Three new community groups are currently hoping to win a portion of the bi-monthly prize money available from the Tesco Bags of Help scheme. Blue tokens are available to collect from Tesco stores across the Stokes and members of the public can then vote for their preferred group. The group which has the most tokens by the end of June will receive £4,000 and 2nd and 3rd place will receive £2,000 and £1,000 respectively.

Flamingo Chicks CIC is a volunteer-led dance school based in Henleaze that provides dance classes for children with disabilities and illnesses, such as cancer. They cater for a wide range of children, including those with visual impairments, cerebral palsy, autism and Down’s syndrome. They also provide a peer-to-peer support community for the parents and carers of the children who attend the classes.

Any money that the dance school receive from the Tesco Bags of Help scheme will be used to fund a number of dance workshops, which each cost £100 to run. Katherine Sparks, founder of Flamingo Chicks, said:

“We have 100 families applying for every 15 places, so know the demand is there and we need to increase our classes. We would also like to take our classes to new environments, such as hospitals and hospices. All this work is scalable so any amount of funding would be extremely valuable.”

To find out more about the school, please visit www.flamingochicks.co.uk  or call 07968 081152.

More: Filton Community Garden and The Dolphin School »

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The Willow Brook Centre has announced the nominations shortlist for the Stars of the Stokes 2018 community awards.

The programme, which recognises individuals who have shown outstanding community engagement and/or achievement of personal goals, is now in its third year. It is sponsored and promoted by a variety of local businesses, led locally by the Bradley Stoke Journal.

Andy Wynn, centre manager at Willow Brook, said:

“We have been delighted with the range of nominations this year, with more than 60 people having been nominated across the eight categories. In some categories we have been overwhelmed by the number and variety of nominations, with one category having more than 20 different people nominated. It has made the judging process harder than ever before, however we now have our shortlist and are in the process of contacting them all to invite them to the awards night at Aztec Hotel and Spa.”

“We are pleased that we are in a position to invite more people than in previous years to join us on 15th June and can’t wait for the awards night.”

The glittering event will be hosted by actor Shaun Williamson, best known for his role as Barry Evans in Eastenders.

More information and updates on this year’s awards can be found by visiting the Stars of the Stokes website, Stars of the Stokes on Facebook or @starsofstokes on Twitter.

Photo: Stars of the Stokes Awards 2016 presentation event at the Hilton Bristol Hotel.

More: Stars of the Stokes 2018: Nominations shortlist »

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An update from Sara Messenger of the Bradley Stoke in Bloom group.

The Common (East) – We are parents!

We were delighted to receive a message that we had ducklings on The Common (East) pond! We had, for a while, seen Millicent on the pond, but Maurice was nowhere to be seen. Then, to our relief, he finally appeared, oblivious to all our concerns, of course. We did what we could to encourage them to stay, but they seemed to disappear again, so we thought they had moved on – but now we know they were just nesting somewhere out of sight. Millicent managed to hatch ten ducklings and proudly revealed them to quite a large adoring crowd. While they were being given a hearty meal of porridge oats and grain by the primary school children, one young lad busily made them their own duckling-sized nest which I’m sure they appreciated. They are incredibly cute, whizzing around like small clockwork toys and taking tiny leaps to catch the low-flying insects. Please can we ask if you come to see them you bring some healthy food with you? Porridge oats, grain, unfrozen peas and shredded vegetable peelings should ensure that they grow up healthy and strong and that the water remains clear. Bread has very little nutritional value and pollutes the water, and mouldy bread can give the birds a fatal lung disease.

Thank you to Adrienne Wheeler who designed a poster for the Three Brooks lake, which we’ve borrowed again for the pond.

Apologies to whoever left the half dozen alcohol security tags on the island, we’ve returned them to the store and the bottles of wine went in the bin. (Although it was done with a very heavy heart as it was a wine I’m rather partial to.)

You may notice in the ‘insect hotels’ bowls of water with marbles in. Please don’t take them! These are bee or insect waterers – the marbles give the insects a safe place to land so they can drink without drowning. They are a huge help to our struggling wildlife and are very easy for your children to make, so we’re hoping every garden in Bradley Stoke will soon boast its own bee waterer.

More: Giant "carrots" at ‘Rabbit Roundabout’ »

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Local young people and Bradley Stoke Town Council (BSTC) youth workers are again planning and organising two days of exciting activity, competitions, demonstrations and have-a-go sessions at both the main Community Festival site (on Saturday 9th June) and at the skate park, alongside Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre (on Sunday 10th June).

Saturday 9th June

The Jubilee Green side of Saturday’s festival will be slightly revamped this year with the King Ramps skate park half-pipe and the art sessions side-by-side in a slightly more prominent position.

By popular demand, the street art demos and have-a-go painting sessions are back, with artists (The Paintsmiths) working alongside youth workers and young volunteers. Over the last couple of years these sessions have proved extremely popular with children and young people, and last year children created about 50 individual pieces of artwork to proudly take home for display. The sessions have also led to community art projects like the large pieces displayed at Bradley Stoke skate park.

You will also see the return of the King Ramps half-pipe and the chance to see some exceptional skate park demonstrations by top BMX, scooter and skateboard pro riders and skaters, as well as regular have-a-go sessions (with some equipment provided), music and an MC.

At the youth work tent, there will be the chance to find out about and discuss other Bradley Stoke youth work projects and developments, as well as signing up for Sunday’s skate park competition.

More: Details of Sunday’s Festival Skate Park Competition »

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