30 Days Wild challenge

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Picture credit: Nick Upton

More than 10 million random acts of wildness in month-long challenge

More than 400,000 people carried out in excess of 10 million ‘random acts of wildness’ as part of the 30 Days Wild Challenge in June.

Wildlife enthusiasts were encouraged to do something wild and enjoy nature every day, taking part in the Wildlife Trusts’ initiative which proved to be more popular than ever this year.

As well as the 50,000 households who signed up for their free packs, wall charts, stickers and wildflower seeds, more than 9,000 schools, 1,300 businesses and 570 care homes also took part.

Wildlife Trusts’ head of communications Joanna Richards said: “It’s been an extraordinarily wild month! We’ve loved seeing the creative and inventive activities of people taking part right across the UK – getting up close to bugs, butterflies and birds, rewilding a garden or making a daisy chain.  You don’t need to go far to appreciate wildlife and often the simplest interactions can bring us the most joy.”

Wildlife gardening in homes, care homes and schools was a popular activity, with people creating small ponds, building homes for bugs, sowing wildflowers, noticing the birds and insects that visited and pledging not to mow their lawns, to encourage more variety of wildlife to flourish.

Other Random Acts of Wildness included:

– Waking up early to hear the dawn chorus at its best

– Organising beach cleans and litter picks

– Noticing a rainbow of flowers and trees growing in towns and countryside

– Creating wild works of art from petals, leaves and feathers.

– Care homes residents and carers have enjoyed planting pollinator-friendly blooms, making leaf art and creating wild playlists, with music inspired by nature.

More info

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Guildford Summer Festival

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Guildford Summer Festival, with sponsor Silent Pool Gin, is back for its 36th year between 8th June to 10th August

Guildford Summer Festival is a huge celebration of all that is great and good about the town.

You’ll be able to enjoy a whole host of theatre, sport, art, music, walks, heritage, tours and days out to keep you busy over the summer.

New events for this year include Animal Encounter Tours at Merrist Wood and the University of Surrey Conductors Concert at Holy Trinity Church. Don’t miss the Woodland Fairy Fair at Watts Gallery and take a trip to the beach at Guildford on sea outside the Electric Theatre.

Popular returning attractions include the festival craft fair, farmers’ markets, cricket festival, Guildford Lions raft race, drama in the castle grounds and classical concerts. Also back by popular demand are the free Alice Day at the castle (3rd August) and the Cheese and Chili Festivals at Shalford Park (21st & 22nd July).
Join a free guided town walk exploring the history, the Alan Turing walk and new Leading Lights Walk where you can meet characters from the past. Staying outdoors there’s the Round the Hogs Back Cycle Tour to join too.

The whole Guildford Summer Festival is being sponsored by Silent Pool Gin.

There are arts exhibitions to view at the Mill Studio, Watts Gallery and Guildford House Gallery and theatre at G Live and the Yvonne Arnaud as well as Guildford Fringe Festival at several venues in July.

Find out more

Festival brochures can be picked up at the Tourist Information Centre and tickets are on sale now for most events.

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Kilimanjaro climb

Karen Neville

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Pair to take on Kilimanjaro climb for Helen & Douglas House

Sabine Schwaebisch has a very special reason for wanting to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

As a nurse at Helen House in Oxford she often meets children and families facing unimaginable challenges and it is this which has inspired her to take on the climb.

Sabine is doing the climb as part of a group of 12 trekkers in aid of the children’s hospice in October. They will take the seven-day Machame Route, starting through the rainforest and later up a rock wall before then trekking up through arctic conditions at night to reach the peak at 8,595m – the world’s highest solitary peak.

The team will battle through altitude sickness and exhaustion but all the time spurred on by why they are doing this.

Sabine, who lives in Abingdon, and friend Adeline Daly are pushing themselves out of their comfort zone and know they’ll face their fear of heights, the extreme cold and altitude sickness but all the time will be driven on by raising funds.

As part of their fundraising for the trek, the pair are holding a black tie event at Jurys Inn, Oxford, on Saturday, 13th July. The evening will include a welcome drink, a three-course meal with wine, big band live music and a raffle in aid of Helen & Douglas House.

Sabine says: “Knowing first hand that the hospice is a lifeline for many local families, we want to raise funds to help secure the hospice’s future. It is such a magical place, full of love, life and laughter, which almost entirely relies on the public for financial survival.”

Find out more

CLICK HERE to book tickets for the charity ball costing £50

Or to donate to the Kilimanjaro climb click below

Fundraising page

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Get ready for Readipop

Karen Neville

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The friendly music festival is back in Caversham with another great line-up

Reading’s friendly homegrown music and arts festival is back at Christchurch Meadows from 12th to 14th July.

And this year Readipop Festival is set to host the biggest line-up yet including headliners the Brand New Heavies, Sleeper and The Orb.

Reggae chart toppers Musical Youth and 80s Indie group The Primitives also feature alongside Fuzzbox, Mark Chadwick from The Levellers and Mark Morriss of The Bluetones.

Grammy nominees are set to rub shoulders beside artists behind almost 80 top 40 UK hits, Radio 1 and 6Music staples as well as a huge range of local Reading acts.

In addition to the music, there’ll be circus performances from Aim to Fly UK and workshops, an Indie market courtesy of Etsy and Thames Rivercruise boat trips to enjoy as well as much more.

All profit from the festival goes to help Readipop’s charity music projects in the area.

Readipop works to make a positive difference to people’s lives by developing creativity and developing communities. Their work often includes reaching out to socially excluded people and emerging artists.

The charity, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, offers a variety of projects for young people including sessions with experienced mentors, intensive week-long courses for NEETs and a range of workshops. It also offers programmes in primary and secondary schools as well as projects for adults and older people such as community bands, choirs and bands for retired people and concerts in care homes.

Weekend tickets for Readipop Festival are £40, with day tickets from £18 to £23 available until 30th June (under 14s free with adults).

Find out more

For more information and to get tickets visit the Readipop website

 

Click here

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Festival of cycling

Karen Neville

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Cyclist all over are gearing up for this year’s Wallingford Festival of Cycling

When three dads set up a cycling club for talented 16-19 year olds in Wallingford in 2014, little did they know the chain of events that would follow.

A year later, they went one further and the town’s very own cycling festival was launched attracting more than 3,000 people and gaining a starring role on TV in what else but Midsomer Murders when the race featured in Breaking the Chain.

But ‘stardom’ aside the real aim for the festival is to be a celebration of cycling, encouraging more people to get on their bikes more often.

The festival begins on Friday, 12th July with the dual track course testing riders on speed and handling skills as they go downhill, over jumps, rollers and bermed corners and is suitable for anyone aged 5 and over with a mountain bike or scooter.

New to the festival this year is the Dirt Factory air bag for bike stunt jumps – check out the video on the website to see this in action, but it’s sure to attract a few daredevils!

Saturday 13th includes these as well as wheels for all taster sessions and pump track competitions. Sunday 14th is the day for all the rides with distances ranging from 13 miles to 100 miles to choose from. If you’re new to cycling or want to ride as a family then try out the five mile festival fun ride and if it’s cycling of a different type or to be precise from a different era you want to try out then how about learning to ride a penny farthing?

Find out more

For more details, entry information and costs, visit the Wallingford Festival of Cycling website

 

Click here

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Bjorn Again

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Bjorn Again are set to shine at the black-tie cultural extravaganza that is Henley Festival on the banks of the River Thames, between 10th & 14th July

One of this year’s headline act started out with a pub gig in Melbourne which had an audience of 350, from just a chalkboard outside the pub that day in 1988.

Scripted and choreographed as a tongue-in-cheek satirical parody of ABBA, the show rapidly achieved cult status. Having been acknowledged by Bjorn Ulvaeus as being the show which single-handedly initiated the ABBA revival in the late 1980s early 1990s, the Bjorn Again show is hailed as the most popular and successful show of its type. Now, just over 30 years later Rod Stephen, who founded the group brings Bjorn Again to the Henley Festival.

Growing up in Australia, who was the first band Rod remembers following and seeing live? “I was probably more into the rock scene than music like Abba,” he says. “The main group who I liked at the time started off as a New Zealand group Split Enz (you probably know them better as Crowded House); it was not just their musicality and vocals, but also, they opened my eyes to the theatricality of pop music. I remember seeing them once live and the entire stage looked like a front room, the keyboard player was playing with a standard lamp behind him.”

So, how did the idea of an ABBA parody band come about? “It was 1988, and none of the groups I had been in amounted to anything. I felt like doing something different and thought of a parody band. I had three choices, Queen, The Beatles or Abba, growing up in the 1970s I had the flared trousers so picked Abba. I got together a group of musicians and we spent months rehearsing and watching videos of Abba, then came our first gig. It was at a pub in Melbourne, and the only publicity was on the chalk board outside, “Abba tribute band here tonight”. We had 350 people in, they couldn’t hold any more! We were invited back the next month, and before we knew it, we were performing quite a few nights of the week in either Melbourne or Sydney and the media picked up on us.”

Is this your first time in the Thames Valley, or indeed floating! “I think it is the first time we have appeared at the Henley Festival, and we’ve performed on floating stages though I hope it doesn’t put us too far from the audience. We did make an appearance just up the Thames at the Reading Festival in 1992. I had this call from my agent to say we were needed to play the Reading Festival, and I said needed, why? Apparently, it was one of the late Kurt Cobain’s requests that we open for Nirvana. It was a great gig and that night we really rocked the Abba hits. To this day, I can still remember the cheers of the crowds.

What can the crowds at the Henley Festival look forward to? “All the great well-known Abba hits and some of the others they can sing along to. With Bjorn Again in authentic costumes, hopefully we can get everyone dancing in the aisles.”

Henley Festival

Bjorn Again are on the floating stage on Saturday, 13th July; visit the website

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Wisley garden

Karen Neville

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Make the most of the longer evenings thanks to some highlights this month at RHS Garden Wisley in Woking

Various events “after hours” at RHS Wisley should have you enjoying summer to its fullest. Quad Cinema will screen three films from 11th – 13th July including Mamma Mia, Bohemian Rhapsody and The Greatest Showman.

On Wednesday, 17th July, join Surrey Bat Group for an evening walk, and on 24th July pet owners can bring their dogs for walkies. On 26th visitors can enjoy and evening stroll and some live music in the garden until 9pm. There will also be an open-air theatre performance of The Wind in the Willows on Sunday, 28th, at 5.30pm.

Fuchsias are the focus of the Glasshouse display at RHS Garden Wisley from 6th July to 18th August, with a colourful display from Wisley’s fuchsia collection. The Glasshouse Gallery hosts the Carnivorous Plant Society for its show between 20th and 21st July with talks, advice, sales and a special presentation each day at 11an and 3pm entitled The Natural History of Carnivorous Plants.

Jazz in the Garden will take place each Saturday afternoon, 1-4pm at RHS Garden Wisley, when Chi Jazz entertain Wisley visitors from the Butterfly Pavillion. RHS Garden Wisley invites you to help celebrate 50 years of The Very Hungry Caterpillar with some fun family adventures in the Garden. They will also explore lifecycles and help children understand where their food comes from and how it grows.

Info

RHS Wisley, GU23 6QB; call 01483224234, email [email protected] or visit their website

Click here

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Love tennis!

Karen Neville

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Wimbledon starts today (1st July) so expect to see more people out with their tennis rackets and more strawberries being eaten.

There are so many ways to get involved in the sport with many clubs holding open days giving you the opportunity to give the game a try for yourself.

Abingdon

Among those encouraging you to do just that is Abingdon Lawn Tennis Club which aside from the physical benefits of the game is keen to stress the social side of the game too – whether you want to play competitively or just for fun, it really is suitable for everyone from three to 83.

The Lawn Tennis Association has served up a plan to widen the appeal of the sport with TENNIS Opened Up promoting its appeal to players of any age, ability, background and fitness level with various schemes available as well as mini tennis for youngsters. All of these can be catered for at ALTC.

A great way to try the game for yourself or as a re-introduction is to try out ALTC’s open day for free on Sunday, 23rd June at Southern Town Park, Lambrick Way, a week before Wimbledon starts and tennis fever grips the nation. Once you’re hooked the club offers twice weekly club nights for non-members as well as holding team matches, intra-club singles leagues and coaching sessions throughout the year.

Abingdon Lawn Tennis Club boasts five men’s, five women’s and five mixed teams in addition to formal and social tournaments and in 2018 was named Oxfordshire Club of the Year, recognised for its growth in player numbers, coaching, inclusion and innovation.
The friendly, welcoming club has no playing standard requirements just a great love for the game which they want to pass on.

Henley

Teach Me Tennis offer coaching for juniors from the age of three and a comprehensive adult programme based at Peppard Tennis Club just outside Henley-on-Thames. 
They run sessions based around low player to coach ratios so they can ensure all children get lots of quality instruction and feedback. Their belief is that all players should learn not only to hit a ball but also the skills and information needed to play a match whatever their age or on court experience. Term-time sessions run every day after school and on Saturdays starting from age three, with popular tennis camps running during the school holidays for children aged 4+. Play continues all year round on six all-weather courts with floodlights and a modern clubhouse.

Contact Teach Me Tennis for more information on  01491 728080, email [email protected] or visit the website at www.teachmetennis.co.uk

Bradfield

Another opportunity to give tennis a try is available at Bradfield Tennis Centre at Bradfield College Sports Complex near Reading.
It offers world class coaching to players of all ages and abilities. The coaching team firmly believes in “tennis for life”, and welcomes children of all ages to engage in this truly enriching sport.

All of the highly qualified LTA accredited + coaching team have a desire to pass on their knowledge to inspire children to develop a love of the game through on court drills covering the four pillars of tennis – technical, tactical, physical and mental.

Tennis at Bradfield is a sport for everyone to enjoy and provides pathways towards representing the centre in local leagues as well as county, regional, national and international competitions. The team encourages juniors to come for taster sessions prior to committing to the programme and looks forward to welcoming players over the summer holidays in the fun and energetic camps.

Adult tennis players of all abilities are catered for at Bradfield Tennis Centre with courses for beginners, intermediate and team players.
Should you not wish to receive coaching, why not sign up to our extremely popular cardio tennis sessions, which are great for improving fitness levels, you could burn off up to 800 calories per session!

The world class Plexi – Pave indoor and outdoor clay court facilities are open for members and non-members to hire.
To book or for more information please call 0118 964 4600 or 0118 964 4603 or visit www.bradfieldsportscomplex.co.uk

Visit Wimbledon's website

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Get into gear

Karen Neville

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Join Wokingham Bikeathon on 30th June and take on 15 or 35 mile route

This year’s Wokingham Bikeathon on Sunday, 30th June, is literally bigger than ever – in addition to the 15-mile route, there’s a 35-mile challenge for riders to take on as well.

The new relatively flat route should be an easy ride and at an average speed of 12 miles per hour, should take about three hours to cycle.

This longer distance builds on the success of the bikeathon which started in 2008 with just 143 riders – since that time thousands have taken part with the invaluable help of volunteers, local businesses, charities and organisations.

Run by a committee, headed by Wokingham ‘champion’ Stan Hetherington the original aim was to get people out on their bikes and enjoy the local area, over the years it has developed into a vehicle for fundraising with many charities benefitting.

Money from entries each year goes back into the event for the following year with any surplus after covering bills going to good causes.

Cyclists of all ages and abilities are welcome to saddle up, with many cycling as families. For these the 15-mile route is perfect, it provides the quietest route for families, is easy and should take around 60-90 minutes to complete. There is a drinks stop at 9.3miles with snacks available too.

Over the years it has developed into a vehicle for fundraising with many charities benefitting

Course split points will be used to highlight where the route divides between the 15 and 35 mile courses. For those taking on the longer distance, there’s a drinks stop at 19 miles.

Registration is open now for those wishing to do so online but you can just turn up at Cantley Park on the day.

Get involved!

For all the important information you need to take part and to register in advance

Click here

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July’s recipes: Thrills & grills

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We’ve teamed up with the team behind ZIGZAG to bring you the perfect recipes to rustle up on the grill this summer!

Lamb

(Prep: 15 mins – Cooking: 12-15 mins – Serves: 4)

Ingredients:

for the lamb:
• French trim lamb chops – allow three per person
• Garlic
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh thyme leaves
• Rosemary
• Balsamic glaze

Method:

• Marinade lamb in oil garlic and thyme for 2 hours prior to cooking
• Heat up pan in the oven,
• Roast lamb chops for 3-4 minutes on both sides,
• Serve with fresh rosemary leaves.
• Drizzle with balsamic reduction for extra sweetness

Roast asparagus

(Prep: 15 mins – Cooking: 12-15 mins – Serves: 4)

Ingredients:

And for roast asparagus:
• Bunch of fresh British Asparagus
• Olive oil
• Lemon wedge
• Rock salt
• Black pepper
• Parmigianino Reggiano

Method:

• Drizzle olive oil over the asparagus
• Place into the oven on a baking tray or metal handled pan.
• Remove from oven when soft and golden brown,
• Serve hot with slice of lemon, rock salt, pepper and a few  shavings of parmesan.

Aubergine

(Prep: 15 mins – Cooking: 12-15 mins – Serves: 4)

Ingredients:

for the aubergine:
• Two large aubergines, cut into disks around 1cm
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Tahini
• One pomegranate, cut in half and with seeds removed
• Fresh oregano

Method:

• Lay out cut aubergines face down in a pan or baking tray
• Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper• Roast until golden brown
• To serve overlap aubergine, drizzle with tahini and sprinkle with fresh pomegranate seeds.
• Garnish with oregano

Fish

(Prep: 15 mins – Cooking: 12-15 mins – Serves: 4)

Ingredients:

And for roast fish:
• Whole seabass – around 35cm long scaled and gutted
• Potatoes, sliced 1cm think and par-boiled to soften
• Lemon
• Sunblush tomatoes,
• Fresh dill & parsley
• 2oz of fish stock

Method:

• Lay out cut aubergines face down in a pan or baking tray
• Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
• Roast until golden brown
• To serve overlap aubergine, drizzle with tahini and sprinkle with fresh pomegranate seeds.
• Garnish with oregano

 Click here for more of our recipes

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