com

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

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RAYLEIGH LIONS CLUB The lions club of Rayleigh would once again like to thank those who attended our firework display which we had a profit of £4321 which some has already been distributed Amongst those who have benefited are Southend hospital radio who received £200, St Johns ambulance £150, £200 was donated to Essex air ambulance on behalf of the Essex Land rover club who assisted us on the evening, a further £200 was donated by ourselves to Essex air ambulance, £300 donated to the Rayleigh air cadets civilian welfare committee and £100 to Edward Francis pta both beneficiaries helped both in the evening and the clearing of the park the following morning for which we give our thanks, a further £400 was donated to RAVS for their Christmas parcels for families in need and a further donation was made to hullbridge parish council towards the Christmas parcel appeal for the over 80’s During the course of November the lions collected in the high street for children in need where we raised £280. The lions are urgently looking for new members in order raise more funds for good cause’s, please email membership.rayleighlions @gmail.com for further information

ROTARY CLUB OF RAYLEIGH MILL A Happy New Year to you all. December was a busy month with two visiting speakers to our meetings and the annual Christmas dinner dance. Tim Sheppard visited us from the Southend branch of the RNLI. Their lifeboat station is the busiest sea based station in the country with 142 launches and 180 people rescued during last year and needs £140,000 a year to operate. We gave him a donation of £2000 which will go towards new storage facilities for the buggies that are used to transport lifeboat personnel on call to the end of the pier. We also made a £1000 donation to the Todman Day Care Centre in Castle Road, Rayleigh. The centre supports the over 55’s in the Rayleigh area including providing hot meals and is a venue for other groups. They had an urgent requirement for finance to cover the replacement of their heating system. As always we were very pleased to be able to support local schemes. Our weekly meeting takes place at Mamma’s Romantica Restaurant in Rayleigh High Street at 7.30pm on Monday nights. If you wish to visit us or know more please contact Andrew Shackleton on 01702 201783 or robertashackleton@googlemail.com. Our website and Facebook page can also help you see what we do. www.rotary-ribi.org/ clubs/homepage.php?ClubsID=1797 or put ‘Rotary Club of Rayleigh Mill’ into Facebook.

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Naturally good...

Pecan crusted chicken breast stuffed with roasted butternut squash and goats cheese served with a white wine and pancetta cream sauce

1. Pre heat the oven to 380F/180c. 2. Place the butternut squash onto a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place into the oven to bake until cooked through and starting to turn golden brown; this should take For the stuffed chicken approximately 15 to 20 minutes. 4 chicken breasts 3. Using a small knife, make an incision into the side of each chicken 170g butternut squash (peeled and breast. Move the knife around horizontally inside the breast to create a diced) pocket for the filling. Try to keep the incision no wider than an inch in 1 tbsp freshly chopped thyme length to keep the filling from spilling out when cooking. 100g soft goats cheese 4. Fill each breast with equal amounts of goats cheese and butternut Sea salt and freshly ground black squash by pushing them through the incision. Close the incision with a pepper cocktail skewer. Save some roasted butternut squash to garnish the tops 250g toasted pecans, finely chopped of the chicken breasts when they are cooked. 3 free range eggs, beaten 5. Sprinkle each filled breast with the chopped thyme and season 50ml olive oil generously with sea salt and black pepper. For the sauce 6. To prepare the pecans take whole pecans and pulse them in a food ¼ white onion (finely diced) 4 slices of pancetta or smoked streaky processor until they resemble course breadcrumbs. 7. Beat the eggs with ¼ tsp of salt (which helps to break down the egg bacon, chopped making it easier to dip the chicken in) and place the chopped pecans into 1 tsp freshly chopped thyme a bowl. Then dip each cutlet into the egg mixture and then the pecans 1 clove garlic, crushed and make sure they are well coated. 180 ml double cream 8. Place the chicken breasts onto a tray drizzled with olive oil and then 120 ml dry white wine drizzle each breast generously with more olive oil and season once more. 4 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated Place into the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. 9. Garnish the escallops with the remaining caramelized onions and freshly chopped parsley, don’t forget to remove the cocktail skewers before serving! 10. To make the sauce start by sautéing the pancetta or bacon until crispy and then add the onions and cook through until softened. At this point add the garlic and thyme and continue to cook for another minute to release the flavors. 11. Add the white wine and cook for 3 to 5 minutes until almost all of the wine has evaporated. Then add the cream, parmesan and seasoning. Continue to simmer gently for 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. 12. To serve, place each chicken breast onto a serving plate (don’t forget to remove the cocktail skewer) and spoon over the sauce. Top with some of the remaining butternut squash and some roughly chopped pecans and Ryan Turner, real food and low-carb a sprinkle of parsley. chef - www.thefoodbible.com

Ingredients for 4 servings:

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