Help save lives

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Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance needs you!  

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is the charity that brings emergency critical care to people who need it most, in their hour of need. 

It costs £15,000 a day to keep the Air Ambulance flying and saving lives and last year the charity’s Critical Care Teams were called to 1,429 incidents across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.    

Highly skilled crews of doctors, paramedics and pilots can be at road traffic collisions, sporting accidents, collapses and a variety of other incidents within minutes, ready to deliver the same level of care you would receive at a hospital emergency department. 

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is entirely funded by the generosity of our local community and we rely upon our team of volunteers to support our fundraising efforts.   

This is where your help is needed.  They are urgently looking for new events volunteers, speakers, van drivers, maintenance support volunteers and collection pot agents. Volunteers are also needed to join the new event support team, which supports HIOWAA on an ad-hoc basis at the mass participation events.   

Volunteering for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance is fun and rewarding and you can volunteer as often or as little as you wish.  Volunteering can fit around your own life and commitments.  

If you have some spare time and would like to donate it to this life-saving cause, please contact the volunteering team on:

  [email protected] or 02380 743516 or visit the website for more details: www.hiowaa.org.

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SWT photography exhibition

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Surrey Wildlife Trust puts winners’ work on display

There are just a few days left to view the winning entries in the Wild Surrey Art & Photography Competition.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary, Surrey Wildlife Trust is exhibiting the work at Guildford House Gallery until Sunday, 16th June.

The over-18 winner of the art category is artist and art tutor Charlotte Baker from Woking, with Midnight Prince. “Foxes are really mischievous creatures but I think they are so majestic. I wanted to capture that royalty in this piece. I’m really overwhelmed to win.”

The over-18 winner of the photography category is Matthew Nunn, Farnham, with Swan, Frensham Pond. “I went for a walk around Frensham Ponds and grabbed my camera as I wanted to capture the drip shot. I set the shutter to freeze the drip and was absolutely thrilled I got exactly what I wanted.  Winning the competition has inspired me to go forward with my photography – all thanks to Surrey Wildlife Trust.”

The under-18 winner of the art category is Isabelle Saunders, 13, a pupil from Manor House School with Bluebell Badger. “I love bluebells and badgers and I painted them from my imagination. I was surprised to win because I didn’t even realise there would be winners.  But I’m so pleased because I’ve loved art since I was little.”

The under-18 winner of the photography category is Caitlin Ruddock with Butterfly Crossing.

Highly commended are:

Art, over 18 – Shannon Van Lier, Tawny Owl; Alexandra Oldham, Thoughtful Things; Paula Boyd Barrett, Striding Out; Katie Bree Art, Round Leaved Sundew; Emma Bloomfield, The Elusive Kingfisher; Imogen Hartridge, The Conservation Pond, Ashtead; Lisa Benson, My Stag Hill

Photography, over 18 – Alan Seymour, Inquistive Brock; Amanda Cook, Morning Has Broken

Art, under 18 – Alicia Manrique, Bee Aware; Ash Morgan, Scaly Sojourner; Margarita Harff, The Incredible Insect

The exhibition features 80 works showing an appreciation of Surrey’s wildlife.

For more information about this and the work of Surrey Wildlife Trust visit Surrey Wildlife Trust

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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 now and Saturday, 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.

View the festival brochure here or pick up at the Tourist Information Centre and tickets are on sale now for most events.

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Artists open studios

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Art lovers in Surrey are in for a real treat over the next few days when 297 artists open their studios as part of the largest Surrey Artists’ Open Studios to date.

Running until 16th June, it’s a chance to meet and talk to artists in their place of work, view demonstrations, buy artwork and get involved in creative workshops.

SAOS co-ordinator Caitlin Heffernan said it offers a unique opportunity to meet artists and makers in Surrey, “Many are offering the public the chance to get hands on and discover their own creativity through the many workshops and taster sessions.

“Whatever your interest, painting, printmaking, glass, ceramics, textiles, jewelry or sculpture, SAOS is a brilliant opportunity to discover the county through the vast network of creative people who live and work here.”

One of those exhibiting is Liphook artist Orlanda Broom who takes her inspiration from nature to create landscapes which represent fantastical and re-imagined places.

After graduating with an MA Fine Art, Barcelona in 1997, Orlanda has been exhibiting and selling her work for the past 15 years and having moved out of London to the Hampshire countryside she has been further inspired.

A recent piece took inspiration from somewhere very different – a 4x4m work for the Four Seasons in New York makes reference to the city and Orlanda decided to use water, reflections and bridge-like shapes to mirror the island of Manhattan. Entitled Manna Hata it is now a favourite selfie spot!

Working on such a large scale, Orlanda’s work benefits from the big open space she works in with a wealth of natural light which helps with the composition of her landscapes which are very full and alive with colour and must be seen in full to be completely appreciated.

Her work will be exhibited at her studio at The Workshop in Iron Hill, Hollycombe, Liphook, on 7th, 8th and 9th June from 11am-5pm and on 6th from 6pm-8.30pm.

For more information about Orlanda’s work visit her website and for more on the open studios event at venues across the county, visit Surrey Open Studios

Orlanda

“I take inspiration from nature. I love botanical art and if I can, I go to botanical gardens to take photos and sketch. I’ve been lucky to have travelled a bit to places like Belize and Tobago, so I have strong memories of those trips and lots of photos.”

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Annie the musical

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Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood stars as ‘baddie’ Miss Hannigan in Annie at the New Victoria Woking

Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood is used to being booed so he’ll be used to it when audiences at Annie turn on him.
The star audiences love to hate is playing Miss Hannigan in the much-loved tale of orphan Annie which starts at Woking’s Victoria Theatre next week.

He’s reviving a role he took on in the West End in the 2015/16 tour and is delighted to be reprising it in Woking.

He said: “I couldn’t believe that they wanted me to play Miss Hannigan at first, but I thought it would be great and a real challenge for me. I play her for real – she’s not a pantomime dame, there’s no mucking about or breaking the fourth wall, she’s a very real character in a beautifully written show.”

The musical features some of the most well-known songs and you’re sure to join in with Tomorrow and It’s A Hard Knock Life. In case you don’t know the story of Annie, the youngster is forced to live a life of misery at Miss Hannigan’s orphanage. But is determined to find her real parents. Her luck changes when she spends Christmas with famous billionaire Oliver Warbucks. Miss Hannigan has other ideas and sets about spoiling Annie’s plan.

Playing Miss Hannigan presents Craig with lots of fun, he explained: “Body language has a lot to do with that, the placement of the voice and the accent of course – which I spent six months perfecting.

“As Annie is set in 1930s New York, it’s really nice to play a part who speaks differently than almost anyone does these days. It was a really enjoyable challenge.”

Craig’s love of musical theatre started in Sydney in the 1970s when he went to see Jesus Christ Superstar. He started training at 14 and when he saw Cats in London around that time he says he just knew that was the path for him.

He went on to do several musicals in Australia before joining the Lido de Paris and the Moulin Rouge which then led him into West End shows and after appearing in Crazy For You in 1993 he then switched track.

He said: “I had a really fun year that year. I then left to become a director and choreographer and subsequently a judge on Strictly.
“My first hoorah back onto the boards was when I was asked to do panto ten years ago and the reignited my passion for performing again.

“When I was then asked to do Annie a few years ago I couldn’t believe it, but it’s such a talented cast, I couldn’t say no.”

And what about future roles? Craig admits he likes to create them and enjoyed doing a movie, Nativity Rocks, last year, which had an improvised script with the character being created from scratch. But he admitted: “I wouldn’t mind playing a boy at some stage. I tend to get lots of female roles which is great because I love playing women but it would be nice to play a bloke so I will aim high and say I’m aiming for the next Bond!”

But something he definitely wouldn’t need as the next Bond are his ‘must-have’ items he takes with him – eyelashes and eyelash glue.
Away from the theatre and TV studio, Craig loves to cook in his down time. He said: “I like sleeping in my own bed and cooking in my own home. There’s nothing better to pass the time – whether to test and make up some new recipes or really to get stuck into cooking something. I love it, I could cook for days on end.”

Fans of Craig’s acerbic comments won’t have to wait that long until he’s back on our TV screens as Strictly is set to return in September but this year minus judge Dame Darcey Bussell, so who does he think should step into her sparkly shoes?

“I think it’s got to be someone who knows about dance and comes from a dance world. I’m certainly going to miss Darcey a lot, she’s a class act.

“There are a lot of people who could do it and I want them to choose someone who is right for the job and has an opinion which is the most important thing.”

See Craig Revel Horwood in Annie at Victoria Theatre, Woking from Monday 10th to Saturday, 15th June. Tickets from £19.50. To book, call the box office on 0844 871 7645 or online at
ATG Tickets

Photos: Craig Revel Horwood as Miss Hannigan in Annie  Credit: Paul Coltas

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Surrey County Show

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Celebrate the 65th anniversary of the Surrey County Show

This year marks the 65th anniversary of the Surrey County Show and the fantastic family fun day out shows no signs of slowing down.

The annual show brings the country and rural life together in the heart of Guildford with animals, entertainment, rural crafts, food and drink and competitions to guarantee a day with something for everything.

Surrey County Show welcomes around 40,000 visitors to the 66-acre site at Stoke Park and this year they can expect the usual variety of attractions that makes it such a great day out.

At the centre of the show on bank holiday Monday (27th) are the animals and livestock that ensure this truly is a country show – cows, sheep, pigs, goats, horses and donkeys will fill the fields.

Competitions will put beef bulls alongside dairy heifers with rare sheep breeds on show too. Two of what will be the most popular competitions promise to be the ‘Grumpiest pig’ and the fascinatingly named Pig most like its owner!

Horses, ponies and donkeys will be on parade in the equine rings and why not bring your dog along and for the chance to win a prize in the fun dog show – there’s a class for everyone as well as dog agility and terrier racing among others.

Younger children will be able to handle smaller animals at Miller’s Ark petting farm as well as enjoy entertainment from Punch and Judy, a sheep show and donkey rides.

Rural life is a major feature of Surrey County Show too with birds of prey, a milking parlour, Dorset Axeman, vintage tractors and a whole host of rural crafts.

Over in the Grand Arena, big beasts of a very different kind will star when the monster trucks – 7.5ton Big Pete and The Grim Reaper – leap 15ft into the air, crushing anything in their path and will pull a car in a monster tug-of-war.

The heavy horse musical drive and marching band will add to the colour and spectacle of the day with more theatrics coming tricks and stunts from the BMX show.

Guildford Fringe Theatre Company will perform all day and there’ll be Maypole and Morris dancing to entertain you too.

You’ll no doubt need some sustenance to help get you through the day and there are plenty of food and drink choices to keep you going. The Food Theatre will feature a British cheese talk and tasting while Crumbs Brewery will show how they brew beer from left-over bread.
Food and drink from all over the world will rub shoulders with local delicacies on offer at Surrey Farmers’ Market.

If you like to shop ‘til you drop there’s plenty to choose from with hundreds of stalls offering everything from clothing to gifts and homeware to furniture and even luxury cars!

Stoke Park is easy to reach by road or rail, with on-site and nearby parking, four Park and Ride sites and a special train station shuttle bus at £1 each way. Don’t miss it – with so much to see and do, the biggest challenge will be fitting it all in to one day!

Surrey County Show is on Monday, 27th May, from 8am to 6pm.

For tickets please visit Surrey County Show

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SWT photography exhibition

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Be inspired to protect nature by the photographs on display at the Wild Surrey Art & Photography Exhibition.

The exhibition which opens tomorrow (25th May) is part of Surrey Wildlife Trust’s celebration of its 60th anniversary and captures the appreciation and love for the county’s wildlife as well as highlighting its vulnerability and the need to protect it.

The exhibition in Guildford House Gallery, at the top of High Street is free and open to all to come and celebrate Surrey’s amazing nature inspired artworks between 10am and 4.45pm every day. This year Wild Surrey is sponsored by Chessington World of Adventures Resort’s Chessington Conservation Fund.

The short-listed artists include adults and children, amateur and professional, from all over Surrey who have captured serenity and joy in a glowing sunrise or mysterious moonlit landscape. Others have captured a glimpse of a tender character in a hedgehog, fox, butterfly or bee. Like the wildlife and habitats in Surrey, there is a great celebration of colour and diversity of style and media, from printmaking to watercolour, ink and digital artwork.

A more thought provoking side to this exhibition depicts an awkwardness of nature around urban life, a discomfort to see foxes eating from bins, swans nesting around litter, scenes of urban life and nature decaying together.  There is a butterfly settled in the middle of a road, common toads clinging on to survival as they mate on a doorstep, plastic waste in rivers choking otters and fly tipping on nature reserves.

Charlotte Magowan, director of people engagement for Surrey Wildlife Trust, said: “We are so looking forward to seeing the wining artwork up in the exhibition. The high quality of artwork really celebrates the beauty of Surrey’s nature and wildlife.
“The narrative of the exhibition shows how precious and yet precarious Surrey’s nature can be. We hope as many people as possible will come and feel inspired to protect it.”

Wild Surrey’s top £500 prize winners will be announced on Saturday at the special celebratory opening night. Local artist Celia Lewis and photographer Richard Peters will be among the judges.

Can you go wild for 30 days?

Take the challenge and find out

For more information about the exhibition which runs until 16th June, visit Surrey Wildlife Trust

Photo credit: Amy Lewis

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Go wild in Guildford

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Watch out for the giant badger on 1st and 2nd June and take on the 30 Days Wild challenge

Could you go wild for 30 days in June? That’s the challenge being issued by Countryfile’s Matt Baker.

The UK’s biggest nature challenge, 30 Days Wild, is encouraging people to do something wild every day of the month and get closer to nature.

Matt was inspired by the work of Surrey Wildlife Trust when filming in the county in April and is urging Surrey residents to join in in their thousands.

The challenge is proven to make people healthier, happier and more likely to do something to help the wildlife in their gardens and enjoy nature on their doorstep.

And the choice is yours when it comes to what you do to ‘go wild’ – you could just lie in the grass and gaze up at the clouds, spend some time by the river, admire the dragonflies, create a bucket pond at home or listen to birdsong instead of putting your headphones in on the way to school or work.

The Trust has plenty of ideas on its website and there’s an app which will generate daily ideas.

If you’re in Guildford on Saturday 1st and Sunday, 2nd June don’t be surprised to see a giant badger in High Street – he’ll be celebrating as part of a weekend of activities to mark the wildlife trust’s 60th anniversary. Be inspired by the large pop-up wildlife garden and gardening experts. Get up close to wildlife, take part in fun wildlife themed activities, face painting and trails and much more. There’s also free entry to the Wild Surrey Art and Photography Exhibition at Guildford House Gallery which runs until 16th June.

Surrey Wildlife Trust’s Charlotte Magowan said: “30 Wild Days is the perfect excuse to just get out there every day and enjoy nature where we live.

“Surrey’s countryside is incredible and it’s just too easy to get stuck in the hamster wheel of life and miss the beauty of the natural world.

“Whether you decide to watch the sun go down, listen to a dawn chorus, take a meeting outside, feed the birds or take a video of a minibeast, we want everyone to get closer to nature. It is only by experiencing nature that we recognise its value and realise how important it is to protect it.”

There are a wide range of events, walks and talks taking place as part of SWT’s diamond anniversary, to find out how to get involved and inspiration for ideas visit Surrey Wildlife Trust

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Rudridge walk

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Get on the FAST Road to Rudridge and help raise funds for the Stroke Association

We hope we can raise as much money and awareness of the condition as possible and do our bit to support those who have been affected by a stroke.”

Staff from a Farnham company are planning to walk 50km in memory of a former colleague and raise some funds for a very worthy cause at the same time.

Tony Marshall, who worked for materials and groundworks supplier Rudridge, suffered a fatal stroke in 2016 and now the company is hoping to raise awareness of stroke symptoms and support survivors by raising funds for The Stroke Association.

The walk has been called The FAST Road to Rudridge, recognising the acronym that helps identify stroke symptoms encouraging people to act on them – Face, Arms, Speech, Time.

The route they will take on Saturday, 22nd June goes from Southwater in West Sussex to the company’s Farnham depot and includes five walking challenges ranging from 13k to 50k taking in the scenery of the Downs Link Path and the North Downs Way.

Among those taking part will be several of the company’s customers and suppliers who will all be treated to a celebration afterwards at Badshot Lea FC’s new ground in Wrecclesham.

Sales director at Rudridge, Paul Duke said: “Tony was a much loved colleague and he is sorely missed by so many of us here at Rudridge.

To undertake this challenge in his memory will be an honour.

To find out more or make a donation visit Just Giving

Photo (from left):  Tony Marshall with friends and Rudridge colleagues Mark Stacey and Richard May.

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Foster Care Fortnight

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Every year thousands of new foster carers are needed to help young people to flourish in life. Perhaps you could be one of them?

More than 65,000 children currently live with almost 55,000 foster families across the UK. This equates to nearly 80% of the 83,000 children in care away from home on any one day in the UK.

The Fostering Network estimates that fostering services need to recruit a further 6,800 foster families in the next 12 months. Foster Care Fortnight™ is the charity’s annual campaign to raise the profile of fostering and help recruit families.

Ilse who has been a foster carer for more than 10 years thought being single would exclude her, but she says all you need is to be patient, open and have fun. Her children are as involved and act as role models for the foster children she helps. She says: “The benefits are seeing them grow into confident children. They will ask for things and they shine, lift their chins up and become confident little people.”

Thousands of new foster families are needed every year to care for children, with the greatest need being for foster carers for older children, sibling groups, disabled children and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. All are welcome as potential foster carers – all that matters is that you can provide a stable and caring environment for a foster child. You don’t need to be married or in a relationship, or to own your own home, and your sexual orientation or any disability should not hinder your application. Whichever route you choose to go down, you should rest assured that there is a support network to help anyone who is committed and willing to foster a child.

Hannah and Kojo Ntow have been foster carers since 2008, and last year they won a Fostering Excellence Award from The Fostering Network. Initially, they started out as respite carers before eventually progressing to full-time. For the last three years, they have been caring for a four-year-old boy who has a very rare life-limiting condition. Meeting all of his daily needs can be challenging – it can take over an hour to feed him a meal – meaning Hannah’s background as a nurse (Kojo is a bus driver) is particularly useful. Hannah and Kojo’s supervising social worker, Susan Harrisi says: “The Ntows have radically changed their lives for the little boy in their care and have looked beyond his disabilities to care for the child within.”

Find out more

Visit The Fostering Network

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