Moulsham Times - May 2020

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Issue Number 87 - May 2020

Front cover photograph sent in to Ayman of Old Moulsham Neighbourhood watch

Personal Finance Clinic: Coping With the Personal Financial Impact of COVID-19 We are all hoping that lockdown ends soon and we can go back to some semblance of normality, whatever that may look like!

In the meantime, you may have more time on your hands, perhaps because you are furloughed or maybe you’ve swapped a two hour daily commute for a 20 second spare room to living room round trip.

Either way, it’s imperative we all get to grips with the following: Budgeting Sadly, lots of people have lost their jobs or are struggling to keep their business from folding. It will be more important than ever to put together a list of income and expenditure, looking to make cut backs wherever feasibly possible.

Rock bottom oil prices should result in energy savings for the consumer, so use a comparison site to shop around for the best gas and electricity deals.

Consider cancelling expensive subscriptions, such as TV packages, or make contact to ask for a discount.

Mortgage Holidays If you’re worried about meeting mortgage payments during the coronavirus outbreak, you can take a mortgage holiday - you can stop your payments for up to three months without affecting your credit score. Be aware that once the mortgage holiday ends, your repayments will be higher than they were before you took the mortgage holiday. Speak to your lender for full details.

Income Support Employers can access the government’s job retention scheme by putting employees on furlough. The employee is not permitted to carry out any work, but will still get paid up to 80% of their salary, subject to a cap of £2,500 a month. An employee can be furloughed for a minimum of three weeks to a maximum of three months (at the time of writing) although this may be extended.

It might be possible to take other work whilst you are furloughed, but check your contract first to make sure your contract allows this.

Any income you make from a second job will be added to all other taxable income (taxed to income tax) received in

the tax year, including furloughed income. You will then be taxed according to the usual income tax rules. For example, most people will be able to earn £12,500 before paying any tax. The next £37,500 is taxed at the 20% basic rate and then higher rates after that.

Self-Employed You may be able to apply for a grant if you’re getting less (or no) work due to coronavirus. This should be available from June and will pay up to 80% of a self-employed person’s profits, also subject to a £2,500 cap. The figure is determined from an average of monthly profits over the last three years.

See www.gov.uk for further details on how to apply.

It’s also worth noting that if you were due to make a payment on account by 31st July 2020, you can put off your payment until January 2021.

Universal Credit If you’re getting less (or no) work, you can apply for Universal Credit. You don’t need to go into a Jobcentre Plus office to apply or receive a payment. Again, go to www.gov. uk for more information, or www.universal-credit.service. gov.uk/postcode-checker to apply.

Look After Your Mental Health It’s imperative we all look after our mental health by making sure we get enough sleep and exercise. Many of us will be cooped up at home all day, so it helps to try to stick to a routine around work and make sure you allow time for relaxation, fun and communication with others (over Skype, Zoom, the telephone etc).

We all hope that the restrictions on our freedoms are lifted soon, especially for those of us who are suffering financial hardship as a result.

In the meantime we should take the time to think about - and look after - each other. We will get through this and when we do, we will be stronger together.

Lauren Peters is a Senior Consultant at Brooks Macdonald, 21 Lombard Street, London EC3V 9AH. She is a Chartered Financial Planner and provides independent financial advice. You can contact Lauren via lauren.peters@ brooksmacdonald.com.

Please share the link for this online issue enabling as many of our regular readers to be able to view this magazine as possible: www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia

MT Welcome Hi readers,

Welcome to the May edition of Moulsham Times.

Due to the current situation I am afraid that once again this magazine will be available online only.

If you are a new reader due to viewing this online and you would like to view future editions, please visit www. moulshamtimes.com and complete the Mailchimp sign up form.

I would be incredibly grateful if you could share this link, www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia, to any friends and neighbours in the Old Moulsham, Moulsham Lodge and Tile Kiln areas so that as many of our regular readers can still get access to the magazine and stay in touch with

what’s happening in the local community.

The June issue will be available from 28th April. In the meantime, please all stay safe.

Again, the link to share is: www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia.

Stay safe!

Regards Paul

Advertising & Editorial Paul Mclean 01245 262082 07595 949701 paul@moulshamtimes.com

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Locked-Down and Locked-Up Gardens!

May 31st was supposed to be the Moulsham Open Gardens in aid of the Farleigh Hospice. What a pity it has had to be postponed! As long-standing participants, Prue and I were looking forward to seeing the regular visitors again and welcoming newcomers. It’s not generally realised that people come from far and wide for the event and that many revisit year after year, interested in the progress of the gardens that are open. Gardening is quite hard work and a bit of effort is needed to make one ready for visitors. So, the public interest is much appreciated.

Our garden in Southborough Road is looking magnificent with flowers and blossom everywhere, all having benefited from the extraordinarily hot and sunny April and the very welcome heavy rains at the end of the month - though now we will not be able to share it all. I am reminded of the poet Gray’s lines: “Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, and waste its fragrance on the desert air.”

In normal years, when the Open Gardens event happens, visitors are usually interested in our grape vines; especially as so many have brought cuttings from us over the years and are keen to report progress and/or seek advice. After last year’s mildew disaster, we no longer feel like ‘experts’ and are watching our vines with some trepidation! At the time of writing, we can see plenty of healthy flowers. (Yes, of course, there are flowers - they look like tiny, green bunches of knobs, each knob with a hole in the middle where tiny insects pollinate them). We are told that there is not much we can do to prevent mildew, short of deluging the vines and surrounds with chemicals, but that is not our sort of gardening. Our biology lecturer daughter says that the mildew spores are always around and it is just a matter of luck - or bad luck – as to whether the weather conditions let them get going or keep them at bay. I suppose we cannot complain about one bad year in over 25.

To help us to forget last year’s problems, we have just started on the 2016 vintage and it is really great. We tried the www.moulshamtimes.com

first bottle with our lunch on Easter Sunday: the usual lovely deep red colour, pleasant nose and a bit of length.

As we have been making our Moulsham Red for over a quarter of a century, it will be strange that no 2019 vintage has been laid down to look forward to. On the other hand, during clearing out, we have discovered a bottle of 1999 mulberry wine that has been lurking in the depths of the pantry. The pity is that, in these ‘lockdown times, it will be a problem to gather friends to sample it with us. Two years ago we found a thirty-year-old bottle of white wine left over from the vintages that we used to make from our Muller Thurgau vines before we ripped them up and planted the present red grape vines. It was superb - like an expensive vintage Sauternes and fooled one of our wine ‘experts’!

At this year’s Open Gardens we would have been showing off our re-lined and re-ordered pond, the one at the bottom of the garden. Over the winter it sprang a leak. We cannot complain because it has lasted for nearly 40 years and lining it with concrete instead of a membrane was never a very clever decision. We imagined that repairs would be a complicated and messy business, but I have to say that we were magnificently served by Essex Aquatics, who I would warmly recommend. We expected a couple of days of garden-wrecking mess. They turned up dead on time at 8.30am, set up a collapsible paddling pool, decanted the fish, frogs, toads and newts, drained the pond, distributed the smelly silt carefully around the flower beds, did the job, made a smart edging of flints, replaced the wildlife and were gone by 12.30pm. The fish and other aquatic creatures were clearly a bit surprised but have settled down and provide the usual amusement as we sit around with our morning coffee or beer. What a pity that we cannot share it all with our Open Gardens visitors! There is always next year though and there is always room for more gardens. As I’ve said so often, volunteering your garden is great fun, very rewarding and in a good cause.

Robert Jones 3

Chelmsford - by Vicky Ford MP As we continue lockdown I would like to thank everyone for staying at home and protecting the NHS. As a doctor’s wife I see the pressure our NHS staff are under, but by staying at home we are all helping to slow the spread of the disease and to save lives.

Thank you also to everyone who has been in touch by email over the past few weeks.

My office team have been working hard to get advice and assistance to constituents and prioritising urgent cases. I am also in regular contact with the local NHS, local police and other key public services.

These are very challenging times, and I thought it might be helpful to provide readers with some of the links and information that has been shared with me.

Advice on Coronavirus I know that there is a lot of false information circulating.

The best sources of advice are www.gov.uk/coronavirus and www.essex.gov.uk/topic/coronavirus. There is a huge amount of advice available at these links on many different issues and both are updated regularly.

Volunteering Many people across Chelmsford are supporting vulnerable people at this time. Thank you. Many people have volunteered, but over the coming weeks there may be a need for move volunteers. To volunteer locally, please join the Essex Coronavirus Action Facebook page or visit www. volunteeressex.org, or www.chelmsfordcvs.org.uk.

hospitals. Maternity Direct is thought to be amongst the first of its kind in the world. Crucially, the app will allow women to access support during the current pandemic without leaving home. It was developed by midwives from Basildon and Thurrock Hospital and is now being rolled out at Southend and Mid Essex hospitals.

Update From the Ambulance Service I had an extremely helpful update from the Chief Executive of East of England Ambulance Service last week; a service that has been performing extremely well at this challenging time. They have been working with hospitals to ensure that they can move patients from ambulances into hospitals much more quickly and are now not seeing any delays at the hospitals. Within the Mid Essex Trust they are also supporting the three local hospitals with transfers of patients between sites. They are also being supported with drivers from both the fire service and the army.

Warning From the Police Essex Police have warned me about the increase in fraud related offences. If you are concerned about fraud, there is helpful advice available at www.essex.police.uk/ news/essex/news. The police have also warned about the possibility of under-reporting of certain crimes during this lockdown period. This is particularly the case with domestic abuse. If you are a victim of domestic violence or are worried about someone else, please do get in touch with the Essex Compass helpline on 0330 333 7444. If you are worried about a child that may be suffering abuse or neglect, please contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000.

Support for the Vulnerable The Essex Welfare Service has been set up to help vulnerable people in our community who are staying at home and are unable to access the support they need at this time. They can help with deliveries of food, medicine and essential supplies. If you do not have help from friends, family, neighbours or local organisations and you are over 70, pregnant or have underlying health issues, please call the Essex Welfare Service on 0300 303 9988.

Grants for Businesses The Government has given Chelmsford City Council £31 million to deliver two grant funding schemes to support local businesses. Chelmsford City Council have already paid out over £19.3 million of this grant funding to over 1,400 Chelmsford businesses to support them in the current crisis. There is still £12 million to be claimed. If you are a local business in Chelmsford and think that you might be eligible for this support, please look into submitting an application on the council website at www. chelmsford.gov.uk/business/coronavirus-guidance-forbusinesses-and-employers/application-business-supportgrant.

Support for Our Hospitals The Mid and South Essex Hospitals Charity has launched an emergency appeal to support the health and wellbeing of patients and staff at this time. Donations can be made via www.justgiving.com/campaign/msehelpyourhospital.

Offers of goods or services, including PPE equipment, can be directed to MSEHelpBureau@southend.nhs.uk.

Update From Essex Highways With strict social distancing rules in place, Essex Highways teams are still out on the county’s roads and continuing with their road maintenance. Crews have been out every day to mend potholes and repair other defects, including mending streetlamps, traffic signals and repairing white lines and signs.

Support for Those Who Are Pregnant A new maternity app launched last year is providing women with seven-day access to a secure direct chat forum from our midwifery staff. This is available to women booked to give birth at Basildon, Southend or Mid Essex

It is important to keep our roads safe for emergency services, for supplies to move, and to enable key workers to carry out their critical roles. In just one day last week for example, crews repaired 44 potholes. You can continue to report potholes or other problems online at

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www.essex.gov.uk/highways.

Update From My Role as Minister As Minister for Children and Families I have oversight for vulnerable children, including all children and young people in care, children with special educational needs and disabilities, early years provision, and school meals. I would like to thank everyone who is supporting children at this time, including teachers and early years providers, social workers and foster carers, and of course parents and children.

I am working closely with groups all across the country to respond to issues as quickly and effectively as possible. We have worked round the clock to set up a new voucher scheme so that the 1.3 million children who normally receive a free school meal will still be able to get food easily.

Bluebird Staff Dye Hair Blue for Charity

Myself and a few other carers wanted to help our NHS, so we decided to dye our hair blue and set up a GoFundMe web page - we raised an amazing £305!

You can still donate by visiting www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bluebirdcare-midessex.

Sharon Wuyts

Staying at home is extremely hard for everyone, but for those with tiny kids it can be especially so. The Hungry Little Minds website is packed full of simple, fun activities for kids, from newborn to five. You can find it at hungrylittleminds.campaign.gov.uk.

Essex County Council are still operating their Essex Library Service with access to eBooks, eAudio and eNewspapers. For those with babies and toddlers, they are also running online Rhyme Time - you can find more details at libraries.essex.gov.uk/children-and-youngadults/babies-and-toddlers.

I am also endeavouring to share as much up-to-date helpful information as possible via my Facebook page ‘Vicky Ford’ so please do follow that for updates.

Thank you so much to everyone who is staying at home at the moment. It is making a huge difference. #StaySafeStayHome.

As ever, please do stay in touch. My email is vicky.ford. mp@parliament.uk.

Deadlines for the June edition Articles - 13th May Print ready art work 21st May

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MT Therapy - by Chelmsford Therapy Rooms

hug?

How are you all? I hope you’re all keeping safe and well in the lockdown! Today I’m discussing stress. We’re all under a unique kind of stress right now, not just dealing with lockdown, but missing our loved ones and missing human contact in general. Do you even remember the last time you had a

I know the British mentality has always been ‘keep calm and carry on’, but that can be difficult for some people, especially considering that the current situation is so unique. None of us have ever had to deal with a pandemic on this kind of scale and it can be scary and stressful for lots of us. It’s important to recognise our reactions to other people’s stress too: for example telling someone to ‘just get on with it’ or ‘pull your socks up’ isn’t very helpful. This kind of emotional invalidation can cause a person to feel under even more pressure and in time lead to further issues for example anxiety, low self esteem and low confidence.

So, what is stress? When you feel like things are getting a little too much and you’re struggling to cope - you’re stressed. Recognising and acknowledging your stress is important, because if you ignore it stress might build up and then show itself in other more severe emotional, behavioural and physical symptoms. When your body reacts to stress physically you’ll experience what we call ‘fight or flight’. This term refers to the fact your body has perceived the stressor and is getting ready either to fight it or to run away. Years ago when we hunted for food as opposed to getting it from the supermarket, our ancestors had to know what they could handle and our fight or flight response developed to keep us alive. Do you kill and eat the animal, or does it look angry enough to eat you? If it does look angry, can you take it on and win or do you run for your life and find the nearest cave in which to hide until said angry animal has gone away?

These days, rather than the angry animal we have work, relationships and other stressors to deal with, but our bodies haven’t caught up with our brains, so we still physically react the same way. Sometimes this can be a scary experience. For example, if you start having palpitations at your desk seemingly for no apparent reason, but previously your boss castigated you. Your boss is the proverbial angry animal, you either have the fight instinct or want to run away.

The three most common responses to stress are: • Extroverted Response: Anger, agitated, heated, overly emotional, can’t sit still.

• Introverted Response: Withdrawn, depressed, shut down, spaced out, little energy or emotion.

• A Mixture of Both: Tense, freeze under pressure, can’t do anything, look paralysed but very agitated underneath.

There is such a thing as positive stress though. Positive

stress is called ‘eustress’, it’s the kind of stress experienced if someone surprises you with a birthday party, or when a sales person pulls off a big deal. It’s amazing, fantastic, exciting, and the same physical response happens in your body as if you were suffering with negative stress. The only difference is your mindset. Your body cannot differentiate between positive and negative stress, it sees it as the same thing. You would feel as exhausted after an exciting night out partying to celebrate that big deal as you would sat at your desk wondering how you’re going to hit that target thinking your boss is going to kill you if you don’t!

So, how do we deal with stress? The most important thing is to learn how to relax. A positive thing to do is to allow your mind to clear and your body to physically relax. For example, a nice warming bubble bath with candles and some soft soothing music, or meditating or using some visualisation techniques (imagine you’re on a beach relaxing) before you go to bed. Relaxation is an art that is individual to everyone - some people find it easy, some don’t.

If you do find yourself thinking about things a lot and stressing over them, or maybe obsessing on the same problem over and over again - talk about it. Have a good old fashioned rant; perhaps even via Skype or Zoom - it still works!

It may be that you just need a different perspective and more information in order to solve the issue. If you’ve already told everyone that will listen and really don’t want to bother them with the same issue again, you could try writing it down. Seeing things in black and white really does help. This is especially the case when stressing over something constantly - when you see just how much you actually think about it, it may be the catalyst you need to solve the issue.

A positivity diary might be of huge help. Make a list of five things per day that you see as positive. These don’t have to be huge. For example, maybe you simply made a really nice cup of tea and enjoyed it. Maybe you caught up with an old friend. Maybe you just got through another day of lockdown. Whatever it is, it’s important to list the positives in life and then when you’re having a bad day you can look back through the positives to remind yourself that things do get better.

Jenny Hartill is a therapist and owner of Cloud9 Therapy and Chelmsford Therapy Rooms. She is a counsellor and hypnotherapist and can help with a multitude of issues.

She and the other therapists at CTR are currently seeing clients online via Zoom or Skype. Please see the therapist list on the website at www.chelmsfordtherapyrooms. co.uk, or you can email info@chelmsfordtherapyrooms. co.uk, or call 0330 100 5162 to enquire about an initial consultation. Alternatively, Jenny’s own company website is www.cloud9-therapy.co.uk, her email is info@cloud9therapy.co.uk and her telephone number is 07507 307 170.

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The Community Cake Angel Since my wife was furloughed from her catering job at a local school, she decided she wanted to do something in the local community to help keep people’s spirits up in these uncertain times.

As someone who loves to make cakes, what nicer way is there to bring a smile to people’s faces than a box of cupcakes? So she started off by making some for local people who were either elderly, vulnerable or self isolating, and leaving a box on their doorstep.

Seeing the smiles on their faces and receiving all the lovely comments and thanks made her want to do more. As news spread on social media about what she was doing, friends and family began dropping off flour, icing sugar, caster sugar and whatever they could find to help her continue with her quest. Whist shopping in our local Morrisons for more cake ingredients during the early days of lockdown, a member of staff was telling her about the moans that they were all receiving from customers due to restrictions on what people could buy. Morrisons then became the next recipient of boxes of cupcakes - they were so grateful that the store donated a bundle of ingredients.

Her cakes are always presented in gift boxes, which were becoming hard to find. So a phone call to the manager at Home Bargains resulted in a donation of boxes to keep her going. Cakes are now regularly going into the various different departments at Broomfield Hospital - staff or friends of staff come and pick them up.

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Various local care homes, doctors surgeries, the ambulance station and local chemists joined the list to regularly receive cakes. By now the number of cakes made was over 1,000. A friend on Facebook put her in touch with a mill and a farm and now she gets a regular supply of eggs and flour donated to the cause. Our daughter Ruby nicknamed her The Community Cake Angel, so now all cake boxes go out with that on them!

At the beginning of April she received a phone call from BBC Essex asking if she’d give an interview, and on Saturday 11th April she was on the air with Emma Bullimore for 10 minutes talking about what she was doing.

Her cakes are now starting to reach further out into the county. To Essex & Herts Air Ambulance, Farleigh Hospice, Chelmsford and Great Baddow fire stations, refuse collectors, nursery staff and special needs school staff.

The total number of cakes now made is over 2,300 and the list of NHS staff and other key workers receiving cakes is still growing. People still continue to donate ingredients too.

We are all very proud of her and always on hand to help box up the cakes - and test some if required!

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Communities Coming Together in a Crisis by Cllr Marie Goldman Let me start by saying that I hope you are all safe and well.

Sadly, as the daily death toll announced by the government keeps reminding us, not all of us will be safe and well at this awful time.

It’s easy to become a bit blasé and abstract about the numbers - concentrating on whether they have gone up or down from yesterday or last week, searching for some clue, some glimmer of hope that things are moving in the right direction, willing us towards a return to some semblance of normality... But we must never let ourselves be distracted from the undeniable truth that every single one of the individual deaths that makes up the gruesome toll announced each day represents the departure from this life of a father, a son, a mother, a daughter, someone’s friend, someone’s colleague, someone’s loved one. Each and every death is an empty desk when we eventually return to work, a phone call to a friend that will go unanswered, a burst of laughter that will never be heard again.

And let’s also not forget that for those left behind, the grieving process may be tougher, longer, stranger. Not being allowed to be by our loved one’s bedside as they slipped away, or not being able to attend their funeral in person due to the necessities of social distancing even in our darkest moments - they all conspire to make this shared but individual experience much, much harder.

With all of the horrible, scary and downright unfair events happening all around us, it can sometimes be difficult to see the positives. But there are plenty, and they are all around us, including right here in the heart of our community in Moulsham and the rest of Chelmsford. So I’d like to highlight just a few of them: there are many, many more and for that I am extremely grateful.

First of all, is the sheer number of volunteers that have come forward to offer their help to support those less fortunate than themselves in this crisis. Thousands of people have offered to deliver food and medicines, check up on the vulnerable and the lonely and generally help out.

I have been told that of all the volunteers that have made themselves known to the Essex Welfare Service, which covers the whole of Essex, nearly a quarter of them are from Chelmsford. That is truly something to be proud of and confirms what I think many of us already knew: community spirit is very much alive and well in our city.

Then there are the many, many local community groups that have organised themselves into lifelines for their local areas, making sure that nobody gets left behind. The vast majority of them do so without asking for any praise, without clamouring for glory - they just get on with it and

they do an absolutely amazing job.

Then there are the individual acts of kindness and positivity.

From the donation table in Moulsham Street, to the chalk rainbows on our pavements, from the cuddly bears in windows to the regular clap for frontline workers on Thursday evenings. Even the simple act of saying hello to a stranger as you pass them on your daily exercise outing can bring a smile.

In fact, the irony of lockdown seems to be that while we are physically further away from each other, as a community we have come closer together than ever. I hope this will be one of this coronavirus’s lasting legacies.

Cllr Marie Goldman, Deputy Leader of Chelmsford City Council and Ward Councillor for Moulsham & Central

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MT Health

Using Stoic Philosophy in Your Pursuit of Health - by Chris at Forté Physical Health

Howdy Moulsham isolators! How are you coping with it all? I think I’m doing okay, but this week I found myself shaving my own head and having a conversation with a pigeon. Maybe it’s starting to get to me...

There are many things this saga will (hopefully!) teach us, but for me, the biggest lesson so far has been that the control we thought we had over our lives is just an illusion. Our order and routine can be snapped away at any moment, and sometimes we are at the mercy of an invisible enemy.

But as I am deeply and viscerally learning this lesson, it is making me wake up to the things that are in my control.

To help me figure this out, I have turned to the Stoics, a group of philosophers dating back to 500BC. The Stoics spoke about ‘the dichotomy of control’, which can be summarised by saying that there are some things in life which are in our control, and some things that aren’t, and we should only really worry about the former. The Stoics thought long and hard about this, and they realised that the only things in our control are our thoughts and our actions - the effect we have on the outside world is not in our control.

This leads me on to one of the most important strategies we can use to look after our health. Despite the isolation, back pain has still been rearing its head for many people and I’ve had lots of messages from people asking for help.

I feel sad that our clinic is closed and that we can’t help people face to face, but there is still lots of advice to give that can get people on the road to recovery.

I do find myself sounding a bit like a broken record though, because even though every person’s problem is unique to them, the advice I give is often very similar: try some gentle stretching and movement exercises (I then send a video to

help them). Once the acuteness has settled, do some light strength and stability training. Relax, move often, walk, eat well and trust your body to do the work.

I even find myself sounding a bit like a Stoic! ‘Control what is in your control’ I might say. When you are suffering from back pain or any other health complaint, some things are not in your control. Your health history, your age, your genetics and the nature of the injury, will dictate how quickly you will heal. All you should focus on are your thoughts and your actions.

When pain strikes, relax and remind yourself that these things heal. Think of all the other injuries and niggles you’ve had in your life that are now just a distant memory.

Move and do some exercises regularly, little and often.

Look after other aspects of your health by eating a clean diet and trying to sleep as well as you can.

Once you have done these things, you can sit back and trust that you have done everything in your power to heal, the rest isn’t up to you.

One of my mentors used to ask ‘does a farmer grow crops?’ and his answer was, ‘no, the crops grow themselves. All a farmer does is create an environment for them to grow.’

This is all you are trying to do when you are recovering from an ailment; create an environment for health to return, focus on what is in your control, the rest is up to nature.

Stay healthy!

Chris Branch is the owner of Forté Physical Health, osteopathic and physical health clinic. At the time of writing, the clinic is closed due to COVID-19 isolation, but we are excited to help our community when life returns to normal. If you need any advice in the meantime, email info@fortephysicalhealth.co.uk.

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MT Gardening

Although we’re all spending time isolated, it does give us the opportunity to spend a little more time in the garden, which is great for our wellbeing... and sanity!

We’re also blessed with great weather at the time of writing, which is super for all our plants, but not not so good for those unwanted plants - the dreaded weeds! Be vigilant and scour your beds, borders and containers for these unruly beasts and remove them.

The key to success is to remove weeds before they flower; remove tops from roots of annuals such as chickweed and groundsel and they’ll just die off, but dig out perennials such as dandelion or plantains in their entirety to reduce any regrowth.

need to be thinned to 8cm (3”) between plants from April onwards. After harvesting in June, why not sow or plant a quick growing catch crop, such as lettuce, spring onion or radish? Alternatively, you could add a dwarf French bean for harvesting September. Check out this excellent link offering sound examples for using recycled containers: www.growveg.co.uk/guides/seed-sowing-using-recycledcontainers.

Perhaps try the following in containers or reuse compost bags as pots: • Potatoes in an old spent compost bag that would have held 60-70lt of compost - add drainage holes. Add 3 tubers into the bottom of the bag on a layer of 1520cm (6-8”) compost, cover and lightly water. Once you see around 15-20cm (6-8”) of top growth add more compost, just leaving the terminal shoots exposed.

Repeat until you reach the top of the container.

Remember to keep compost moist and feed.

• Sow or plant herbs such as parsley now for harvesting from June. Rocket is also an attractive and popular crop and coriander and basil are great herbs for pots. Don’t forget to repeat your sowing for a successional supply.

• A range of fruit are also brilliant for pots. The container needs to be at least 60 x 60cm (2 - 2’) and you’ll need to use an appropriate compost. Personally I use a loam based compost such as John Innes Potting Compost No. 3 to give improved anchorage, support and good water retention. Take care of growing blueberries as these require an ericaceous (lime free) compost. If using fruit trees, all varieties are good as long as they’re on a dwarfing rootstock. Check out this link for further information: www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=321.

For me, one job that is essential to deal with after weeding is feeding and mulching. This year I’m using fish, blood and bone at a rate of 50g/m2. Lightly work it into the top surface of beds and borders, following this with a generous depth of mulching material. I’ve splashed out this year and bought in a medium grade bark and will add this as an organic mulch to a depth of 15cm (6”). This will lock in any moisture, keep weeds down and it will look attractive - and as a bonus has a lovely fresh smell.

Once all the above has been completed, I’m really anxious to check out the veg and fruit plots, as these can be demanding areas of the garden or allotment. Over the last few years I’ve moved to planting veg in a vegetable trug and using various pots and containers to sow and grow a range of vegetables. Recently, I’ve planted up an old wine crate by lining it with landscape membrane. However you could use plastic bags - anything that retains the compost. Use compost such as John Innes Potting Compost No. 3 or a multipurpose type.

The boxes are about 30cm (1’) in depth, which is ideal for most veg, even carrots and parsnips. The trick with these root vegetables is to pick the cultivar suitable for the depth of container. This year I’m using three types of carrot - Nantes, Amsterdam and a rounded type called Parmex - from February for June harvesting. To improve germination, cover the container with fleece. The seedlings 10

Lastly, take the time to enjoy any sunshine that we get - we all deserve it! Next time, more on flowers and shrubs.

Happy gardening and keep safe!

For any gardening tips, please contact Tom Cole, Horticultural Lecturer, Capel Manor College, Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield, Middlesex, EN1 4RQ by post (including a SAE) or by email at tom.cole@capel.ac.uk.

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11

Nick Garner’s Music & Ramblings First off, I do hope that I find you all safe, fit and well and staying indoors.

Well now, things have certainly changed, and I do not see us returning to how things were before for some time. When it is over, I hope that we all stay more compassionate and caring; not only for us as humans but for all things living and for our planet. You may have been aware that 22nd April was the 50th Earth Day, the theme for Earth Day 2020 being climate action. The enormous challenge - but also the vast opportunities - of action on climate change have distinguished the issue as the most pressing topic for the 50th anniversary.

Climate change represents the biggest challenge to the future of humanity and the life-support systems that make our world habitable. Yes COVID-19 is devastating us and has shown us what can happen if we do not pay attention and we are not on the ball. Let’s hope that after this is over that we wake up to what is happening to our planet - as sadly, we are currently the destroyers of it. We need to become its saviours.

busy due to the restrictions on going out - I know I am eating a little less and my diet is pretty healthy. I don’t drink and only have one cup of coffee a day, and lot’s of water, but I’m still putting a bit of weight on!

It must be harder if you have children or you share your home and people who work different hours, having to tiptoe around so as to not disturb anyone still sleeping. I am lucky in some ways that I am alone, although it does get lonely but I can pick up my guitar and play whenever I want and generally do what I want to whenever I like. It’s just sad there’s no interaction with ‘real’ people. It’s good to see so many out on the doorsteps clapping once a week on a Thursday though, showing support for all the keyworkers.

Ok, that’s my little rant over now. So what have you been doing? How is this changing your life, and are there any things that will stay changed for you? We would love to hear what you have to say. Send an email to editorial@ itsyourmedia.co.uk and you may get into the next City Times or Moulsham Times.

Music On Friday 22nd May at 7.30pm, Jamie Williams & the Roots Collective will be releasing our new album Do What You Love online via the Isolation Festival at www.facebook.com/ isolationmusicfestival. We were due to play at the Half Moon in Putney, but this has now been rescheduled to Tuesday 17th November 2020. On Friday 22nd will play the album in its entirety as well as showing videos and talking about the making of the album live. We also will feature some special guests who play on the record, like BJ Cole, Robbie McIntosh and Naomi Poole, so we hope you will join us! The album will be available on vinyl, CD, cassette and as a download. The vinyl and cassette are both limited editions and all formats can be found at www.jwrc.bandcamp.com.

My daughter Amber is now not able to work and is at home schooling the children (who I have to say are being very good). Amber has taken a turn in life, as she has always loved cooking and is now cooking for others and doing home deliveries. The feedback is fantastic - sadly she does not live near me!

I am running a regular weekly festival every Sunday - see the advert in this publication where you can see some of those who are playing. We have had a couple of specials already so far; you may have have seen Hazel O’Connor in concert for us for example, or Izzy Kershaw, plus our recent single release Life on the Road.

Social media is good - as well as sometimes not so good. In the words of Donald Trump; there is also a lot of fake news out there. But there’s also a lot of good stuff online, like cookery and gardening advice (lots of people seem to be taking these up which is great). There are quizzes, fitness videos, music, advice, and so much more going on. I am currently on my own, and as others are finding too, I am thankful for live video calling, so we can all keep in touch.

I have also found myself calling and catching up with old friends and relatives as well which has been good.

Besides what we are getting up to, did you see The Rolling Stones on TV the other week? All in their own homes but linking up and playing together.

I play in a band of course, and I have seen so many of our shows and festivals cancelled this summer - although most are now rebooked for next year, it is not quite the same. I suspect it’s the same for many sporting events. Think also of all of those who provide the stalls, and the traders who rely on the summer events and now are unable to trade. And what is going to happen to all those crops that need to be handpicked I wonder?

So when this is over how will it change things? Will there continue to be more home working, more home cooking, more home growing and less driving, and maybe more home shopping? I do think the slimming clubs and gyms will be 12

So to finish off this month; please stay safe, stay indoors and stay well - and keep supporting the live artists, many of whom have donation pages, as many of us are not earning anything.

So if you can donate or maybe purchase music, it will be greatly appreciated by all of us.

It would be great if you can share our magazines online. We will continue to publish both the City Times and Moulsham Times online and hope to be back in printed form before too long. If you are interested in advertising with us, please contact us at ads@itsyourmedia.co.uk, or if you have a comment or article for us to consider, please send to editorial@itsyourmedia.co.uk and we will get back to you.

You can find both magazines at www.issuu.com/ itsyourmedia, and the Isolation Festival can be found at www. facebook.com/isolationmusicfestival.

The Isolation Festival is also now on YouTube - search ‘Isolation Festival’.

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Quiz Time - by John Theedom 1.

2 3.

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Yorkshire was once divided into areas called what?

What is the nickname for a person who lives in Wiltshire?

Which gemstone gets it’s name from the pomegranate?

Which teenage singer had a hit with Walking Back to Happiness in 1961?

Who was the Bard of Avon?

Shiatsu is a method of what?

In the WWII comedy radio programme ITMA, what did the initials stand for?

In which English town was the first roundabout constructed?

What type of animal is a ‘Dandie Dinmont’?

Which word connects ‘society’, ‘noon’ and ‘fidelity’?

What colour is a periwinkle?

He was born James Bradford, but changed his name to Jimmy Nail; from where did he get the idea for his surname?

The character Chewbacca appeared in which series of films?

Which singer had a number 1 UK single in 2005 with the song You’re Beautiful?

Silverstone Motor Racing Circuit is in which English county?

What type of food is arborio?

On which musical instrument is a paradiddle performed?

What is the name of the world’s longest running West End play?

From which country does the potato dish rosti originate?

In which northern town is ‘Yorkshire tea’ based?

21. What colour shirts did the England players wear in the 1966 World Cup? 22. What was the name of the band that backed their leader Spike Jones?

23. In which English city was Jimmy Tarbuck born?

24. What do the initials COBRA stand for?

25. What is a donjon?

26. With which meat dish is horseradish sauce traditionally served?

27. From which English game is the American sport of baseball derived?

28. Of which country is Kabul the capital city?

29. In series 2 of Afterlife, which former neighbours met again?

30. The trade name Bisto is an acronym of what?

31. What does a mahout do for a living?

32. Abuja is the capital city of which African country?

33. On the human body, what is a tonsure?

34. What nationality is the DJ Paul Gambaccini?

35. What exactly is rooibos?

36. How old is the boxer Tyson Fury in August this year?

37. Which UK TV channel broadcasts the programme The Secret Life of The Zoo? 38. What year did David Bowie marry Angie Barnett?

39. In March 2020, how old was Dame Vera Lynn?

40. Roy Hudd, who died recently, once acted in Coronation Street, which character did he play?

www.moulshamtimes.com 13

Determined Supporters Vow to Race for Life at Home Determined fundraisers across Chelmsford are set to Race for Life at Home as they refuse to let the fight against cancer falter in these unprecedented times.

The charity has postponed Race for Life events this spring and summer across the UK to protect the country’s health during the coronavirus outbreak. This includes the Race for Life 5K and 10K and Pretty Muddy at Hylands Park, Chelmsford which can no longer take place on Sunday 26th July 2020, and has been rescheduled for Sunday 18th October 2020 at the same venue.

As the country continues on lockdown, undeterred women and men are already vowing to carry on and complete a Race for Life challenge at home, in their garden, or at their nearest safe green space.

Patrick Keely, Cancer Research UK’s spokesperson for Chelmsford, said: “At a time when it feels like everything’s at a standstill, this is one thing that hasn’t stopped cancer.

“Our priority as a charity is ensuring that people affected by cancer are getting the support they need right now. But we are already getting people asking about doing Race for Life at Home this spring because they don’t want to see the charity lose out on vital funding and because they feel that the fight against cancer shouldn’t stop for anything - even coronavirus. It’s truly humbling to see the response.

“So from their homes, we’d love for supporters to join us and Race for Life at Home in these challenging times. From a walk, jog or run or 5K around the garden to limbo in the living room, there is no wrong way to Race for Life at Home.

With no entry fee, people might choose to twerk, limbo, star jump, squat, skip, dance, or come up with their own novel way of taking part and share it with friends. The message is very much that ‘while we might be apart, we’re doing this together’. There is no wrong way to get involved and join our community.

“Those lucky enough to have a garden may choose to make use of it, but whatever people decide to do, we are immensely grateful for the support, now more than ever. We could be looking at hundreds of people stepping forward to Race for Life at Home, and perhaps making a donation to do so.”

Cancer Research UK’s Race for Life, in partnership with Tesco, is an inspiring series of 5K, 10K, Pretty Muddy and Pretty Muddy Kids events which raise millions of pounds every year to help beat cancer by funding crucial research.

Thanks to the generosity of people across Chelmsford,

participants last year supported vital research to develop gentler and more effective treatments for cancer - a disease that will affect one in two people in the UK at some stage in their lives.

Many of the scientists and researchers funded by Cancer Research UK are currently being redeployed to help in the fight against COVID-19, including assisting with testing.

By helping to beat coronavirus, the charity can lessen the impact that it is having on the care of cancer patients.

People can visit raceforlife.org and sign up free for ideas on how they can create their own Race for Life at Home challenge. And the Cancer Research UK Race for Life Facebook page will help people feel energised with weekly live workout sessions. Organisers are also inviting participants to join the Race for Life at Home community by sharing photos and videos on social media using the hashtag #RaceForLifeAtHome.

“We’d love to see people sharing photos and videos of their ‘at home’ experiences and, through this, we can retain the amazing sense of community and camaraderie that makes Race for Life such a treasured part of the UK’s events calendar.”

Every hour, 4 people are diagnosed with cancer in the East of England. But the good news is more people are surviving the disease now than ever before. Cancer survival in the UK has doubled since the early 1970s and Cancer Research UK’s work has been at the heart of that progress.

Patrick Keely continued: “Cancer is still happening right now and we want to do everything we can to help give people more tomorrows with their loved ones.

“At a time when we’re having to keep apart from each other, there is still a way to unite. We’re urging everyone who has supported Race for Life in the past to please continue supporting us. Sadly, cancer touches almost every family at some time.

“Race for Life is a hugely moving experience as people remember loved ones lost to cancer, celebrate the lives of those dear to them who have survived or support those going through treatment.

“We encourage those choosing to Race for Life at Home to participate in whatever way they like - there are lots of ideas on the Race for Life website. We appreciate that the current situation has resulted in financial uncertainty for many people, so people should only contribute sponsor money if they feel able to.”

Cancer Research UK’s life-saving work relies entirely on the public’s generous support. The charity was able to spend over £56 million last year in the East of England on some of the UK’s leading scientific and clinical research.

Visit raceforlife.org, or call 0300 123 0770. Join in and share with #RaceforLifeAtHome.

14 www.moulshamtimes.com

The Singing Chef

Ive had a bit of a recipe block this month. I am imagining most of us have a little bit of a fried brain, what with the pandemic an’ all.

Well, we will not be over COVID-19 by the time of publishing, so the following recipes are made to be enjoyed at home as a European tapas-style lunch or dinner (or as amazing dishes to take to parties or BBQs when this is over).

1. Store Cupboard Tapas Tuna and butter beans: (Please try this it is soooo good!)

• Gently sweat 2 tablespoon of onion (shallot, red, white or spring - whatever) with a table spoon of oil, salt and pepper in a saucepan for at least 20 mins over a low heat.

• Add a teaspoon of Dijon mustard (has to be Dijon I’m afraid), a can of butter beans, tin of tuna, a little more olive oil and a tablespoon of white wine vinegar.

• Cover and cook on the same low temp for 15 minutes.

Taste, and season if needed.

• Flourish (this is a must, it’s not a pretty dish) with more extra virgin olive oil, rocket, tomatoes, parsley and/or a squeeze of lemon - whatever you have; chili flakes are also good.

Dishes can be served warm or cold, with toasted or fresh bread and salad.

Slice like a pizza, eat warm or leave to cool - both is good.

The cold one especially good with salad cream. I love it!!

2. Fancy Fridges • ANY Ham and ANY melon drizzled in Balsamic vinegar.

3. Fridge Frittata • Preheat grill.

• Prepare in chunks, cooked potatoes, cheese/cheeses, cooked meats, cooked veg.

• Whisk 6 eggs.

• Heat some oil in a frying pan (not too hot).

• Add eggs and your chosen other ingredients, plus lots of salt and pepper.

• Cook for 5 minutes on the hob then transfer to the grille for a further 5 minutes maximum.

• We also did a cheese and potato frittata for the fussy ones.

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15

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16 www.moulshamtimes.com

Hello everyone. As I write this we are still in very worrying times. I am hoping that by the time you read it, things have got a lot better. I hope, too that this dreadful virus is not affecting you or your families. If anybody is ill, I hope you recover very soon and that we can all get back to some sort of normality. Although I am retired, I am still having a bit of trouble finding things to do around the house and garden. I’m afraid that I am watching more box sets on television, which is not the best way of spending my time!

Although these are difficult times, it’s uplifting to hear of great stories of kindness around the country. We have had several offers of help from our neighbours, and I noticed that a lot of people were stood chatting last Thursday keeping 2 metres apart of course - for quite a time after we had finished clapping. Once we get over these awful times, perhaps we will all be even more friendly and, like you all, I am becoming increasingly grateful for the fantastic job people are doing. Our NHS staff and all the other people who are working in transport, shops, council workers and many many more: THANK YOU all.

As I mentioned, I’m still watching the box sets on TV. I think that some of them are just not true to life, even when they are doing normal day to day things. One example is when the lead character comes flying up the road and immediately finds a parking space right outside the building they are visiting, even when it’s in a busy place like New York. What is the chance of that ever happening? I have also noticed how many people can drink coffee or tea straight away after it’s been poured. When I use a vending machine I can only just hold the hot cup, let alone drink it straight away. Perhaps they get special training from RADA and the like!

I’m disappointed that alcohol is starting to be in short supply and in a lot of places, being rationed. Hope is on the way though. I read recently that you can buy 3 litre boxes of flavoured gin, I wonder if one of these boxes counts as just one item in the ‘we will only let you have two of the same item’. If so, point me in the direction of the spirits and 10 litre boxes of wine please...

I saw a report the other day saying that because most of us are staying at home, wild animals are coming into towns.

Among them are goats roaming the streets. I think that is taking the nanny state a bit too far...

On the silly news front, it is being reported in these difficult times that a whisky shop in the States uses a dog to deliver products to customers. I hope the dog is friendly though; if not, it will give a whole slant of having a nip of the Scottish tipple. Apparently, he just delivers to cars in shop car parks.

I was wondering how he managed to read the address on

the delivery note!

Among all the many problems with this lockdown, I have been trying to think of positive things that are occurring.

We are now experimenting with new foods, as the shelves had initially become more empty of our regular purchases; I bet loads of people have been forced to try food they have never had before then realised they like it. There are also no queues at the Army and Navy, fuel is at its lowest price for a long time - well, actually not too positive, as we can’t use the car. As pubs and restaurants are closed, our outgoings are lower than normal, no junk mail is being delivered, we are shopping more locally and I’m listening to Popmaster on the Ken Bruce show much more. My computer desk has never been so tidy, and I’ve managed to shred bills and receipts that I should have done months ago (if not years), and many more positives. Mind you, I am not looking forward to the first time I find out I need something I have shredded, It’s an ill wind...

Doing all this work has reminded me of an experience a colleague had some years ago. He was working very late in the office and the CEO of the company came in and was studying a piece of office machinery. Keen to impress, he offered to help. The CEO had what he explained was a piece of very important A4 in his hand and gave it to him saying, ‘you could sort this out for me, I’ll come back shortly’. My colleague duly shredded the paper. As his boss was leaving the office, my colleague asked him if he could do anything else, he replied: “No thank you. I only want the one copy...”

Back in January, we booked a short break in Berlin and were due to go next week. Needless to say, we can’t. So, I am going to buy a few bottles of German wine - and perhaps a pair of leather shorts, a waistcoat, long socks and a silly hat and download some German drinking songs.

I will also find some Internet virtual tours of the city. Not quite the short break we had planned, but could be fun, and cheaper!

I read today that ‘experts’ have found that cats misbehave when the family is not at home, getting up to all sorts of stuff while they are on their own, because they are missing the family. I remember that we had a cat, Sooty his name was. My parents did not let him sleep on the sitting room chairs. When we returned after we had all been out, Sooty would be sat on the floor having a wash, acting all innocent, but we could see a dent in the sofa cushion and it was always quite warm. He always jumped off as we opened the front door.

Bin End Chuckles I told the Inland Revenue that I don’t owe them any money, because I live on the coast...

Hey, if anyone knows how to fix broken hinges, my door is always open...

Stay well and stay safe.

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17

Rotary Working Through Coronavirus There can be only one topic for this column in this edition coronavirus and the impact it is having on our lives and on Rotary. We are all aware of the Government’s restrictions on going out, gathering together and banning organised events; all the very raison d’etre of Rotary. Many clubs are meeting online via Zoom or Skype and whilst it is all very commendable as a way of Rotarians socialising, in reality it produces very little in the way of Rotary proceeding with its usual business of giving something back to the community.

We are constantly being told that in these unprecedented times we need to keep ourselves fit and healthy and occupied within the permitted guidelines. ‘Unprecedented’ the word of the moment, but it does sum up where we are.

Just on the subject of Rotary, weekly meetings - cancelled; district meetings and training - cancelled; charter events - cancelled; Youth competitions - cancelled; Volunteer Expo - cancelled; Rotary International Convention in Hawaii - cancelled. Can’t be much more unprecedented than that lot!

We are witnessing the highs and lows of society. The unbelievable efforts of NHS and medical staff putting their lives at risk, the shopworkers and lorry drivers keeping the food chains going, workers in key industries getting to their factories to ensure essentials keep coming through, the carers and numerous examples of general kindness. On the other hand, we see acts of stupidity, of vandalism, of looting, of selfishness and of criminality.

once a vaccine is found. Rotary is also a social organisation creating lasting friendships with like-minded people thereby invigorating the desire to improve society and whilst it is true many Rotarians fall into the category of over 70, they are supported by the younger element.

Projects may have been curtailed, but they have not ground to a complete stop. Below is a photo I saw on the Chelmsford Community Transport Facebook page which shows the Rotary Club of Chelmsford logo on the door of the bus. CCT say that over the last month they have carried out 43 food shops and 50 passenger journeys for medical appointments, plus over 900 welfare/safeguarding calls.

Office staff are working at home but they have two drivers on the road. It shows that it was a good idea for Chelmsford Rotary club to support them over a five year period. This is just one example of helping locally, but there are several such as this, even in these unprecedented times.

When this COVID-19 pandemic is over, Rotary will be looking for new members from the army of volunteers who have shown that they are willing to contribute to the community. If you would like to find out more then please visit www.rotary1240.org to find details of local clubs, or call me on 01245 260 349 for further information.

Keep well, keep safe.

Stan Keller

The fact that more than 750,000 people have come forward following the Government’s appeal for volunteers shows there is a willingness for people to step up - the sort of people who could be Rotarians, so the challenge is how to direct them into Rotary once the coronavirus is finally over. On the other side of the coin, the question needs to be asked: ‘Is Rotary necessary?’ When we see three quarters of a million people volunteering to fill a void to help the vulnerable in the community, how Rotary reacts will determine if it has a future. That’s the choice. Rotary needs to grasp the opportunity.

But Rotary does have its USP - its unique selling point.

It is a worldwide organisation so has the resources to undertake tasks large and small. Just look at the campaign to eliminate polio. That could not have been done by a handful of willing volunteers. Polio is not quite defeated yet, but the methods developed in tackling the poliomyelitis virus is showing the way forward for beating coronavirus 18 www.moulshamtimes.com

Peace and Hope Amidst Coronavirus

Hope for new life when we’re faced with our own morality?

As I write, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has just spent his second night in intensive care with COVID-19. Laura Kuenssberg rightly observed that power is no protection from this virus (or, indeed, any ill health). We are all experiencing our fragility and mortality far more than we are comfortable with. Christians everywhere are praying for him.

I also write this during Holy Week, the week running up to the Easter weekend. As a Christian, this is the celebration of the year! We celebrate the one person who has - because he was raised back to new everlasting life - defeated death completely. Whilst this year it won’t be marked by the normal Good Friday march of witness into Chelmsford town centre, or the wonderful variety of celebration services worshipping the risen Lord Jesus Christ - we will still celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection.

“I always think that if an alien came down and you were the only person they met, and they said: ‘What’s life about?

What’s Earth about? Tell us everything,’ and you said, ‘Well, there’s a book here that purports to tell you everything.

Some people believe it to be true; some people [do] not believe it [to be] true.’ ‘Wow, what’s it like?’ and you go, ‘I don’t know, I’ve never read it.’ It would be an odd thing wouldn’t it? So, at the very least, read it.”

If you’ve got any questions, want to disagree with me, or want to know more, get in touch.

Tim Goodall, Pastor, Tile Kiln Church tim.goodall@tilekilnchurch.org.uk

When we’re all faced with human fragility and mortality, Easter holds the message that there is life after death. It is a resurrected life - literal death and then literal being brought back to life again. But not the same life (this is no resuscitation), but resurrected, everlasting life that can’t ever die. That’s why we Christians say that Jesus Christ is still alive. God raised him from the dead never to die again. And he offers the same to anyone and everyone who decides to trust that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he is alive, that God raised him from the dead.

The whole of Christianity hangs together on this one point - the literal, physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. If that is not true, then the whole thing is a massive hoax - or worse.

Some people believe it is, but if you speak to any Christian, the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is backed up by our own experience of the presence of God in our lives. We find this most clearly and often through reading the Bible.

In this time of fragility where we are realising we are closer to death than we often dare to think about, let me encourage you to find a Bible (go online here: www. biblegateway.com) and read about Jesus in the Book of Mark. If you’re unsure, let me leave you with the words of comedian Lee Mack, speaking on BBC’s Desert Island Discs: “I’m glad you get the Bible, because I would read the Bible.

I think it’s quite odd that people like myself, in their forties, are quite happy to dismiss the Bible, but I’ve never read it.

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Spot 10 Differences (Answers on Page 31)

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Post Lockdown: Rebuild the Relationship Between Your Body and Mind - by Erica Foulds Summer has definitely entered the building; whooopeee!

It’s so wonderful to see May romping over the horizon - you are warmly welcomed! In the recent climate we’ve learned to appreciate the wonderful little things that the world offers daily, and for me the chance to see the eager sun by midday now over the trees at the end of my garden, making the patio stones warm enough to walk on bare feet, maybe its not quite walking on summer holiday sand, but that’s what it reminds me of and it makes me happy!

So I want to take in hand this month what I have heard so much about in recent weeks, the perils of ‘working from home’, being confined to smaller surroundings, changes in routine and the toll it can take on so many of your bodies.

Fingers and toes are crossed that by the time this gets published we will be nearing the end of lockdown and starting to heal our lives again both mentally and physically.

Some elements may take a little longer to get back to normal, but I definitely think we have shown incredible strength and courage over the last 8 weeks that we WILL get there. Working from home or just being heavily restricted compared to ‘normal’, has meant a lot of you had to forge strange daily routines; around Zoom family catchups, created makeshift workspaces, dining tables turned into desks, chairs without the best back support... I even heard of a daily 11am office coffee break being turned into catching up on a ‘quick’ Netflix visit!

My work routine changed overnight too. I am normally on my feet 14 hours a day, having always worked in large gym spaces, fully equipped studios, having teams, other trainers around - but most importantly, members, clients and other humans around me!

My living room has turned into an automatic pilates filming studio, every lamp in my house used to create as bright a space as possible to film Zoom virtual pilates classes for Hummingbird Pilates. The dining table, big shaggy rug and arm chairs are pushed into the corner and I can’t get to my piano for love nor money! It’s been worth it to keep myself active, delivering fitness and pilates nearly every day in the way that I have for the last 17 years. Because without some kind of routine I would have felt quite lonely and the sofa is never great for the back. My husband is a frontline worker in the emergency services and has worked more and longer shifts than ever in his career, leaving for London by 4:30am, as well as being on late shifts creeping in the door back home after a shift, gone 1am, so I have been home alone a lot.

Those who have been following me will know I regularly mention how the mind and body are best friends, a team, and one without the other wouldn’t work. Exercise in any form is a wonderful way of maintaining the relationship between the two and keeping them healthy. At Hummingbird we use pilates and yoga as forms of exercise www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia

that we are all passionate about because we know the amazing benefits they give to the mind and body - brilliant for the current climate where our minds are feeling fragile and out of sorts and our bodies stiff.

There is no one size fits all either which is why pilates and yoga as forms of exercise are great, they can be adapted to allow anyone to reap the benefits. The best thing is that neither require any fancy equipment. I have been teaching full classes on the wonderful Zoom Virtual Hummingbird to dozens of people every week for the last month, with waiting lists nearly every day because everyone has discovered that my pilates has helped to rebuild body and mind and maintain a stronger, more resilient physical body with the strange routines - or lack of - that we have all faced. If this is you and you have noticed you feel stiffer, not quite right, achey, etc, in recent weeks then try one of the fail-safe easy moves below. I run Gentle Pilates classes every week; they feature in our Zoom classes schedule and will do till we return back to the studio.

Get your back rotating. Sit or stand, arms straight out to your sides, shoulder height. Sit or stand as tall as you can and rotate/twist your whole upper body to the right with a full in breath and then to middle on out breath. Repeat to left and complete 10 total twists.

Move your shoulder, reset your posture with standing snow angels. Stand against a wall or door, arms by your hips, palms face out, keeping straight arms slide arms out and up above your head trying to keep arms contact with wall or door, it’s hard but amazing to ‘open’ your posture, do 10 snow angels.

Open your hips with butterfly stretch. Sit on floor, (sit against a wall if sitting on floor feels uncomfortable on your back) bring soles of your feet together in front of you on floor and let your knees fall out to the sides, flap knees slowly up and down imitating butterfly wings!

For more, please search us online and social media Hummingbird Yoga Pilates Writtle. Email info@hummingbirdpilatesyoga.co.uk, or call 01245 422 556. Our media posts will hopefully give you some daily positivity and encouragement too.

Erica xx

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Neighbourhood Watch - May Update Hi all, You’re friendly Neighbourhood Ayman here!

We also have a Community Bench set up on Moulsham Street at the corner of Nursery Road, free for the needy. A great idea by Brian McGovern.

Last month we found ourselves near the start of the lockdown. Now, after this length of time passed, we should all be settling into a new routine and wondering when will we be let out again. At the moment it doesn’t look like anytime soon! So I’m seriously considering a buzzcut!

These are just a few of things that I’ve picked up on while being in isolation. I’ll end it here today to allow space for the pictures that you can currently find in Oaklands Park and walking around near our homes.

Crime in the area has dropped as we all find ourselves home. Drug offences are still happening and are being reported, groups appear to be more obvious and less people around means we have become curtain twitchers and when we are out we can spot drug users going to their dealers easier.

I asked my NhW coordinators what I should mention in this month’s column and they had some brilliant ideas. It is true to say that our neighbourhood spirit has grown even stronger than ever before as we meet and social distance with our neighbours. Conversations and care has grown with our neighbours around us.

Everyone is helping and looking out for each other and ensuring we all have supplies or can get shopping if others can’t get out. We are definitely more connected than we have ever been. I for one hope we don’t lose that once we do all start to leave our homes once more.

Perhaps you should also try to set up a target of some sort, be it a new hobby, ringing some friends you’ve never got round to talking to for while, get fit, become spiritual, do an online course... Whatever it is, I can’t imagine we will ever have a time or chance like this again.

Stay safe and keep your spirits up!

Ayman Syed Moulsham and Central Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator Seach Fecebook for Old Moulsham Neighbourhood Watch

There have been several new Facebook pages created and existing ones have also grown more active. The Facebook page rules have also been relaxed giving us much wider sets of information that we had before, so we can help more people in this time of need.

It’s also been great seeing some of the rainbow pictures appearing in our neighbours’ windows. The chalk obstacle courses growing on pavements have been very colourful too. Neighbours are even getting outside for a sing-a-long; some are known as the Braemar Buskers! All of these activities have been great at lifting our spirits.

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The British Blues Boom of the 1960s - by John Power The Artwoods The Artwoods were formed by Art Wood, Ronnie Wood’s brother, in 1963 after having been one of the many members of Korner’s Blues Inc during 1962. At the same time he had been running the Art Woods Combo. Then when keyboardist Jon Lord (later of Deep Purple and Whitesnake) and guitarist Derek Griffiths joined, they changed the name. Further additions of Keef Hartley on drums (straddling a past with Merseybeat band, Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, and a future with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and Chicken Shack, and then running his own band) and Malcolm Pool from The Roadrunners on bass, they got a contract from Decca Records. Colin Martin, later of Blossom Toes, was also a member before becoming a Radio 2 producer.

Leadbelly’s Sweet Mary Blues was their debut single and lead to a spot on ATV’s trendy music programme, Ready Steady Go! and much live work. The follow up, Oh My Love, failed to chart, but them I Take What I Want reached number 28 in 1966. What Shall I Do? on Parlophone in 1967 didn’t chart. A final single on Fontana (attributed to The St Valentine’s Day Massacre) after they had split, wasn’t promoted. Art went went back to college to study commercial art.

There are three compilations: 100 Oxford St (1963), Singles, A’s and B’s, (2000) and Steady Gettin’ It: The Complete Recordings 1964-67. The Art Gallery album of 1966 and Live at Klooks Kleek were re-released in 1995 and 2016 respectively.

The Graham Bond Organisation (1964 -1967) The band consisted of Bond on vocals keyboards and alto sax, Jack Bruce on bass, Ginger Baker on drums, Dick Heckstall-Smith on tenor and soprano saxes and John McLaughlin on guitar for a large part of their existence.

All, except John, had served their musical apprenticeship with Alexis Korner’s Blues Inc, and all came from jazz backgrounds. Graham had grown up in a children’s home in Romford and shown an early aptitude for music. He got early jazz experience in Goudic Charles Quartet in 1960, then in the Don Rendell Quartet playing alto sax.

The hub of the group that formed from Blue’s Inc backed Winston G and then a Chuck Berry tour for rock impresario Robert Stigwood, before assuming their own identity and the Graham Bond Organisation name when they got a Decca Records contract in 1964 for two singles: Long Tall Shorty/Long Legged Baby and Tammy/Wade in the Water, other versions of which also appeared on their first album, The Sound of ‘65 released by Columbia. At that stage they flirted with commercialism, encouraged by the record company. Tammy was a ballad for a film theme and not representative of their usual sound but did enter the charts. They also appeared in a dreadful rock movie, Gonks Go Beat - gonks were a cuddly toy craze at the time!

The real music that they became well known for in clubs was driven by the heavy pounding of Bond’s Hammond

organ. But he did also pioneer the use af a new keyboard instrument called the Mellotron, which incorporated taped sounds and could create the sound of a whole orchestra, for instance. Bond was seen demonstrating it on Ready Steady Go!, that cool teen music show of the mod era. It was put to use on a single Lease on Love/My Heart’s in Little Pieces and the bands second album There’s a Bond Between Us. Other groups to feature the Mellotron were The Beatles, Manfred Mann and The Moody Blues. In 1964 (but released in 1966) the real sound of the band came out as the album Live at Klooks Kleek.

Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker had long-standing disagreements, often over Baker’s heroin addiction, and Bruce left to join Manfred Mann, then John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers until he patched things up with Ginger and Jack and Ginger joined Eric Clapton to form blues/jazz/ psychedelia band Cream in 1967. Three singles were released in the US, without Bruce, to little effect.

The Organisation had a short-lived reformation in 1967 with John Hiseman taking over on drums from Ginger and with Heckstall-Smith as a trio, and they released a single written by Bond: You’ve Gotta Have Love Babe/I Love You, for Page One Records. John McLaughlin formed jazz/ mystic band Mahavishnu Orchestra. As the psychedelic era began, Bond found himself out of fashion and went to America where he did session work with the likes of Dr John (Mac Rebennack) and brought out a couple of magick albums himself: Love is the Law (1967) and The Mighty Grahame Bond (1968). They were not released in Europe until 2004, posthumously, as CDs. Hiseman and HeckstallSmith joined John Mayall for long enough to appear on the Bluesbreakers’ album Bare Wires before forming Colosseum with Chris Farlowe on vocals Tony Reeves on bass and Dave Greenslade on keyboards in a very jazz orientated band.

On his return from the States in 1970, Bond joined Ginger Baker’s Air Force and released two more albums for Vertigo records himself, again on the themes of esoteric magic: Holy Magick and We Put Our Magick on You, as well as Solid Bond, a double album of unreleased studio recordings by the classic Organisation line-up of himself, Bruce, Baker, Heckstall-Smith, McLaughlin and John Hiseman. He also worked in partnership with poet Pete Brown, who had written songs with Jack Bruce for Cream, in Bond and Brown. He sadly fell under a tube train at Finsbury Park tube station in 1974. He was very overweight, leading to mobility difficulties, and like Ginger Baker had problems with heroin, so no one knows for sure if he fell or if it was suicide.

Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames (1961-1966) Georgie had a rock history before he became an early mod hero in London clubs: he had been in the Larry Parnes stable of artists when he picked up the ‘Fame’ name in exchange for his given name of Clive Powell, and played piano in Billy Fury’s backing band, the Blue Flames. Fury thought they were too jazzy and hired the Tornados instead.

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So Georgie took over vocals, with guitarist Colin Green and Red Reece on bass - he had also backed Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran on tour, as Colin Green and the Beat Boys.

Still as Blue Flames, the enlarged band got a three year residency at Wardour Street’s Flamingo Club in Soho.

When Georgie heard Booker T and the MG’s instrumental Green Onions he changed from piano to Hammond organ.

From hanging out with Jamaicans from Ladbroke Grove he heard ska/bluebeat music and trumpeter Eddie Thornton helped him introduce aspects of it into their music. Speedy Acquaye on congas added to the sound, and when the mod revival occurred during the Two Tone era of the late 1970s it was this influence that the younger generation particularly picked up on, more than the brass and Hammond R&B sound. By 1961 Alan Watson had joined on sax and vocals too, but Colin Green left to be replaced

by Joe Moretti, then John McLaughlin, until 1963 when he went to the Graham Bond Organisation. Rod Slade took over on bass. Mick Eve became the second sax player in 1962 and finally Johnny Marshall brought the band up to full strength in the rhythm section.

1963 also saw Rik Gunnell from the Flamingo become their manager and in September of that year Ian Samwell and Glyn Johns recorded Rhythm and Blues at the Flamingo for Columbia Records. That proved to be the seminal mod record well before The Who brought their amphetamine fuelled brand of electric R&B and Pop Art icons into the arena. A period of successful releases put the band into pop charts. Although a single, Do the Dog first failed to chart, Do Re Mi and Bend a Little from the album did.

Georgie’s smooth vocals in the style of Mose Allison, rather than soulful shouting, also appealed to the pop audience.

In 1964 Peter Coe replaced Marshall and Glenn Hughes added a baritone sax to the line up, while Eddie Thornton, who had been only an occasional member before on trumpet, joined full time, while Colin Green rejoined on guitar. Jimmie Nicol, famous as a fifth Beatle when Ringo was ill, replaced Reece (the then drummer rather than bassist) for a while until Bill Eden became full time drummer. Also in 1964 the album Fame at Last reached number 15 in the album charts, and the single Yeh Yeh reached number 1, followed by In the Meantime into the Top 20. Two flops followed, but then Get Away reached number 1 again in 1966. This success caused Georgie to sign a new contract with CBS Records for the album Sweet Things, but as a solo artist. The Blue Flames kept going for a while but disbanded later in the year, as psychedelia began to appear on the scene.

At time of writing, Georgie continues to perform, usually in a quartet, to this day. The group had several residencies at other clubs like the Whiskey a Go Go, Klooks Kleek, and the Roaring Twenties in Carnaby Street. They were the only English group to be invited onto the Motortown Review in the mid sixties.

Herbie Goins and the Nightimers Herbie was born in Florida, and like many black singers he learned to sing in church choirs. Then it was in a group 26

called The Teen Kings, before moving to New York, where he supported BB King, Bobby Bland, and Sam Cooke amongst others, before he was drafted in the late fifties and sent to Germany as part of the GI medical core. After his demob, he joined The Eric Delaney Band and travelled back to England with them. Moving away from jazz and looking more for his blues roots, he sang with the Chris Barber Jazz Band in 1963 and then Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated. He appears on Live at the Cavern and Red Hot from Alex.

In 1965 he left Alexis to front The Nightimers in place of Ronnie Jones. At that time the rest of the band was Mick Eve on tenor sax, Mike Carr on keyboards, Harry Beckett on trumpet, David Price on bass, Bill Stephens on drums and Speedy Acquaye on congas. A cover of Motown group The Monitors’ Number One in Your Heart was a trendy hit with the mods. By 1966 John McLaughlan was on guitar and they supported Otis Redding on tour. They did regular slots at The Flamingo Club in Wardour Street and The Marquee in Oxford Street with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker who they also travelled in Europe with. An album, Soul ,Soul, Soul was released in Europe, and later in the sixties there was a fusion album with Wynder K Frog. After a trip to Italy in 1971, Herbie decided to stay, but the band returned to England. Herbie worked as a songwriter and record producer and for a TV company. He released his own funk records in the eighties with the Herbie Goins Soul Band in Europe and the US. In 2009 he toured with Chris Farlowe, Cliff Bennett and The Norman Beaker Band in an R&B revival. He died in Italy in 2015, aged 76.

Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band Zoot (George Bruno Money) and Andy Somers moved up from local gigs around the south coast to take London by storm. 1961 saw the first line up of the Big Roll Band, with himself on vocals, Roger Collis on guitar, Al Kirtley on piano, Mike Montgomery on bass and Johnny Hammond on on drums. Their first gig was at Bournmouth’s Downstairs Club. In 1962 Pete Brookes took over on drums, Johnny King took over on bass and Kevin Drake joined on sax.

When Kirtley left, Zoot took over on keyboards with a Hammond organ.

Late ‘63 saw more changes when old mate Andy Somers (Summers), who had been playing in the Don Robb Band, joined, starting a long musical career with Zoot not only in the Big Roll Band, but in Dantalian’s Chariot in the psychedelic era, and after a couple of similar groups again in Eric Burden’s New Animals before the post-punk band The Police made him an international star. Paul Williams, on bass and on some featured vocals, joined around the same time and later became vocalist for Juicy Lucy. Nick Newall joined on sax and played in versions of the Big Roll Band until he died in 2017 and Clive Burrows joined on additional sax, before joining Geno Washington’s Ram Jam Band - Johnny Almond took his place. Colin Allen was on drums. That was then the classic line-up that that drew in the crowds at the Flamingo and around the country from 1964. Zoot was a great showman as well as a fine musician and they rode the wave until the dawn of psychedelia. They were signed by Decca and released the single

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The Uncle Willie/Zoot’s Suite before switching to Columbia in 1965 for four more singles and their first album It Should’ve Been Me. Singles included a cover of Sam Cooke’s Bring it On Home to Me, Gin House (with Paul Williams singing) and Big Time Operator which made number 25 in the charts even though they were more of a cult than a chart band. Live at Klooks Kleek, their second album, reached number 23 in the album charts in October 1966. Zoot was also asked if he would like to join the original (Newcastle) Animals on keyboards in place of Alan Price, but he wanted to carry on singing too. Zoot and Eric Burdon were great drinking pals.

In 1967 as psychedelia started to spread from the US, the band were on the cusp of an era and played at the first ever rock music festival in Spalding in Lincolnshire where they found themselves with Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band on the same bill as Jimi Hendrix, Cream, and some newcomers called Pink Floyd. Realising that they could become ‘has beens’ to fashion, after a short stint with Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, Zoot took some LSD and formed his own psychedelic group, Dantalian’s Chariot in 1967. A four piece band without sax, but with Andy Somers on experimental guitar, which later saw him joining Soft Machine. The light show was the best I ever saw with group and instruments in white, with a white background, over all of which a bubble light show was projected. The group couldn’t face the audience for fear of being blinded by the light projector. By 1969 the novelty was wearing thin and Zoot did join The Animals - but the New Animals - Stateside with old mate Eric Burdon. Andy Somers joined later after more psychedelic experiments. Long instrumental versions of Eric’s hits were what were the flavour of the day.

Zoot diverged into an acting career for a while, and has a lengthy catalogue of albums, alone or with various bands, and a version of the Big Roll Band was still touring at the time of writing in 2018.

Chris Farlowe and the Thunderbirds Another favourite act at The Flamingo Club and around the music circuit was fronted by a lad from Islington with an amazing voice for soul and blues singing, called Chris Farlowe. In 1957 he had begun singing in the John Henry Skiffle group. By 1958 he was in the Johnny Burns R&B Quartet. The Thunderbirds weren’t formed as a backing group for Chris, but a pre-existing outfit that Bob Taylor introduced him to and did five songs for them on Columbia Records. A later song Stormy Monday Blues by him under the alias of Little Joe Cook on Island Records, had him mistaken for a black singer because of the strength of his voice.

When Mick Jagger heard him he got him onto the Stone’s then-manager Andrew Loog Oldham’s label, Immediate, for who he did eleven songs which included Think, Ride On Baby, Paint it Black and Satisfaction, old Stones songs, What Became of the Broken Hearted, a cover of Tamla Motown star Jimmy Ruffin’s song, Out of Time, which reached number 1 in the singles charts, Mike D’Abo’s Handbags and Gladrags before anyone else had covered it, My Way of Giving, a Small Faces Marriot/Lane, a song of another Immediate group, and a superb album The Art of www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia

Chris Farlowe.

In 1970 he was featured singer for jazz-blues crossover band Colosseum on a live album and two studio albums.

In 1972 he joined prog group Atomic Rooster for the Made in England album of that year and the Nice ‘n’ Greasy album of 1973. Alongside his music, Chris also ran a war memorabilia shop in London. His voice has seen him guesting with other musicians like Jimmy Page and Van Morrison, and he toured Germany with the Hamburg Blues Band. In 1994 Colosseum reformed for a while. In 2009 he was part of the Maximum R&B Tour with Maggie Bell. He continues to tour with the Norman Beaker Band and also on the bill of 60s Experience tours with multi artist line-ups, at the time of writing.

Foremost in members of The Thunderbirds to make a name for himself is Albert Lee, who went down the country and western route to back Emmylou Harris in her Hot Band, amongst others, and to have his own American Band, as well as having featured in the all star line-up of Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings live and on albums.

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Tile Kiln Corner By Cllr Linda Mascot I hope you are keeping well and are adjusting to a very surreal ‘normal’ as we are in lockdown to protect our amazing NHS and save the lives of our most vulnerable residents. In these unprecedented times, I’d like to share with you some great local people who are putting smiles on faces when there’s not much to smile about during this challenging time.

Heydi Alvarado has had to close down her party balloon business, but has been creating colourful balloon displays every week to coincide with us celebrating all our carers and key workers at 8pm every Thursday: “I was inspired by the International movement called One Million Bubbles of Joy and Hope, where balloon designers around the world fill their neighbourhoods, towns and cities with joy by deploying balloon art in their community. I was forced to close the business from the public because of the lockdown and current situation as we are a non-essential business. This movement was perfect; nothing brings smiles to people’s faces like balloons, and I will do anything to brighten up my community in this challenging and frightening time we have entered. I didn’t expect such a positive response from the community - it was definitely the Power of Balloons...

“Since then, I decided to do something different every week to sat thank you to the NHS and all the key workers and to help people find their smiles and joy.

“The feedback every week is amazing, the amount of people texting me with positive vibes and sharing the posts... Also at Easter we got some chocolates with a thankyou card from our neighbours. That makes me feel really emotional and makes everything worthwhile. Also to know the children are looking forward to every week to come over to see the balloons.”

Heydi’s balloon creations certainly make residents smile and they pass her house in Goshawk Drive.

Darren Thorndick, who lives in Moulsham Lodge, is causing quite a stir as he takes his daily exercise around the streets where he lives, once a week he dresses as a Star Wars’ Stormtrooper! Children excitedly watch from windows or a safe distance on their drives as he publicises his route on the Moulsham Lodge Neighbourhood Watch page ahead of his journey so they can look out for him. Darren has also been making Personal Protective Equipment from 28

home using his 3D printer and told me: “I’m part of the UK Garrison 501st Legion costuming group. We have members all across the world that all share a love for Star Wars.

“I joined the UK Garrison shortly after my wife bought me the Sandtrooper armour for my wedding gift. Its easily the best gift I’ve ever been bought. It took approximately 5-months to put the entire costume together and is as close to screen-accurate as can be.

“Throughout the year we attend many events for charities, schools, hospitals, children’s wards, including Great Ormond Street, as well as many weddings, large scale events and comic cons. As an added extra, we were invited by Disney to walk the red carpet for The Rise of Skywalker European premiere in Leicester Square in December. That was certainly an experience. We do this all for free to spread happiness and joy amongst fellow Star Wars fans and the general public.

“With the current COVID-19 situation cancelling all of our events for the remainder of the year, I felt it best to spread some joy and happiness within the local community to hopefully give everyone a little break from the lockdown.

“The response from the community has been absolutely fantastic and I can only hope I can get round to see more people.

“In addition to the walkarounds, I’ve also been using my 3D printer to print over 150 face shields for local pharmacies, doctors surgeries, palliative care teams, care homes and also some ICU teams. I am currently producing about 60 for the latest order for Southend Hospital. These are all being provided free of charge. Demand is so high for these face shields that I will soon be asking for donations to help cover the costs, as material prices are on the rise and there’s only so much I can cover.

“If anyone would like to book for us to attend an event, then please visit www.ukgarrison.co.uk and got to the ‘Book Us’ page. Appearances for any charitable cause are free and any corporate event is paid for with all money going to charity. We don’t earn anything from this.”

I’d like to finish this section with my favourite phrase from the movie: ‘Move along, Move along’. What a fantastic way to lift spirits and help in a practical way. Well done Darren.

As I was strolling down Robin Way a couple of weeks ago I came across some neighbours who had moved their chairs outside their front doors to play bingo across the street with each other, amidst much laughter and the promise of toilet rolls for the winner. Skevi Ioannou explained: “Emma Hatcher came up with the idea - the reason behind it was to get t he street together and give everyone something to look forward to, and it means a lot to all of us knowing

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we are all here for each other. She has also started a WhatsApp group for our end of the street, so we can all keep in contact and everybody can put ideas in for more front garden events.

“We have done two bingos, and this week Emma is arranging music for the street so we will all sit out enjoy music, and anyone that wants a boogie, they can (social distancing observed, of course). Emma and the Hatchers have been amazing bringing everyone together and we thank them and love them for it.”

It warms my heart to find such kindness and consideration for our neighbours and such a great sense of community, thank you to Heydi, Darren, Emma and Skevi for brightening up our lives.

Moulsham Lodge Community Trust We are living in very strange times at the moment with lots of uncertainty and worry. We will get through this, we just have to stay home for now until we are told it’s safe to return to some sort of normal living.

We would normally be telling you of up-and-coming events for MLCT, but with the lockdown nothing is happening at the moment so there are no firms dates in the diary. We thought it would therefore be a good time to bring you upto-date with the community station building itself and all the work we had done last year.

Over almost all the summer period we had builders in knocking down walls and making the space more useable.

The old police station was made up of lots of small offices and a number of storage cupboards feeding a windy corridor. Most of that has now gone and we have a central café area, a larger and more user friendly kitchen plus meeting rooms and a room that can be used for beauty or therapy treatments once we’ve given it a final tidy. See the picture below for a little hint of what we’ve done so far.

The Copper Pot Café is now used 3 times a week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for coffee and cake between 10am and 12. On a Tuesday the coffee shop stays open until 2pm offering light lunches which are all freshly www.issuu.com/itsyourmedia

If you know of anyone who deserves recognition for doing amazing things, please let me know so that I can feature them in a future article.

If you know of any family or neighbours who are struggling with shopping, getting medication, or would like to get a regular welfare check phone call, please get in touch with the Essex Welfare Service on 0300 303 9988, or Chelmsford Community Helpline. Both offer fully trained and DBS checked volunteers in your vicinity.

You can also volunteer to help, as I do, by delivering shopping and checking in weekly on self-isolating neighbours. If you need any further information please email me at mascotlinda@gmail.com.

Thank you to all our wonderful key workers and care givers for all that you are doing for us every day, so others can stay home and stay safe. Take care of yourselves and each other.

Twitter: @lindamascot

prepared on the premises. We offer a different choice each week, varying from jacket potatoes, homemade soup, toasted sandwiches and fishfinger sandwiches with potato wedges. If you haven’t had chance to try it out yet, then please come along and join in with the regulars for a chat (when lockdown is over) - it’s a great way to make friends.

The station can now be booked for birthday parties, wakes and meetings and we have tried our first catered party which was a great success, so while you can hire the kitchen and do the catering yourself, you can also enquire about the volunteers doing it for you.

The station wil normally hold regular knitting afternoons twice a month too, and you can come along with your own knitting and enjoy a cuppa and a chat while you complete that fetching hat or cuddly toy. If you need a bit of help there is almost always someone there to offer some guidance, but if you want to learn to knit it’s a good idea to get in touch first to make sure someone will be there on the week you want to visit to help you.

Every second Wednesday there are sign language classes which are becoming more popular and we are looking to get the site registered and recognised as an approved sign language centre, as there currently isn’t one in Essex. This will allow us to offer courses which will result in a formal qualification once the course and assessments have been completed.

We will be launching a fundraising request as we are not receiving any income during the crisis and need to raise funds to keep the charity sustainable. If you are able to help us with a donation, please visit our website at www. mlct.org.uk where you can donate online.

Contact us at enquiries@mlct.org.uk Also find us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram 29

Collecting Cars in Isolation - by Simon Inglis I am one of the many in Australia whose job is on hold.

I also have an ailing mother isolated some 600km away in Adelaide (the state border is effectively closed) - and even more time to worry about my 7-year-old going utterly berserk at home. Plus toilet paper stocks are running low, empty shelves are becoming our ‘new normal’ and a very frightening series of infected numbers being reported daily - in particular where our loved ones live. Yet I’m perhaps fortunate to be in Australia at this time despite my fears that things are yet to spike Downunder.

Distractions? We are all in our house, which being in Australia, is large enough by European standards - we can all be in separate rooms all day. So alone in my room I’ve read parts of old books, shuffled through countless car magazines and I’ve rerun the favourite Top Gears, Grand Tour episodes, Fifth Gear etc, etc - as well as watching my preferred YouTubers. Our carport is full - we use 3 cars - but despite all of everything car-related in my life (obviously that’s quite a bit!) there is one car I’ve longed to own, but for some reason never did.

In the 1990s I was fortunate enough to rent a room in a beautiful country house just a few short miles from Alderley Edge in Cheshire. In the wealth haven that is Cheshire (FYI I was a mere youthful boarder!) I spotted my first E39 Series BMW in the flesh. It must have been late 1995 or 1996, and as I stopped to admire the lines and poke my nose into the parked up driver’s window, but I didn’t really have enough time to inspect the car fully. Yet I’d seen enough on the telly and at the NEC later in 1996 when car shows still pulled in the huge crowds.

I doubt my then girlfriend cared about some 4-door saloon car when I scrambled back to my friends declaring: “I’m going to own one of them someday!” Later, I suppose life got in the way, as it does... Leaving uni’ meant marriage, the enormous mortgage, the annual holiday to escape my working drudgery - and then a Saab cabriolet appeared alongside our elderly but somehow perfectly square BMW E28 series sedan. In this pre-SUV era we were getting prepped for kids, but then more life things got in the way.

That E39 ‘got old’ on the launch night champagne festival that was BMW Melbourne’s E60 launch party back in late 2003 I think. The years passed and I didn’t like BMW’s much anymore courtesy of Chris Bangle’s designs...

Yet the lockdown has indeed brought my attention back

to the E39. I saw some young YouTuber screeching in high pitched ‘American’ (and dressed in a ‘sweater’ which was just as loud) bestowing all sorts of virtues on these 20-yearold cars. Despite the excited accent and ridiculous jumper, this boy was selling me an E39. So, in my splendid isolation I’ve watched more videos. I’ve spoken to my old contact at BMW and admitted I couldn’t afford the E39 M5 in Australia if I wasn’t to sell my only son.

A couple of weeks on Gumtree and various other websites has lead me to a very non-banger, near perfect exterior/ interior and low mileage 2003 build E39 - one of the last batch of 530is sent to Australia before the E60s release.

I’ve sent the deposit but I now can’t cross the border to collect my new toy. How long will the lockdown last? Or will I have to have it trucked across the required 600 or so kilometres?

Meanwhile, I’ve bought a cleaning kit for the Mercedes CLK. I’ve no qualms using our diesel Saab, but in a most bizarre way I have feelings of disloyalty towards my beloved Merc coupé now that I’m acquiring its direct, if not model direct, opponent and Munich nemesis! I’ll be buffing up my svelte German mistress before the arrival of its Munich derived competition.’Oh how can I compare thee to a CL ‘K’?’ The things we do when we love cars. Or when locked in our homes!

Despite all of this motoring distraction, I too am extremely concerned about my family’s health and well-being. I do earnestly hope that my pursuit of another toy is what it is, a mere distraction. Thus I will take the liberty to misquote the late Dave Allen, in saying and praying - may your god go with you in these strangest of times - and distract oneself in whichever way works for you...

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