Oakley Green, F i f ie ld & Distr ic t

Community Associat ion Winter Newsletter January 2013

www.ogafcap.co.uk

The OGAFCA newsletter is edited by Alison Brayshaw Printed by Uxbridge Press: www.uxbridgepress.co.uk

Published by Oakley Green, Fifield and District Community Association Limited by Guarantee Postal address: OGAFCA, Broadacre House, Coningsby Lane, Fifield, SL6 2PF

The views expressed in the OGAFCA newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of the editor. The Oakley Green, Fifield and District Community Association Limited by Guarantee does not accept

responsibility for products or services advertised in this publication.

Find out more about your community

TO:

BRAY PARISH COUNCIL

JOHN TRAIN PLANTS

BLUE ACRE HORSE RESCUE

THE FIFIELD INN

AUTO TECHNICS

HORLER & ASSOCIATES ESTATE AGENTS

Whose generosity made it possible to have our Christmas trees and Carol singing.

Plenty of lovely gifts for all at the Christmas Fair

What is being done to improve wet spots in our area?

Christmas trees and carols

This time last year, we were all looking forward to the Olympics and the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations and probably none of us foresaw what a great, joyous and hectic time it would be. Then before we had time to catch our breath, we had further successes in the Ryder Cup golf, English cricket in India and in Rugby at Twickenham. Phew – what a year!

This year we have a royal baby on the way and the 60th Anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation in June. Perhaps another opportunity for a Street Party – for the third year running??

The Bray Parish Neighbourhood Plan Initiative picked up activity throughout the year, culminating in a series of local Workshops where we were all able to voice our opinions. And then right at the end of the year, we had the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council’s Consultation on the Local Plan. These important activities are covered in more detail elsewhere in this edition. But we do know that there will be further Consultation on both in 2013 and we will continue to be engaged and keep everyone informed of progress.

The work and membership of the Community Association has continued throughout the past year and slowly but surely, we are seeing some real differences and improvements in our area and environment. Our 8 Work Groups undertake most of the work on behalf of local residents and the Association and are always looking for new volunteers.

So here is the annual rallying call! If you have made a New Year’s resolution to “do your bit” and support the local community in 2013, then why not get in touch and help out.

From the Chairman

As well as the AGM in September, we hold several General Meetings in the year where anyone can come along and hear about what we are doing and provide input. The next one is scheduled for Thursday February 21st in Braywood Memorial Hall at 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome. The Annual General Meeting will take place this year on Thursday September 19th at 7:30 pm in Braywood Memorial Hall.

Annual membership of our Association runs from April 1st to March 31st. Subscriptions are an important source of revenue for the Association and remain very good value at just £3 for a year and £5 for two years. Members are now entitled to a small reduction on participation in some of our social events in the year.

Thank you for your continued support.

Grenville Annetts

Social Events held since our last Newsletter

Since the Autumn edition of the Newsletter, we have held two successful social events.

On Saturday November 24th we organised our second Christmas Fair. Our original Residents Survey told us that this type of event should be popular. Bill Collier was the organiser again this year – and we had a wide range of stalls selling very high quality products including:-

Barbara Frame - Phoenix Cards, Carol Luscombe - Cake Decorations, Ellie Stevens - Dapper Dog, Jean Plumb - Recycled Material Products, Julie Bens - Handmade Jewellery, Keron Nappy - Cakes, Marion Heywood - Forever Living Products, Suzi Bhatti - Hand Packaged Sweets and Thames Hospicecare.

All very impressive and a good place for Christmas shopping!

Now - the more observant amongst you may have noticed that this year, for the first time we put up not one but two Christmas trees - one on Fifield “Village Green” and the other at the crossroads opposite Braywood Memorial Hall. OGAFCA and the local community are extremely grateful to Auto Technics, Blue Acre Horse Rescue, Bray Parish Council, The Fifield Inn, Horler & Associates Estate Agents and John Train Plants, for their help and Sponsorship enabling us to do this.

The second social event was the Gathering round the Christmas Tree on Fifield Village Green on Saturday December 22nd. Over 50 people turned up - despite the wet weather and competition from the final of Strictly Come Dancing - and they enjoyed some mulled wine, mince pies and singing carols. It was great to see so many children come along and sing too.

In 2012, we held more social events than ever and the Social & Recreational Work Group has already started to plan some events for 2013. Look out for more information in future Newsletters and on our Website nearer the time.

If you wish to help out with organising these, please contact us via the Social & Recreational Work Group on the Website or tel 01628 784441.

Social & Recreational Work Group

As part of building the Borough Local Plan, RBWM established a Public Consultation which ran from November 19th to December 31st. The purpose was to seek the views of everyone on the potential development of 75 or so sites across the Borough. 4 of the sites identified were in Bray Parish and 3 of these are in our area – namely:- Land at Water Oakley Farm, Windsor Road, Bray (next to Bray Studios)

Wyevale Garden Centre, Dedworth Road, Windsor

Squires Garden Centre, Maidenhead Road, Windsor

RBWM Local Plan Sites Consultation

Every household in the Borough was supposed to receive a flier notifying us all of this very important activity – but alas, large parts of our area were missed out.

Given this and the importance of the Consultation, we joined forces with the Oakley Green & Fifield Residents Association, Down Place Residents Association and the West Windsor Residents Association – and promoted participation in the exercise.

We also organised two Workshops – on Saturday December 8th and on Tuesday December 11th - to explain about the Consultation and how it related to the Bray Parish Neighbourhood Plan exercise which is going on in parallel.

Both Workshops were well attended (150+ came along) and lively and constructive discussions took place. Attendees were urged to make their views known to RBWM via the Online Survey or via hard copies of the relevant (local) parts of the Survey which were obtained from RBWM and handed out at the Workshops.

The general consensus of the two events was that limited development within strictly defined parameters to limit the impact on the Green Belt would be acceptable on the land at Water Oakley Farm and development at the two Garden Centres was not supported. The Associations involved agreed to make these views known to RBWM.

After pressure from various sources, including us, the closing date for the Consultation was subsequently extended to Friday January 11th to allow more time for residents to respond.

We will continue to keep a close eye on the RBWM Local Plan and the Bray Parish Neighbourhood Plan and keep you informed.

Grenville Annetts

The Bray Parish Neighbourhood Plan (BPNP) Steering Group have now completed the five Workshops across the three areas of the Parish, assisted by the Princes Foundation and the Final report has been accepted by the Steering Group. There was a proposal that a further Holyport Workshop would be beneficial and we are going out now to ask Residents whether this is what you want, before getting dates in place. After the last of these Workshops a Communications Group was formed who have issued their first Update Email, with more to come. Also on their task list is a refresh of the website and the potential creation of a Forum.

At the last Steering Group meeting we decided that we were in a position, with further support from RBWM, to go ahead and ask the Topic Groups to start to write the first draft of their part of the Plan. This work will take some time - writing as a Planner would write is a new skill for us all! And the next Steering Group Meeting on 21st January will look at Plan Structure and Areas of Overlap.

If you would like to become involved in this work with the Topic Groups please email brayplan@gmail.com . You can see the latest information and read the Workshop Final Report on our website at www.brayplan.com

Chris Graham, BPNP Steering Group Chairman

BPNP – into the final Stretch?

Dates for your Diary

OGAFCA General Meeting ~ 7.30pm Thursday 21st February at Braywood Memorial Hall ALL WELCOME!

Spring Newsletter Deadline ~ Wednesday 20th March

Last Christmas, whilst enjoying a convivial glass or two, I announced that we should have a Christmas tree on Fifield Village green. Everyone agreed that this was a splendid idea and drank a toast on the spot. Some eleven months later I wondered how I was going to make my rash promise come to fruition. We had never done anything like this before and it was difficult to know where to start.

First things first, we had to ask permission from Bray Parish Council to put a tree on their land. This was granted and then we wondered where to find a tree. Amazingly, we were given not one, but two trees, by the kind generosity of John and Sharon Train and the Blue Acre Horse Rescue and then the magnanimous gifts from Auto Technics and Horler & Associates meant that, not only could we decorate our trees but also plan our carol singing event. The Fifield Inn supplied mince pies and OGAFCA supplied the mulled wine, so we were ready to go.

As the day arrived so did the rain and our committee arrived to set up in raincoats and wellies wondering whether anyone would turn up. We need not have worried. We should have known that it takes more than a bit of inclement weather to daunt the spirits of our residents. Along you all came with your children in festive mood and your dogs in tinsel collars. Armed with umbrellas and torches you managed to find a hand free for a mince pie and once you had all warmed up your vocal chords with a glass or two of mulled wine it was time to sing carols. And sing we all did! Never mind the weather we all had a warm glow of Christmas spirit as we sang with great gusto. The grand finale being a very rousing rendition of the 'Twelve Days of Christmas'.

To those of you that came along, thank you. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. And for those that couldn't make it - try to join us next year. There's nothing like standing in the rain with your friends and neighbours and singing your hearts out to make you feel the true spirit of Christmas.

Barbara Frame - Environment Work Group

O Come All Ye Faithfull...........

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Brayfield Farm

Windsor Road

Maidenhead

Send your comments on any issue relating

to our community to the OGAFCA website,

or by post to the address on the inside front cover

We seem to have had a quiet few months in the village with regard to burglaries etc,. and hopefully this is due to your vigilance by taking care of your property and looking out for suspicious characters lurking about. But don't rest on your laurels or lower your guard because that is when the thief will strike, stay focused and you will beat the criminal. Be especially aware of bogus callers who say they are from official companies, always check their ID carefully and if you are still not entirely happy please dial 101 and report it you just might save someone who is not as vigilant as you.

We had a burglary road show by the Thames Valley Police in the car park of The Fifield Inn on the16th November and I would have liked to have seen more people attend because there was some excellent information on keeping your property safe.

One excellent method of keeping up to date with Community safety information and communicating with Thames Valley Police is by subscribing to their “Thames Valley Alerts” system (if you haven’t done so already!) which can be delivered by e-mail, text or phone. They encourage as many people as possible to join up, so please visit www.thamesvalleyalert.co.uk . If anyone wants to sign up over the phone, please ask a friend to send an e-mail via their website, giving your contact information and telephone number. The Police call it “a functioning tool to keep our communities safe and informed”.

In addition, there is now a new method of reporting all types of fraud, scams etc (instead of calling the police direct): telephone “Action Fraud” on 0300 12302040 if you have been conned in any way including online and the internet, or contact them via their website Action Fraud.

Community Safety Work Group

Ways to keep safe and informed!

Community Responders need you! Community Responders are volunteers carrying out life-saving work daily and nightly across Berkshire. We respond to emergency situations on behalf of the Ambulance Service to offer immediate first aid and life-saving support before the arrival of an Ambulance resource. There is a vital need for Community Responders to help save lives and to provide support and reassurance to patients in the event of an emergency.

Community Responders operate within a small radius, usually a village or small town so are at the scene of an emergency within 5 - 8 minutes. These first few minutes are vital for adults or children suffering from cardiac arrest and other life threatening incidents e.g. respiratory arrest and unconsciousness. Research from the British Heart Foundation has shown that when a patient is suffering from a cardiac arrest their chance of survival decreases by 13% for every minute that passes without treatment from an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED). Community Responders receive full training from the South Central Ambulance Service in the use of an AED and other basic life support techniques and a make a real and tangible contribution to the provision of high quality pre-hospital care.

In Maidenhead, we are currently a group of 15 volunteers who share the kits on a rota basis. We went live 6 years ago and between us, have been to 1000+ call outs and have directly contributed to saving many lives in and around the Maidenhead area.

We are trying very hard to increase the coverage in Oakley Green, Holyport and Fifield and I am happy to give talks to groups or organisations to recruit more volunteers. It is very rewarding and not for everyone but if you are able bodied, have a full clean driving licence, have some spare time and wish to help others in your community, please call Cheryl 07920 132097 or email cheryl@polkadotcat.co.uk

Most residents with an interest in an improved broadband service will know that after waiting for the "Infinity" fibre-optic service in 2010 BT's promises turned out to be empty. Since then we have been trying endlessly to discover why the box at the junction of the Fifield Road and A308 appeared to have been the only one along the main road not to have been upgraded to fibre-optic capability.

It seemed impossible to get a reply to this simple question. The office of the Chairman of BT said it was nothing to do with them and referred us to Openreach. Most people will have noticed that the livery on Openreach vans includes a BT logo, and the Head Office address is identical to the one we used to send letters to the Chairman of BT !

It turned out that it was impossible to find anyone at Openreach who will speak to the general public beyond referring you back to your service supplier ... ie, BT. What a fantastically efficient cut-out loop they have established between them. At the start of 2011 we received a lot of co-operation from Councillors Burbage and Bateson who managed to obtain replies from both Openreach and BT. Openreach admitted that the particular junction box had been excluded from the fibre-optic upgrade programme because "... there were certain issues that did not meet our commercial criteria ..." but that "... this initial decision was reviewed and we are now including this junction box in the roll out." They said it could take as long as 2 years to do this.

In October 2011 the Rt Hon Theresa May's team visited some local addresses and was asked about the poor Broadband service., which she promised to follow up. After 3 months we asked the resident concerned if they had received any update. Theresa May's office had to send a second request for an answer. The level of corporate arrogance required for a Government Minister to be ignored for 3 months is truly staggering.

Broadband from January 2013 ... Maybe not ?

In Spring 2012 an apologetic response was eventually received from a Mr Tim O'Sullivan, BT Director of Public Affairs. Unfortunately his initial response was full of marketing double-speak and completely missed the detail point of the box on the A308. Theresa May then arranged a meeting with BT and we asked to be kept informed. Cutting a very long story short (which can be followed on the web site “Communications” page) a reply from Mr O'Sullivan via Theresa May's office promised an upgraded service would be available from July 2012.

At the very end of July 2012 this promise was withdrawn due to unforeseen technical problems which would have to wait for the Olympics to be over. This work was duly carried out and for a while it seemed that an upgraded service might be available from the end of September 2012. Once again this proved not to be the case and yet another request to Theresa May's office for information eventually produced a reply from Mr O'Sullivan which promised an upgraded service from the New Year.

Well, it is now as I write, 2nd January 2013 ... HAPPY NEW YEAR ! So I've just checked the BT web site again which now tells me that the earliest I can expect to be able to upgrade to Infinity is 31st March 2013. Why am I not surprised that the promised target has shifted yet again ? I suppose I should be grateful that at long last I am at least being told something !Our next task is to establish what the situation is for residents in Forest Green Road.

Communications Work Group

Silent Night, Holy night,

Candles our only light,

Turkeys roasting above the camp fire,

Entertainment the family choir,

Singing

“Will the power come on?”

“When will the power come on?”

A Song for Christmas

Dedicated to all those residents who lost power during the festive season.

By now, most of you reading this Newsletter will know that Helen and Gary are moving on from The Fifield Inn. This is very sad news indeed for us all.

Helen and Gary took over our Local in May 2001 and over that time The Fifield Inn has truly become the “Hub” of the local community. We have seen other pubs in the area close, change hands or become more of a dining experience. To use a phrase coined from Greene King’s website – The Fifield Inn is “A Proper Pub”.

During the past 11+ years, Helen and Gary have built up a unique and strong relationship with local residents and businesses. Here are some examples of why they have so much “Goodwill” locally:-

they started The Annual Fifield Fun Day 8 years ago. It continues to grow from strength to strength each year and is now attended by over 1000 people

they have helped to raise over £40,000 for local Charities including Rosie’s Rainbow Fund, Thamesvalley Hospicecare and the Slough Lions to name just three

they have been very strong supporters of the Community Association since it started in 2008. With their cooperation and tireless support, we now organise a number of annual social events. In April 2011, we organised the first ever Street Party in living memory for the Royal Wedding and then again another successful Street Party to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June 2012.

Au Revoir to Helen and Gary

Wonderful community support for Christmas Fair

I would like to thank all the people who braved the foul weather to attend our second OGAFCA Christmas Fair in the Braywood Memorial Hall on Saturday 24th November 2012.

It poured with rain constantly but so many of you were not deterred by the weather and turned up to support us. The fair was a good mix of handcrafted items with many varying themes along with support from the Thames Hospice Care who raised nearly £80 for their charity.

I was so inspired how everyone gave us their support that I will be organising another fair in 2013.

Many thanks to you all !

Bill Collier

the kindness they have shown to individuals in our community when they have needed a little bit of help and support

There are many more examples, but a clear demonstration for us all was the huge number of cards and gifts they received after serving the community for 10 years in May 2011.

In recognition of all their efforts over the years, the Committee has decided to confer upon Helen and Gary the first ever Life Memberships of the Oakley Green, Fifield and District Community Association as a small token of our appreciation. We are sure that you will join us in wishing Helen and Gary all the best in the next chapter of their lives.

We are now all hoping that the new Landlords of the Fifield Inn continue to support the local community and charities in years to come.

OGAFCA Committee

The Art Class at Braywood Memorial Hall on Monday afternoons continues to do well, we have 11 members so we have a few spaces if anyone would like to join us do contact me on 01628 676939 or email on william35@in.com. The class runs from 3 pm till 5 pm and covers all mediums with expert tuition from our tutor Susan Marsh. We are hoping to have an exhibition of our work in May so watch out for news of this in the Spring edition of the OGAFCA newsletter.

Bill Collier

Art Classes proving popular

Local residents collected hundreds of signatures on a petition which was presented to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in November, requesting that the staggered double yellow line system, along the Oakley Green Road, which works successfully to the west of the school towards the Cricket Club, should be extended in an easterly direction. I am delighted to report that Tony Carr – the RBWM Traffic and Road Safety Manager subsequently advised us that he was awaiting feedback from the “Parking Team” with regards to this request as to likely timescales to prepare a revised scheme.

We have yet to hear anything further, but are hoping that things are moving in a positive direction and we will continue to work with local residents, the school, parents and the RBWM to solve the problem.

The request for staggered double yellow lines dovetails in nicely with our other request to extend the footway on the west side of the Oakley Green Road past Braywood Linn.

Roads and Transport Work Group

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Cardinal Clinic - Independent Psychiatric Hospital

Cardinal Clinic is a leading independent psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Windsor with extensive out-patient facilities and has been providing the highest level of psychiatric care for over 35 years. The Clinic also offers day-patient care as well as 23 en-suite bedrooms for patients requiring an in-patient stay.

The Clinic has over 40 Clinicians comprising Consultant Psychiatrists (including Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists), Psychologists, Psychotherapists and a dedicated nursing team all with the expertise and experience to deal with a wide range of psychiatric conditions from mild depression to psychosis. Conditions treated include:

Addictions, Alcoholism, Anger Management, Anxiety, Behavioural Disorders, Depression, Eating Disorders, Emergency and Sectioned Patients, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Paranoia, Post Traumatic Stress, Relationships, Self-Harm, Sexual Difficulties.

The length of treatment will always depend on the nature of the problem and the severity. Some may require a 3 week in-patient stay, then progress onto day-patient treatment. Others can be treated with just 6-10 one hour sessions.

If you decide you would like Cardinal Clinic to help, please contact your GP and ask for a letter of referral. An assessment can then be arranged with a Consultant Psychiatrist where they will make a diagnosis and discuss a treatment and care plan.

Cardinal Clinic is recognised by all major insurance companies. Self-funded patients are also welcome.

More information can be found on the website www.cardinalclinic.co.uk , you can call 01753 869755 and speak to one of the nurses for advice or email info@cardinalclinic.co.uk

The Work Group is planning on a re-launch of the Business Forum during 2013, details of which will be publicised in due course. Meanwhile, we already know that some of our small business owners in the area are experiencing severe problems with the Royal Borough over their street signs and advertising regulations, where there appears to be one law for small business and a completely different one for larger conglomerates. We’d be very grateful to hear from anyone who’s experiencing such issues in order to pool resources and approach the Borough with a view to improving the situation.

Also, we know of various regions in Berkshire and elsewhere which have published Local Skills Registers, giving details of local businesses and tradesmen, and delivered to all properties in the immediate and adjoining areas in order to publicise their services. As you may be aware, there are more than 100 businesses, both large and small, based in the Oakley Green, Fifield and District community, and the Local Business Work Group desperately wants to help all of them increase their profits! So we would really like to start work on such a Register for the OGAFCA area – if you’re interested or have any ideas, please contact us via the website or the address below.

Looking forward to hearing from you! Happy New Year 2013 and may it be a successful one for you all.

Paula Grevett - Local Business Work Group paula@grevett.co.uk 01628 783312

Plans to publish Local Skills Register

We are given to understand that the RBWM Cabinet will be revisiting this case in January. They have been monitoring the speed of vehicles over the last few months and will be voting on the matter imminently.

We can only cross our fingers and hope that common sense prevails!

Roads and Transport Work Group

Forest Green Road - speed limit reduction on going

Those who managed to make it to OGAFCA's AGM will have heard the Borough Flood Risk Engineer address the meeting. Mr Hanif Baksh told us that funding had been applied for in order to finally deal properly with our number 2 "wet spot" on Fifield Road at the speed bump near Longlea Nursing Home.

Our attempts to get something done about what we thought was the easiest of all our "wet spots" have been staggering on for 3 years now. The Gas Utility delayed things at the outset because they feared they might have laid a gas main in the ditch. Streetcare had to do test bores to discover if this was in fact the case. It turned out there was no gas main in the ditch.

At least three notices were issued to the landowner to return the ditch to proper working condition. These were all ignored. Normally the next stage would have been referral to the Borough Legal Department. Unfortunately it seems they have been in no state to be able to take on issues like this. While all this was going on OGAFCA volunteers carried out temporary small scale works on two occasions. The Environment Work Group was on the brink of preparing to tackle the full scale project with volunteers using very generously offered equipment.

Thankfully, after seeing photos in the Gallery on the OGAFCA web site and visiting the site after heavy rain, the Flood Risk Engineer finally decided that this had been going on long enough. Mr Baksh included the site in an application for funding and we are very pleased to be able to tell you that this has been approved. We have as yet no indication of when this might be included in the work schedule but we are following up and will keep you informed on the web site and in the newsletter.

We are very grateful to Mr Baksh for having found time in a demanding schedule to look at our relatively minor issue. Mr Baksh has now completed his short contract and moved on to work elsewhere. So Mr Simon Lavin is once again having to put up with us.

News on wet spots "2 and 4"

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Number 4 in our "wet spot" report concerns Coningsby Lane (east). There can hardly be anyone in the local area who is unaware of the water overflowing the ditches in Coningsby Lane and flowing down the lane to the lake that still forms at the junction with the Fifield Road. Mr Lavin has indicated that if local residents are in favour there may be a certain amount of funding available to at last try to do something to improve the situation in Coningsby Lane (east).

The Environment Work Group has consequently delivered letters and reply slips to the 14 households involved. We have asked for a meeting early in the New Year for interested parties to discuss the way forward. We will report on the progress of this project on the web site and in the next Newsletter.

Environment Work Group - Drainage Please note a map on the inside front cover of this Newsletter indicates Wet Spot numbers and their locations.

Welcome Pack

If you are new to the area and have not received a “Welcome Pack” please contact us at www.ogafcap.co.uk

Local activities for children and youth

It was lovely to see so many families come along to the Christmas Fair in November and the “Carols around the Christmas Tree” in December and this year we would like to continue providing a good variety of activities and social events for local children and friends.

Therefore we will be holding a Children and Youth Planning Meeting on Monday 18th February at The Fifield Inn 7.00pm to 8.30pm to discuss local activities and events for local children this coming year and any other suggestions you may have. Also we would like to discuss the idea of setting up a directory of available babysitters who live locally, so do send an email to alison.j.brayshaw@gmail.com if you can come along or if you can’t make it but have thoughts or would like to get involved do get in touch.

The cricket season for Braywood Juniors is due to start on Sunday 21st April, new players are very welcome as well as those Juniors returning for another season. The coaching sessions start at 10am to 12 Noon every Sunday until September at Braywood Cricket Club in Oakley Green Road. Both boys and girls aged 6-15 years old are welcome and the season’s membership fee is less than £2 per session. Parents/guardians are welcome to stay for refreshments including home made cake/biscuits whilst watching the coaching sessions.

Also the club is offering to pay for anyone who might be interested in coaching/scoring/umpiring courses in February and March 2013, if they would be prepared to support Braywood Cricket Club during the coming season with their newly acquired qualification. The club is also looking for help with the ground care maintenance.

For further information call Stuart West (Juniors Manager), 07836 536 725. or view the web-site www.braywoodcricketclub.co.uk and click on Juniors.

Children and Youth Work Group