Charities

Farm hosts May Day family fun

ACTIVITY charity Children’s World followed up its December Festive Special with a May Day event for all the family, featuring everything from circus skills to cabaret and crafts.

The festival – funded once again by Glastonbury Town Council – was held at Paddington Farm with limited numbers able to attend to comply with social distancing.

Amongst the acts performing – some for the first time this year due to lockdown – were Noisy Oyster with Dangerous Dave, Same Same but Different and the Blue Butterfly, Amy Amelia.

The Green Man and Mother Nature – Vicky and Star – from Higher Beings welcomed families at the festival entrance at Middlewick Farm to guide them through the orchard to the fun.

Children’s World was born out of the Glastonbury Festival and supports inclusion for all children through drama, performance, film-making and fun.

Charity director, Kristen Lindop, said: “It’s great to get back out into the community. We ran a Festive Special, just before the winter lockdown, which proved very popular. Huge thanks to Glastonbury Town Council's Youth Committee who have funded this event.”

Arthur and Daisy in the craft tent

The Blue Butterfly –Amy Amelia, from Bath

Glastonbury Town Council youth committee members Luca (left) and Barney (second from right) with Angela Bolton and Kristen Lindop, from Children’s World and performer the Blue Butterfly

Vicky and Star from Higher Beings

Puppeteers Noisy Oyster with Dangerous Dave

Steve Newton from performance artists Same Same but Different

Artworks raise thousands for children’s charities

AN artist from Radstock is hoping that sales of his watercolour landscapes will help Children’s Hospice South West in its fundraising efforts in its 30th anniversary year.

David Graham, who is in his 70s, took up painting when he retired from work and set himself the target of working away at his hobby until he was able to sell his artwork in aid of children’s charities. So far, he has raised more than £10,000.

Now he is supporting CHSW as it celebrates its milestone in providing care for children with life limiting conditions and their families.

David said: “Children’s Hospice South West is a very special charity that is totally committed to making the most of short and precious lives. The care they offer at each of their hospices is not simply about medical and nursing care for sick children, but about enriching the lives of children and their families.

“Art has brought me a lot of enjoyment and if people are kind enough to purchase a piece of artwork then together we can help the charity to offer a safe haven of care, support and friendship.”

David grew up in the Lake District, where he first developed his love of landscapes and, after training as an engineer, moved

David with one of his recent works, a watercolour of the Bishop’s Palace in Wells

to the South West for his career spanning teaching and research at the University of Bath and directing IT services at Wessex Water.

Emily Mitchard, area fundraiser at CHSW, said: “He is an outstanding artist and we are honoured that he has chosen to support CHSW in our 30th anniversary year. It’s a wonderful way to help us be here for local children and families now and in the future.”

For details and to purchase a painting, starting at £35 for a print, in aid of the charity, visit www.dgwatercolours.co.uk

Hundreds and thousands

KEEN knitter Audrey Smith set herself a charity target of creating a blanket featuring 100 squares after being inspired by a challenge laid down by the family of Captain Sir Tom Moore, who urged people to complete fundraising tasks based on the theme of 100.

Audrey, of Shepton Mallet, asked family and friends to

Audrey at home in Shepton Mallet with the nearly-completed blanket

sponsor her to complete the blanket in aid of Dementia Care UK.

Quite by chance, Audrey chose a purple colour yarn which matched the charity’s logo. The blanket will be a gift to the Torrwood nursing and dementia care home in Wells.

Meanwhile, staff, members and supporters from Midsomer Norton-based charity SWALLOW, which supports local teenagers and adults with learning disabilities, set themselves challenges in order to raise money for the organisation. Amongst the tasks they completed were 100 miles walked, 100 lengths swum and 100 minutes ran. There were also 100 pictures taken and 100 cakes baked, 100 push-ups completed and 100 pictures coloured. So far, they have raised more than £1,000.

Cyclists inspired by Gabriella

A DISABLED girl’s love of cycling with her family is behind a challenge by members of Mendip Cycling Club to attempt to “chase the sun” in June. Riders will set out from the south east coast of England at dawn to try to travel 205 miles to Burnham-onSea by sunset. They’re hoping to raise £5,000 to buy either a brandGabriella with Carlo on a holiday at Center Parcs. The bikes the club are hoping to buy for the school are different models new specialist bicycle for children with disabilities, or two second-hand machines, for Avalon Special School in Street where Gabriella de Gregorio, 13, is a pupil.

Gabriella and her family, who live in Cheddar, are all keen cyclists with dad Carlo transporting her on a trailer. Carlo said: “Cycling is a brilliant activity for us all as a family and Gabriella adores it. It is her great joy.”

The school boasts several bikes which are suitable for use by able-bodied children, but none for those with disabilities.

The riders will set out on Saturday, June 19th to try to complete the journey in 17 hours.

Carlo had hoped to be part of the team which will attempt the challenge, but Gabriella’s health issues meant he could not commit to the training.

Carlo added: “I want to make cycling activities at school as inclusive as possible, which is why we might look at buying two second-hand bikes.”

Seven of the Mendip Cycling Club members who will attempt the challenge

For details, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mendipcyclingclub?utm_term=xE3ZxeJVn

Brothers’ challenge

Felix and Rio

A FIVE-year-old pupil from St Julian’s School in Wellow has raised almost £700 as part of the Captain Sir Tom Moore 100 Challenge.

Felix signed up to the challenge to raise some muchneeded funds for Ups and Downs – a charity that supports children with Down Syndrome across the South West.

School head, Ruth Noall, said: “As a school we wanted to encourage children to make a difference and take part in the

Captain Tom 100 challenge.

“Felix, whose younger brother Rio has Down Syndrome, walked 100 laps of his garden with a target of raising £400. That has now almost doubled thanks to the generosity of so many!”

Rio completed 100 Makaton signs as part of the challenge - a language programme that uses signs together with speech and symbols to enable people to communicate.

Details: www.justgiving.com/fundraising/felix-and-rioscaptain-tom-100-challenge

Hospice donation

ALTHOUGH it has been an unusual year for the members at Orchardleigh Golf Club, the business of raising money for charity continued throughout 2020. As a result, the out-going chairman, Jim Worsley, was able to present a cheque for £1,295 to Dorothy House represented by Steph Cox.

Jim said: ''Dorothy House has been a consistent recipient of our fundraising for a number of years as we are so impressed with the work they do and so many of us in Frome have known people who have needed their help''

Orchardleigh was also able to donate a similar amount to Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance.

24-hour fitness challenge for charity

IF you were suddenly faced with a life-changing diagnosis or injury, how do you think you might react? Athletes do it by exercising.

Vicky Rees-Davies, a personal trainer and fitness instructor, has been diagnosed

Vicky with early onset

Rees Parkinson’s Disease.

Davies She’s only 46. Vicky is passionate about raising awareness of PD and how the benefits of exercise, nutrition and a positive mental attitude may help to slow down the progression. She’s now an ambassador for Parkinson’s Care

Ed Jackson Kettle bells with rugby player Olly Barkley

and Support UK.

Ed Jackson, a professional rugby player and England international, was completely paralysed by a neck injury four years ago. Since then Ed has slowly, and literally, scaled mountains to raise money for the charity he founded, Millimetres 2 Mountains.

M2M supports people struggling with mental health problems as a result of facing adversity in their lives - by taking them away on life-changing trips to mountains. M2M then supports them through a development programme on their return.

Vicky works at Balance, The Countryside Gym, in Timsbury, which is owned by Ed’s step-mum, Sue. Together with friends, including some sporting celebrities, they held a 24-hour fitness challenge “to try and help and inspire others and to raise money for these two charities so close to our hearts”.

They managed to double their target of £2,000!

Details: The page is still open for donations Virgin Money Giving | 24 Hour Fitness Challenge

Locks-down for sisters

YOUNG fundraisers Devon, Taylor and Myleigh Brodrick each had more than one foot of their hair cut off for charity.

Their locks have been donated to the Little Princess Trust, which provides real hair wigs for children and young people who have lost their own hair through cancer treatment or other illnesses. The trio, who live in Radstock, also raised £250 in sponsorship for the charity.

Devon, aged 12, donated 15”, Taylor, aged 11, 17” and Myleigh, aged nine, more than 14”.

Devon, Taylor and Myleigh with their aunt Suzy Furber, a hairdresser in Faukland, who cut their locks

Boost for local charity

A LOCALcharity which supplies unique memory boxes to children who have lost a sibling has received a cash boost from a house builder.

The Harvey Hext Trust, which has supplied more than 300 bespoke memory boxes to professional bereavement services across the UK, has received a £1,000 grant from Persimmon Homes Severn Valley as part of their long-running Community Champions scheme.

Sarah Hext, of Winford, who founded the charity after the death of her son Harvey, said: “Our memory boxes all are completely individual and personalised for the bereaved child. They are an important way of remembering the child and the design process also serves as a way of helping children express their emotions by talking about their siblings.

“Like all charities, fundraising has been tough recently due to Covid-19. This grant is a huge boost.”

Details: www.persimmonhomes.com www.asiblingswish.com

Support for heart research

CAMERTON and Peasedown Croquet Club held a National One Ball Croquet Tournament, raising £165 for The British Heart Foundation.

The club has taken part in this national competition for some time – but this year they had 12 players, more than ever before.

After a day of exciting croquet, the top two players, John Rowley and Christina Sandford, won their places at the final in Surbiton.

Collectors wanted

THEBritish Red Cross have rescheduled their fundraising week to the last week in June this year. With so many new houses in the area, Langport and District Red Cross group needs more collectors, both for house-to-house or in car parks.

It says there is no qualification needed except the ability to smile! They will also have stalls on the field for the Somerton Fun Day on Sunday, July 4th.

Chairman, Chris Cox, has donated £300 to the Red Cross this month through sales of his book. He has copies available at £12.

Mendip Ring challenge to fundraisers

Karl Waldeck in Nepal KEEN walkers are being urged to sign up to tackle all or part of the Mendip Ring longdistance footpath route in aid of a Frome man’s favourite charity. Frome Town Rotary is organising the 107mile sponsored walk, starting on Saturday, May 29th and finishing ten days later, in memory of Karl Waldeck, one of the founders of the club, who died in October 2020.

They want as many people as possible to take on the challenge; a small group attempting the complete circuit will begin the first, 14-mile leg at East Woodlands, near Frome, and end at Farleigh House.

The walk will raise funds for a Nepalese charity Classroom in the Clouds which came to Karl’s notice when he took on the challenge of walking to Everest base camp. The charity’s aims are to build good quality, new classrooms; to sponsor teachers; support teacher training, and encouraging employment of female teachers, in a country with very limited financial resources.

The Mendip Ring – devised by Mendip Ramblers – is based on a series of existing footpaths which approximately follow the Mendip District Council boundary.

There is a £5 per person entry fee. For details, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/peterbennett20

Riding therapy

SOMERSETCommunity Foundation is able to offer equine support for disabled and autistic young people following the closure of the Horseshoes and Handprints charity based at Stocklinch in South Somerset. The foundation will manage the H & H fund in the future.

The charity was established in 2013 and provided therapy until 2017, when they returned to concentrating on delivering funding to families to access the equine therapy provider of their choice.

Kirsty Campbell, programmes manager at the community foundation, said: “The Horseshoes and Handprints Fund will open to applications in September 2021. These grants will cover 50% of the cost of equine therapy sessions, up to a maximum of £250.”

Poppy’s charity efforts hit a high note

TALENTED young musician, 16-year-old Poppy McGhee, who has raised thousands of pounds by playing her violin to help blind and autistic children, is being recognised with a Rotary Young Citizen Award 2021.

Poppy, originally from Wookey, who has epilepsy, started playing the violin aged five after seeing the famous violinist Nicola Benedetti playing on YouTube, and passed Grade 8 – the top musical examination – with distinction two weeks after her eighth birthday.

She said: “I read somewhere that Nicola Benedetti passed her Grade 8 when she was eight years old. So, I decided that I wanted to do the same thing.”

Poppy also started fundraising at the age of five by making and selling charity Christmas cards for a local hospice.

Then, after seeing a performance when she was seven by blind and autistic pianist Derek Paravicini, who inspired the setting up of The Amber Trust, she decided to use her musical talents to raise thousands of pounds for this charity. She took part in her first fundraising concert when she was just eight.

The Amber Trust was founded in 1995 with the aim of providing blind and partially sighted children, including those with additional disabilities, the best possible chance to meet their musical needs and aspirations.

Professor Adam Ockelford, who founded The Amber Trust, said: “I first met Poppy eight years ago when she was only eight years old; she was a tiny little thing. And she came up to me at the end of a concert and said, ‘I want to raise money for The Amber Trust’ and I thought ‘Wow! fantastic!’.

“And indeed she did! She started with a concert that year and every year since, raising money for us. She's now raised several thousand pounds. She really is our golden fundraiser.”

Poppy has taken part in workshops run by The Amber Trust helping to provide music for blind, partially sighted and autistic children, and she also mentors younger musicians.

Professor Ockelford added: “Poppy is a brilliant performer and she has the ability to communicate through sound and through music with young children with profound disabilities. They really pick up on her brilliant communication skills and she enthrals them with her violin playing, and they smile and laugh. It's the most wonderful thing.”

Mendip Rotary Club was so inspired by Poppy, who has also been involved in many of their charitable and musical events, that they nominated her for a Rotary Young Citizen Award 2021.

Poppy is a scholarship pupil at Marlborough College in Wiltshire and plays the recorder and piano as well as the violin and has also learnt to play the cello and oboe.

She said: “I really love the way that music can light up people's lives and I really enjoy performing to see how much people benefit from it. Also, I really love helping younger children and being a part of their musical journey.”

Poppy was due to be presented with her award as Mendip Times went to press.

A father’s grief –Chris runs in memory of his daughter

CHRISBale is going to run 28 marathons in 28 days in memory of his daughter AnaBella, who died 28 days after being born.

He was preparing to set out from his home in Frome on May 19th, the third anniversary of her death, travelling down to Poole to start his run around the South West Coast Path, aiming to complete a round trip of around 734 miles.

He’s raising money for Bristol Children’s Hospital’s Grand Appeal and the bereavement charity CRUSE. He and his wife stayed in accommodation provided by the appeal during AnaBella’s short life.

Chris, an entrepreneur who works in IT, will be filming as he goes, talking on his website about his grief, hoping it will help other men “to talk about their story”.

He said: “Male suicides represent 75 percent of all suicides in the UK and 45-49 is the most common age group. We are not good about showing our emotions. I expect the videos will be pretty raw.”

He’d originally planned a marathon walk in Spain in honour of his daughter, but the pandemic put paid to that.

He said: “I’m not an endurance athlete and I know it’s going to be hard. I started running marathon distances during lockdown. Then Captain Tom really raised the bar and I wanted to do more than a walk.”

He’s carrying a tent, hoping people would offer him a place to pitch it. His last stop before returning home is due to be Axbridge.

He said: “I expect I’ll be pretty broken by then.”

My goodness, is it really June already?

ASI write this in mid-May we have come out of what now seems to be a traditional long dry and cold, yet very sunny spring. We have then moved into the equally, so it seems, traditional long, wet May, but still with the background temperature By CHRIS SPERRING MBE below average. The climate and wildlife barometer that is my garden has responded to these new conditions in very interesting ways, with the normal two pairs of blackbirds going through the long dry period having either fledged no young from one nest, or only one young from the other.

You see, for them, a moister spring will create a big supply of juicy food at an important time and that’s when they’re feeding young. But they did have the chance to breed again during May which may mean more fledglings.

For the first year since 1993 the frogs in our two garden of small mammals that the owls prey upon and which must ponds have failed to produce any spawn, no doubt caused by be available at the critical owlet rearing time. Yet again, we the very late frosts and actual reduced numbers of frogs see those barn owls that are now incubating or even laying themselves. These issues combined have taken their toll. eggs much later fare better. Of course, that’s providing this These are just two issues in just one garden, so if we now wet, chilly weather gives way to a more settled period of expand that decline into the wider countryside, we might also weather during June. find some interesting developments. Owls make an interesting study with regards to weather

Through the aid of remote cameras in several of our Hawk effects. If we take the barn owl, for example, then it doesn’t and Owl Trust nesting boxes, we now know that tawny owls like the cold or extreme heat, finds it difficult in constant have had a very mixed spring, with many pairs seemingly not wind and, because of its superb adaptation of silent flight, its starting to nest. stealthy approach to prey is compromised in heavy

Early nesters are appearing to be failing with those that rainstorms. started later being more successful. This is a trend that’s I suppose if we're honest we’d say with that list: “What the actually been happening in the last few years, and the other heck is it doing living Britain in the first place?” However, it interesting trend is with barn owls. Though traditionally does, and their actual numbers are certainly more stable than starting to nest earlier, those pairs that did start early, even 25 years ago thanks largely to the farming community. way back as far February, have lost out through the long dry After more than a year of being unable to monitor numbers period with grass growth being suppressed. and nest sites, I’m delighted to say I’m now back out-and-

This slow growth has had a knock-on effect on the number about monitoring, not just owls but all wildlife, and offering advice to landowners and farmers. I have to say a massive thank you to all the farmers who have been in touch recently and these will be mostly new contacts so new owl nests for me to monitor and hopefully much more wildlife in years to come! What’s also welcome is the number of questions I’m now being asked about rewilding and, as I have lectured on this subject for more than 15 years, it’s no surprise to anyone that I’m convinced that this is the way forward. Before anyone shudders with horror at the prospect of huge change, then think again as it’s not like that at all. There are many independent wildlife groups now working within their own communities and so it was a real privilege to meet a relatively new group called Rewild Chew Garden by Garden. Though a small group, it’s already having a huge impact by literally going from garden to garden giving advice to people on how best to still have their formal gardens but making room for and increasing the wildlife within their area. Brilliant work! Find them on Facebook.

Blackbirds have been struggling to find food in the chilly and wet A barn owl enjoying one of its favourite habitats