Call for a Backwell heart

Backwell in North Somerset needs a new social heart to support village life as an increasing number of new homes are set to be built, says local property specialist Andrew Simmonds.

With hundreds of new homes given permission by North Somerset Council local people have expressed concern at the pressure on schools and the medical centre. But Mr Simmonds, a director of Parker’s Estate Agents, says a coffee shop where people can meet and chat is a priority. He said: “The village has a fantastic sporting heart with the tennis, football and bowls club and shopping heart at Rodney Road and the Post Office but there are few places where people can meet in the day, socialise and chat.

“With a major prominent unit about to become available on the crossroads it would be great if this became that heart. It is just across the road from the Village Hall and WI Hall and together the three buildings would form a village heart that would be good for existing residents and future development. “Villages need to keep the facilities that make them attractive in the first place and it is vital that Backwell is not swamped with new homes and does not become a dormitory. At Parker’s we are committed to the village and want to help people find the right homes to suit their time of life. “There is already a good mix of properties and recent planning permissions mean there are more to come. There are limited opportunities to create a social centre that would serve existing residents and newcomers alike, so it would be a shame if the opportunity at the crossroads is missed.

“The pressure on schools and doctors is real but these tend to get addressed eventually by local authorities and public bodies. Social facilities are more difficult to regulate for and invariably rely on individuals and groups to get them started.”

Mr Simonds said the crossroads café would be a place for those with young families, pensioners and business people working from home to meet and chat during the day. The unit on the crossroads, currently has previously been an Indian Restaurant and the offices of a property company.

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TRAINING WORKSHOP IN LOSS, GRIEF AND BEREAVEMET

A training workshop for healthcare and end-of-life professionals to help them understand the impact of grief is taking place on Thursday November 24 at Bristol Memorial Woodlands in Alveston.

The half-day workshop will look at loss, grief and bereavement and aims to build the skills of professionals to support themselves and others through the feelings people experience when someone close dies.

Organised by the funeral venue in partnership with training provider Gentle Dusk, the workshop will also look at the current theoretical approaches to loss and gain insight into the diversity of experiences in relation to bereavement.

The training is being delivered by Mireille Hayden, founding partner of Gentle Dusk which provides training and events around death, dying and bereavement. She said: “With Covid and the death of the Queen we have all been through times recently where the feelings of loss of many kinds have been felt by the nation. Many have lost loved ones. Covid and confinement meant that many people went through grief at a time where there was isolation and lack of social support.” The event will take place on 24th November from 2pm to 5.30pm in the reception rooms at Bristol Memorial Woodlands, a funeral setting with 100 acres of burial woodland, providing families with a place to visit and remember loved ones for years to come.

Previous workshops have been welcomed by healthcare professionals who said it gave them the opportunity to talk about death in a “no holds barred fashion” in a beautiful relaxing setting. Places are free for local professionals working in healthcare but limited to 25 for this workshop. To book email your name, title and organisation to event co-ordinator Sophie Thomas on sophie@gentledusk.org.uk. For more information visit www.memorialwoodlands.com

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WARM PLACES PLANNED IN BRISTOL

There will be warm communal places set up in Bristol for people who cannot afford to heat their homes this coming winter.

As energy bills are set to rise again in October, fears are mounting about the many people who will struggle to pay their heating bills as the weather gets colder. Bristol City Council is planning to set up “warm places” across the city to help people who can’t pay. Marvin Rees, the mayor of Bristol, made a plea for help providing these warm places, and money to set them up. The spaces could also provide support for people with food, education and financial advice.

Average energy bills increased in April by £693 after Ofgem, the regulator, lifted its price cap in response to huge jumps in wholesale gas prices, partly linked to the war in Ukraine.

Ofgem is expected to increase the price cap again this October, meaning bills could go up even further, adding more pressure to people’s pockets just as many turn their heating back on. Mr Rees said: in a online statement: “It almost sounds like wartime, but we’ll be working with community organisations and partners around the city to set up warm places that people can go to if they need to, come the autumn when people need to turn their heating on again. "We’ll be looking at a number of characteristics for these places and we’re exploring what we can do at the moment.

“It’ll be a warm place, there’ll be homework support, services there, financial advice. Hopefully we’ll be able to align it with some of the programmes we have to tackle hunger as well.

"But it will be a real community hub where we can bring people together, and break down isolation as we go into those colder months.”

We will bring you more on this when we have a full list of the places you can use as warm places

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