The Bradley Stoke Journal

Ben Walker (Conservative) was elected the new Mayor of Bradley Stoke at last night’s Annual General Meeting of the Town Council.

He received the ceremonial chain of office from outgoing Mayor Mark Forsyth, who had previously announced that he had raised a total of £6,735 for his two nominated charities during his year in office.

The money in the Mayor’s Fund comes principally from  the Community Festival in June and the Fireworks Display in November (the latter attracting a record crowd in 2009).

Cheques for £3367.50 were presented to Pat Jones of the Bristol Dyslexia Centre (left photo) and John Francis of the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen’s Association (BLESMA).

Cllr Walker, who lives in Little Stoke and runs a building services company, represents the Lakeside parish ward of Bradley Stoke. His achievements as a Councillor include helping to form the Lakeside Residents’ Association and heading the recent negotiations towards the formation of a new bowls club at Baileys Court.

The new Mayor’s charity will be St Peter’s Hospice, which provides, within the wider Bristol area, specialist palliative care to adults suffering from life-threatening illness.

Related link: More photos from the Town Council AGM (PicasaWeb)

A community football tournament organised by the local police team is to help raise funds to send a five-year-old boy to the USA for a life-changing operation.

The Bradley Stoke Community Shield five-a-side football tournament, to be held on Saturday 5th June at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, will raise money to help cerebal palsy sufferer Toby Cox.

Family and friends are currently trying to raise £36,000 to pay for an operation at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital that will hopefully remove the spasticity in his legs and allow Toby to walk unaided with a significantly improved level of comfort.

Officers based at Filton police station and staff from the Willow Brook Centre have joined in with the efforts to raise the money.

Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Paul Baxter said:

“We were already planning to run a football tournament as part of our efforts to bring the community together to make it safer and stronger.”

“When we heard about Toby, we immediately decided to make the event bigger and better in support of the campaign.”

Teams representing the neighbourhood police, the Willow Brook Centre, Tesco, Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre, teachers from Bradley Stoke Community School and Shirehampton Ladies’ football team will play in the contest.

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One thousand balloons were launched from the Town Square on Saturday afternoon, in the latest event to raise funds to send a local boy to the USA for an operation that will help him walk.

Five-year-old Toby Cox, who attends Holy Trinity Primary School, was born with cerebal palsy. He can only walk with the aid of a frame and finds walking, playing and sitting difficult and uncomfortable.

Toby has been offered the chance of an operation at the St. Louis Children’s Hospital that will hopefully remove the spasticity in his legs and allow him to walk unaided with a significantly improved level of comfort.

The operation, planned for 17th June, will cost £36,000, of which just over £16,000 has been pledged so far.

Toby’s parents say they will pay for their own flight, together with food and accommodation costs for a one month stay in St Louis.

The balloons and gas for Saturday’s event were donated by McDonalds with Subway, KFC and Specsavers helping out when the gas ran out. Free ice cream for the helpers was provided by Carl of G & J Ices, whose van trades outside  the Willow Brook Centre at weekends.

Further fund raising events taking place in Bradley Stoke include a Toby Fun Day at Bradley Stoke Community School on Saturday 29th May and a Charity Shield Football Tournament at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre on Saturday 5th June.

Numerous other fundraising events taking place further afield are listed on the Help Toby Walk website, through which donations can be made via PayPal. There is also a Help Toby Walk Facebook page, where the latest campaign news can be found.

More photos of Saturday’s balloon race launch: album; slideshow

The Finance Committee of Bradley Stoke Town Council considered applications for funding from local organisations and community groups at its recent December meeting.

Organisations having their existing service level agreements confirmed were:

• Bradley Stoke Town FC & Bradley Stoke Youth FC (£1,945)
• Three Brooks Nature Conservation Group (£1500)
• Four Towns and Vale Link Community Transport (£2,764)
• Victim Support Avonvale (£848)
• South Gloucestershire Chinese Association (£1,764)
• Patchway, Filton and the Stokes Volunteer Centre (£1,158)

The following new service level agreements were agreed:

• Bouncing Babies/Tiddlers Toy Library (£1,700)

An application from Southern Brooks Community Partnership to have its Bradley Stoke community work covered by a service level agreement was rejected on the grounds that “the information and accounts received did not justify [it]“. The Council agreed to continue to fund this work on a “bills submitted” basis.

The Council’s Planning Committee also has the power to make “grant aid” awards of up to £500 to “worthwhile local community groups” on an ad-hoc basis. In the financial year 2008/2009, a total of £3,450 was donated to:

• Bradley Stoke Youth FC
• Bradley Stoke Library
• Stokes Women’s Group
• The Big Why (Christ the King Youth Group)
• Southern Brooks Domestic Abuse Support Group
• Tiddlers Toy Library
• Sole Sisters
• National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease

New applications for grant aid may be made via the Town Council office.

Businesses, staff and shoppers at Bradley Stoke’s Willow Brook Centre have come together in an early expression of Christmas spirit to collect around 300 shoeboxes for needy families in Eastern Europe.

Kumon Educational UK, which has a regional office in the town centre complex, has teamed up with Link Romania as part of its corporate social responsibility programme, and students have been busy filling shoeboxes with gifts ready to be sent to deprived families in Romania, Moldova and Albania in time for Christmas.

A shoebox display has been positioned near the entrance of the centre’s shopping mall for the last few weeks and Kumon’s Regional Manager Kate Sheldon says she is delighted with the response:

“We’d like to thank everyone who’s participated in this appeal and donated a shoebox. The response has been brilliant – overwhelming even – and we now have around 300 boxes piled up. This appeal provides the opportunity for us all to learn about the daily challenges faced by these communities, and is a great way to teach children how important it is to give to those less fortunate than themselves.”

The appeal officially ends today (Friday 6th) but Kate says that shoeboxes will continue to be accepted over the weekend as Link Romania representatives are not due to collect the consignment until early next week.

Since its foundation in 1991, Link Romania has brought relief to thousands of deprived people in Eastern Europe. Through the simple idea of filling a shoebox, anyone in the UK can send a Christmas gift to a family in Romania, Albania or Moldova. Many are desperately poor, living in appalling conditions and struggling to survive the terrible winters with no running water, heating or electricity. Large families spanning three generations may live together in a shack of just one or two rooms, sharing the same life of hardship under one roof.

Lisa Hector, Link Romania’s General Manager, says:

“We’re thrilled to be working with such a like-minded organisation. Kumon’s students can really help us to make a huge impact with our Family Shoebox Appeal. At the same time we’re also benefiting from Kumon helping to raise awareness of our organisation and our mission, and we are truly grateful.”

Advice on what to put in a shoebox and how to pack it is available on the Link Romania website.