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Features
These features represent the best of news, information
and reportage across the area - there may be more
specific information in the area links to the right.
Please do send us your news!
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Clubs & Societies
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Fair Oak Art & Craft Society t: Linda
Butcher 80 601431
Wednesdays (except last Wednesday) Village
Hall, Shorts Road. 7.30 pm. Full Programme and workshops
available. |
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Fair Oak
Gardening Club t: 80 692305
2nd Monday 7.30pm Village Hall, Shorts Road |
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Free Health Walks t:80 684813
Regular walking can help prevent heart disease,
strokes, osteoporosis, high blood pressure and diabetes. Fridays
9.30am Fair Oak |
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Fair Oak Women's Institute t:80 694145
Last Wednesday 7.30pm Village Hall, Shorts
Road |
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Bishopstoke Players t:80 693032
Rehearsals /
Club Nights Thursdays 7.45 back room Bishopstoke Memorial Hall |
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Fair Oak Bowling Club t:80 600111
Fri, Sun and Mon afternoon/evening Village
Hall, Shorts Road |
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NCT First time mums group
Ring Julie on 80 275955 |
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Eastleigh
Group of the Ramblers Association
Click here for the website
Quarterly walks programmed with dates and
meeting times. All walks graded normally between 5 and 12
miles. |
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Wyvern FC
community youth football club t: Colin Hazeldine 02392 723665
Based at
Wyvern school campus in Fair Oak. Boys and girls ranging from
under 8's to under 18's Partnered by
Southampton FC. |
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Lions Club of
Eastleigh t:80 252196
1st Friday
monthly at the Holiday Inn, Eastleigh at 8pm
Please let us know if you'd like your
club or society listed here!
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Bishopstoke Players – Good
For Your Health!
I always look forward to seeing
Bishopstoke Players perform. I have become a
real fan over the last two years. For a local amateur group they
have some
members who have real talent and whom I can honestly say I look
forward to
seeing. So much so that if Bishoptoke Players published a cast
list before the
show I would look forward to seeing the show even more.
Black Comedy was EXCELLLENT. Quite frankly there’s not much more
to say!
Any show that can put me in a situation where I do not stop
laughing for at least
five minutes – well my hat goes off to them. And it wasn’t just
giggling – it was
that deep belly laugh, the kind that you feel will never stop –
like a little internal
workout!
Act one built up to a point where the whole audience (and I am
not exaggerating
– I mean everyone) was in such fits of laughter at the farcical
charade onstage
that all had ceased to listen to the actual dialogue. I admire
the actors for not
laughing themselves. I cannot imagine how difficult it must be
to keep a straight
face – we all know laughter is contagious.
Black Comedy is a farce; my favourite kind of comedy. A lot, if
not most, of the
humour is in the actors’ timing and choreography. And this was
no exceptionthe
stage was fully lit, yet the actors had to act that they were in
pitch darkness.
You can imagine what people would do when they can’t be seen –
it set the scene
perfectly for a hour and a half of pure fun.
I do have two small points to make (and I do mean small – in
fact really
nitpicky!) first was that the play is a short play and would
have been better
without an interval – mainly because the mood of hilarity was
diluted after a 20
minute break and a raffle. Secondly , and this is down to Peter
Shaffer the play’s
writer, the character of Clea was a little too bitter to be
really funny.
I am not sure if I have seen anything before that has been
directed by Rachel
Craig – but her talent for bringing alive the written word was
obvious in this
play. They say that laughter is the best medicine. It releases
endorphins (the
body’s natural painkillers), lowers blood pressure, reduces
stress hormones and
allows muscles to relax. And there are no negative side effects!
If you want a
dose of laughter please, please go and see these actors perform.
Their next
production is KING HUMPTY DUMPTY by Paul Reakes, a pantomime (if
you
couldn’t have guessed from the name!) I’m going with my children
. If you
want to improve your health I’d recommend you come too!
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A not-for-profit Community Interest Company offering Practical
Solutions for living with hearing and sight loss
www.sensorydirect.org
:
info@sensorydirect.org |
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Hearing
Loss and the Telephone
One of the
most difficult aspects of hearing loss is that some everyday
things that most people take for granted can become extremely
difficult. Take the telephone for example. How many times have
you used the phone this week? Did you phone the doctor, a
friend, your family? Our lives seem to revolve around telephones
but what happens if you are hard of hearing? For people with
hearing loss, even if they have a hearing aid, using the phone
can be an exhausting experience. It's very common to lose
confidence and make all sorts of excuses not to do so. I'd like
a pound for every time I've heard "I don't need to use it - my
wife does it for me". Whilst this is the easy solution, it can
lead to problems. Either the wife gets fed up with doing it for
him, or worse still, if she has to go into hospital, staff will
be unable to contact her husband. This can have serious
implications. In fact, it's not that difficult to use the phone
if you're hard of hearing, you have the right equipment and you
know how to use it.
There is a wide range of telephones with built-in amplifiers and
a special gadget called an "inductive coupler" in the handset
that works with a hearing aid. There are even some cordless
telephones with excellent amplification which are now hearing
aid compatible. They won't break the bank either, with prices
starting at £33. Of course if you don't use a hearing aid you
can simply turn up the volume until you can hear it - problem
solved. With families being more widely spread these days,
helping somebody to use the phone can be extremely rewarding for
our team of helpers. Regaining the ability to get in touch for a
chat, speak to grandchildren on their birthday, call for help if
you're not feeling well, can make such a difference. So don't
delay any longer. There's a free trial service available at
Eastleigh Hearing Information Centre, based at Age Concern in
Eastleigh. Volunteers will help you to try some phones and work
out which one is best for you. Alternatively Sensory Direct CIC
has a team of staff who can visit you at home to discuss your
needs.
Debbie Hallmann - 02380 601710 or
info@sensorydirect.org
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Hearing loss is
extremely common, particularly in people of retirement age. Hearing
aids are the first step, but there is so much more available to help
you. Visit Eastleigh Hearing Info Centre at Age Concern, Romsey
Road, Eastleigh Tuesdays 2 - 4pm or alternatively… We offer a
professional assessment in your home to discuss things that you are
finding difficult. We have 15 years experience in helping with:-
- Problems
using your hearing aid effectively
- Difficulty
using the telephone
- Unable to
hear the television without excess volume
- Feeling left
out of conversations
- Tinnitus advice and
support
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Following meetings between
Church Leaders and the Police of the Eastleigh Borough,
agreement was reached that it would be good to explore
the possibility of utilising the national initiative
known as Street Pastors to further supplement and
bolster the community interface between the community
and the Police and local Parish Council in Fair Oak and
Horton Heath. The Church is in a unique position to
provide such volunteers. On 18 June 2007, Chief
Inspector Diana Boyles made a presentation, together
with Church Leaders, to the Fair Oak and Horton Heath
Parish Council. After fielding questions following her
report, the Parish Council voted unanimously to give
permission for training of Street Pastors to begin!
The Rev. Les
Issacs, Leader of Street Pastors, will be visiting the Parish on
5 September 2007 to discuss with Church Leaders, Local Authority
Representatives and the Police, the format of the training and
the oversight and guidance that Street Pastors will offer from
its national headquarters, The Ascension Trust. It is then hoped
that training will begin mid-September 2007 for all interested
Christian people. The training will be carried out over the
period up to Christmas 2007 and permit an early 2008 launch of
the Street Pastors.
It should be
emphasised that the Street Pastors initiative is not a reactive
response to any crime in Fair Oak and Horton Heath, rather it is
the next logical step following the great success of the arrival
of the PCSO's. Street Pastors simply exist to express "love on
the streets" at the Pubs and outside "gatherings" that occur,
particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. In this way, it is
hoped by the Churches that a Christian presence of unconditional
love on the streets, week-in, week-out, will make Fair Oak and
Horton Heath an even safer and more loving place to live than
presently. It is genuinely hoped that by expression of acts of
kindness and building of relationships over time, it will bring
even greater community cohesion and be a weekly reminder of the
very close partnership between Church, Police and Local Council.
If you would like to know more information
about Street Pastors, please check out
www.streetpastors.org.uk. The local Street Pastors
Co-ordinators are Peter Broom and Sheena Graham. If you would
like any more local information, please contact the St. Thomas'
Church Parish Office between 9am and 2pm weekdays on
02380 695786 and the Church
Administrators can then get Sheena and Peter to contact you.
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New laws
which recognise the severity of killing someone while
being distracted at
the wheel have come into effect across the UK. Motorists
causing death by
careless driving now face up to five years in prison
under the Road Safety Act
2006.
The new legislation has been introduced in an effort to
plug the gap in existing
legislation and to prevent drivers who kill through
driving carelessly receiving just a
fine. Avoidable distractions which Courts will consider
when sentencing motorists
include:
- using a mobile phone (calling, texting, browsing the
net, taking photographs etc);
- drinking and eating;
- applying make-up;
- shaving;
- anything else which takes a driver’s attention away
from the road and which a
Court judges to have been an avoidable distraction.
The new laws will also penalise uninsured, disqualified
or unlicensed drivers who kill.
A driver found guilty could receive up to two years
imprisonment. Prior to the
introduction of the new laws, the maximum sentence for
those convicted of causing
death by careless driving was a £5,000 fine and penalty
points on their driving
licence.
Driving requires full concentration at all times. A
moment’s distraction can make a
difference between life and death. Careless drivers put
themselves and others at
risk every time they get behind the wheel of a car.
Despite good progress in recent
years to reduce the number of people killed or seriously
injured on the UK’s roads,
more can always be done to prevent the unnecessary loss
of life.
The introduction of this legislation will hit home the
message that driving is a
hazardous activity that requires total concentration.
Allowing distractions to
affect your standard of driving is not acceptable and
will now be more
appropriately punished under the law.
If you’ve information about any crime, please call
Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or
log on to www.mostwanted-uk.org.
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